BROWNSVILLE — Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña's remarks that parents concerned about cuts to foreign language classes at their school should buy their kids the pricey audio course Rosetta Stone were "taken out of context," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday.
De Blasio, speaking at an unrelated press conference at a Brooklyn homeless shelter, defended his choice to head the nation's largest and most diverse school system.
"I think it was taken out of context. I know her very well, almost 20 years," the mayor said. "I think she spoke off the cuff and was giving, as she said, grandmotherly advice, but it was not meant in any way to be disrespectful to the folks involved," de Blasio added.
Fariña shocked parents at a 1,200-person crowd that had gathered in the George Washington Educational Campus on Dec. 15 when she responded to a mom whose son's French classes had been cut that if she didn't like it, she could always buy the pricey education software.
"I’m going to give you my grandmother advice to this one. I have a 9-year-old grandson that loves language and I bought him Rosetta Stone for the holiday," Farina said.
The chancellor's comments drew gasps from the audience, many of whom felt the remarks were flippant and out of line, especially since Rosetta Stone can cost upwards of $200 and more than a quarter of Washington Heights and Inwood residents live below the poverty line. Fariña said the program could be integrated with afterschool programs.
The mayor said that the chancellor has done excellent work around the foreign language issue, naming a deputy chancellor for English language learners and also expanding the city's focus on languages, increasing by 40 the number of dual-language programs to a total of 154.
Fariña was an English language learner herself, he added.
"Her first language was Spanish, she learned English in our schools," de Blasio said. "She only has respect for English language learners and their parents."