NEW YORK - Schoolchildren are barred from taking cell phones into city schools, but the City Council on Wednesday passed a bill intended to force change to the ban or give parents support for challenging it.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration has staunchly resisted recent attempts to reverse the ban on cell phones in the nation's largest school system, outraging parents who say their children need mobile devices for safety and to connect with guardians before and after school.
The council passed a measure that gives children the express right to carry cell phones to and from school, which won't change the ban inside school buildings but could provide parents with a legal boost.
The law could help buttress legal challenges to the policy or help force the education department to compromise and find a solution. One suggestion is that schools provide special lockers to store the phones while students are in class.
“We recognize that those cell phones should not be on in school or during the school day,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said, “but they need to have them to and from, and we believe the Department of Education has to go out and figure out a way to make that happen.”
It did not appear there would be an immediate compromise. The Department of Education said Wednesday that the policy had not changed, and a spokeswoman said Bloomberg would veto the measure.
The measure passed by a vote of 46-2, and Quinn said the council had enough votes to override a veto.
A number of council members said Wednesday that their children sneak phones into schools - and as parents, they encourage this because they have no alternatives.
“We're creating a generation of little prohibition smugglers now with this ridiculous policy,” Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. said. “The priority is protecting the kids.”
The city's ban on cell phones has been in place for years, but until recently students carried the devices without much consequence.
When the city began random security checks as part of a crackdown on weapons, it began finding and confiscating hundreds of cell phones, which sparked a fierce battle over the policy.
Parents and students have written letters, staged rallies and repeatedly called on the mayor to reconsider.
The council passed a measure that gives children the express right to carry cell phones to and from school, which won't change the ban inside school buildings but could provide parents with a legal boost.
The law could help buttress legal challenges to the policy or help force the education department to compromise and find a solution. One suggestion is that schools provide special lockers to store the phones while students are in class.
“We recognize that those cell phones should not be on in school or during the school day,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said, “but they need to have them to and from, and we believe the Department of Education has to go out and figure out a way to make that happen.”
It did not appear there would be an immediate compromise. The Department of Education said Wednesday that the policy had not changed, and a spokeswoman said Bloomberg would veto the measure.
The measure passed by a vote of 46-2, and Quinn said the council had enough votes to override a veto.
A number of council members said Wednesday that their children sneak phones into schools - and as parents, they encourage this because they have no alternatives.
“We're creating a generation of little prohibition smugglers now with this ridiculous policy,” Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. said. “The priority is protecting the kids.”
The city's ban on cell phones has been in place for years, but until recently students carried the devices without much consequence.
When the city began random security checks as part of a crackdown on weapons, it began finding and confiscating hundreds of cell phones, which sparked a fierce battle over the policy.
Parents and students have written letters, staged rallies and repeatedly called on the mayor to reconsider.
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