Our Journey to Unlocking
Public Support
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New school programs
$0
Public dollars secured*
0+
Student advocates mobilized
The movement for equitable access to journalism education in New York City Public Schools is driven by intergenerational organizing and relationship-building.
Over the last three years, YJC students and coalition leaders have combined high-visibility public action and press attention with dozens of ongoing briefings with City Council Members, DOE officials, and philanthropic leaders.
By prioritizing this deep, continuous relationship-building alongside strategic public pressure, we transformed a vision into historic citywide legislation, direct funding, and the launch of Journalism for All.
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Meetings with Council Members
*This includes Council Member discretionary allocated directly to Journalism for All school programs and student wages reserved through SYEP.
Laying the Groundwork:
Late 2022 – Early 2024
• November 2022: Student journalists hold a roundtable with NYC Chancellor Banks, prompting him to highlight the importance of student journalism in his districtwide newsletter, NYCPS Plus You. Read about it in The Classic, Townsend Harris’s student newspaper, and The Midwood Argus, Midwood High School’s student newspaper.
• Spring 2023: Meetings with then-Chief of Pathways Jade Grieve inspire the need for a scalable school program model to address the disappearance of journalism in NYCPS.
• Summer 2023: YJC builds our framework for public support through informational meetings with the Offices of Council Members Dinowitz, Joseph, Restler, Riley, and Stevens; the Office of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; policy leads of the City Council Committee on Education; and the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development.
• September 2023: The City Council's Committee on Education sends a letter to then-Chancellor Banks and then-Mayor Adams, officially urging the DOE to address journalism education inequity and partner with YJC.
• January 2024: The Revson Foundation grants funding to CUNY Newmark to develop a groundbreaking high school curriculum for Journalism for All.
Student journalist roundtable at Tweed with NYC Chancellor Banks (Nov. 2022)
“We strongly urge the DOE to leverage its significant resources as well as YJC’s to best serve our city’s students and address this profound and consequential inequity. YJC stands ready to collaborate with the DOE on expanding journalism education and programming across the school system.”
— City Council Committee on Education, Sept. 2023
Excerpt from the letter the Education Committee delivered to Mayor Adams and Chancellor Banks.
Driving Legislation & Mobilizing the City:
Mid 2024 – Early 2025
• April 2024 (J-Day): The City Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus co-hosts our first press conference announcing Journalism for All on the steps of City Hall. That afternoon, Council Member Joseph introduces Res. 0372. Students meet with offices of 20+ Council Members and end the day testifying to the BLAC. Read our press release.
• June 2024 (J-Night): Nearly 200 journalists, policy leaders, funders, students, and educators gather at The Paley Center to support the movement for youth journalism equity in New York City. That night, Council Members make their first school nominations for Journalism for All.
• June 2024: YJC brings a student panel to testify to the Committee on Education in support of Res. 0372.
• August 2024: The City Council passes Res. 0372 by a voice vote, calling on the NYC Department of Education to support a student newspaper at every high school. In collaboration with then-Speaker Adams, YJC fills the pre-stated press conference with student journalists.
• September 2024: Council Member Joseph introduces Introduction 1057 to require annual DOE reporting on journalism programs. The same day, YJC opens applications for schools to join the pilot cohort of Journalism for All. Read our press release.
• October 2024: The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation grants funding to YJC to launch Journalism for All school programs.
• December 2024: YJC brings a student panel to testify to the Committee on Education in support of Intro 1057.
• January 2025: In partnership with DOE Pathways, YJC student leaders facilitate a roundtable of students, City representatives, and DOE leaders, including then-First Deputy Chancellor Dan Weisberg. In a large rotunda of Tweed Courthouse, students present Journalism for All, share why this matters to them, and engage DOE leaders in conversation about their commitment to scaling the initiative. Students from over 20 schools are in attendance.
J-Day at City Hall (Apr. 2024)
Student journalists at the Speaker’s pre-stated press conference (Aug. 2024)
Student roundtable with DOE leadership at Tweed (Jan. 2025)
Youth Journalism Coalition testifies at NYC Council Education Committee Hearing (Dec. 2024)
Launching the Pilot:
Early 2025 – Early 2026
• January 2025: A committee of coalition youth and adults select the 30 public and charter schools that will pilot Journalism for All. Over 100 schools expressed interest, and about 60 submitted applications. Read our press release.
• February 2025: YJC students contact every City Council Member, leading to the unanimous passage of Intro 1057, enacted as Local Law 27/2025.
• July 2025: Council Members De La Rosa, Farías, Hanif, Hanks, and Joseph and then-Speaker Adams award discretionary funds to Journalism for All schools in their Districts to start up their new programs.
• September 2025: Journalism for All school programs launch, starting new credit-bearing journalism courses at NYCPS high schools in all five boroughs.
• September 2025 (J-Day): More than 200 students and teachers gather at City Hall for YJC’s second annual day of action for the urgent expansion of journalism education in NYC schools, co-hosted by the City Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus (BLAC).
At our press conference, we celebrate the launch of 30 new journalism courses across the city through Journalism for All, announce the release of historic data compelled by Local Law 27/2025, and push for more support to institutionalize journalism programs citywide. Supervising Superintendent Alan Cheng calls for every young person in New York to have the opportunity to pursue journalism; DOE Chief of Pathways Jane Martínez Dowling pledges the expansion of the program; and Council Members Riley and Joseph urge their colleagues for support. Council Members Brewer and Marte meet with classes from their District, and YJC meets with the BLAC. Read our press release.
• January 2026: In collaboration with NYC Department of Youth Development and New York Center for Interpersonal Development, YJC pioneers a Journalism for All sector-focus pathway with the Summer Youth Employment Program to support student interns from across the Journalism for All schools. This is the first citywide newsroom internship program for public high school students, and students will be paid by the city to work in local newsrooms. The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation awards a matching grant.
Council Member Joseph, the journalism class of High School for Global Citizenship, and YJC members at City Hall for the enacting of Local Law 27/2025 (Feb. 2025)
YJC students writing postcards to NYC Council Members (Apr. 2025)
Supervising Superintendent Alan Cheng speaking at J-Day at City Hall (Sept. 2025)
Expanding the Movement & Demanding Scale:
Early 2026 – Today
• January 2026: YJC student leaders present at a monthly meeting of the Citywide Council on High Schools on the Journalism for All model and the need to expand access to journalism education.
• February 2026: The Citywide Council on High Schools unanimously passes a resolution urging the DOE to support and expand Journalism for All. Ahead of the vote, YJC students and teachers testify in support of the resolution.
• March 2026 (J-Week):
YJC gathers 803 unique signatures of people living and working in NYC on a community letter addressed to the Mayor, Speaker, and City Council on the demand to support journalism education and expand Journalism for All.
YJC leadership hosts a budget briefing for City Council budget directors on the proposed Journalism for All initiative, co-hosted by City Council Member Rita Joseph and the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus.
YJC organizes open houses at journalism classes in all five boroughs, inviting City Council Members, Borough Presidents, local press, and program partners to learn from students’ experiences and see the impact of journalism education firsthand.
Speaker Menin welcomes a delegation of student journalists to cover her pre-stated press conference directly from the Red Room.
YJC students writing postcards to NYC Council Members (Mar. 2026)
Site visit to the journalism class at Urban Assembly Maker Academy (Mar. 2026)
“Dear Mayor Mamdani, Speaker Menin, and the New York City Council:
We, the undersigned students, educators, and community advocates, call on you to create equitable access to journalism programs across New York City Public Schools.”
Signed,
304 middle & high school students
125 K-12 educators
78 college & graduate students
63 parents
39 journalists
197 community allies
Excerpt from the community letter YJC delivered to Mayor Mamdani and Speaker Menin’s teams on April 15, 2026.