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David C. Banks Highlight
You have something very special that only you can do and your purpose in life is to figure out what that is and go and do it. Because if you don’t do it, it will not be done—not in the way that you would do it.
About David C.
- I was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, where my journey in education began.
- I started my career as a school safety officer, breaking up fights and keeping kids safe in a high school in Brooklyn.
- I transitioned into teaching, where I spent six years teaching fourth and fifth grade in elementary school.
- While teaching during the day, I pursued my dream of becoming a lawyer by attending law school at night.
- After law school, I worked for the New York City Law Department and the State Attorney General's office before returning to education.
- I became the founding principal of two schools in the Bronx—the first focused on law, government, and justice, and the second was an all-boys school model replicated across New York City and Newark.
- My work with the Eagle Academy for Young Men caught the attention of Mayor Eric Adams, who appointed me as the Chancellor of the New York City Public School system.
- Today, I oversee the largest public school system in the country, dedicated to improving education and supporting nearly a million students.