David C. Banks

Banks's mother was a secretary and his father, Philip Banks Jr., was a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department. Banks grew up in Southeast Queens. He has two brothers, including Philip Banks III, who retired from the NYPD as chief of department on October 31, 2014 and Terence Banks, a former MTA official who retired in 2023 after 25 years .{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Lloyd |date=2013-10-24 |title=Chief Philip Banks for police commissioner |url=http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2013/10/24/chief-philip-banks-police-commisioner/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212095614/https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2013/10/24/chief-philip-banks-police-commisioner/ |archive-date=2021-12-12 |access-date=2021-12-12 |website=New York Amsterdam News |language=en-US}} Banks earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University and a Juris Doctor from St. John's University.{{Cite web|title=David Banks to Become New York City's New Schools Chancellor {{!}} WNYC {{!}} New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-york-city-gets-new-schools-chancellor/|access-date=2021-12-20|website=WNYC|language=en}}

Banks worked for the city’s law department and the state attorney general before becoming a public school teacher in Crown Heights.{{Cite web |last=Shapiro |first=Eliza |date=2021-12-08 |title=David Banks, Educator and Adams Ally, Is Next N.Y.C. Schools Chancellor |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/nyregion/david-banks-nyc-school-chancellor.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212033142/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/nyregion/david-banks-nyc-school-chancellor.html |archive-date=2021-12-12 |access-date=2021-12-11 |website=The New York Times |language=en-US}} He also helped to create the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice, a prototype for the small schools initiative. Banks served as president and CEO of the Eagle Academy Foundation, a network of public all-boys' schools until his appointment as New York City Schools Chancellor.{{Cite web|last1=Querolo|first1=Nic|last2=Akinnibi|first2=Fola|last3=Nahmias|first3=Laura|title=Adams Names David C. Banks as NYC Schools Chancellor|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-09/adams-to-name-david-c-banks-as-new-york-city-schools-chancellor|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209033153/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-09/adams-to-name-david-c-banks-as-new-york-city-schools-chancellor|archive-date=2021-12-09|access-date=2021-12-11|website=www.bloomberg.com}}

As chancellor, Banks has prioritized early literacy through NYC Reads and career-connected learning through the FutureReady and Modern Youth Apprenticeship initiatives.{{Cite web |title=Chancellor David C. Banks 2023 State of Our Schools Remarks |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/about-us/news/announcements/contentdetails/2023/09/20/chancellor-david-c.-banks-2023-state-of-our-schools-remarks |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=web |language=en}} On May 9, 2023, Banks launched [https://www.schools.nyc.gov/nycreads NYC Reads], an overhaul of how New York City Public Schools teaches reading.{{Cite news |last=Closson |first=Troy |date=2023-05-09 |title=New York Is Forcing Schools to Change How They Teach Children to Read |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/nyregion/reading-nyc-schools.html |access-date=2024-04-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The overhaul aligns the entire school system under three approved reading curricula that are based in the '[https://journal.imse.com/what-is-the-science-of-reading/ science of reading],' and a unified curriculum for early childhood programs.

In 2024, in the midst of the investigations into the Eric Adams administration, Banks announced his intent to retire at the end of the year after federal agents seized his devices.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-24 |title=NYC schools boss to step down later this year after federal agents seized his devices |url=https://apnews.com/article/eric-adams-investigations-david-banks-nyc-schools-ba165a854c14f299f6bba830df9f46fd |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=AP News |language=en}} Saferwatch, a company developing a "panic button" app, sought to provide the app to schools in the City of New York. The company hired in early 2024 the government relations services of Terence Banks, brother of David C. Banks who was serving as the New York City Schools chancellor. The city's ethics rules prohibit lobbying family members.{{citation |url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/09/09/terence-banks-saferwatch-corey-johnson-david-phil/ |title=A Tech Firm Ditched a Power Lobbyist — and Called on the Schools Chancellor's Brother |author=Greg B. Smith |date=September 9, 2024 |website=The City}}

Banks's wife, Sheena Wright, served as the First Deputy Mayor of New York City from January 2023 to October 2024. Prior to that, she served as the Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives of New York City from January 2022 to December 2022{{Cite news|last=Mays|first=Jeffery C.|date=2021-12-21|title=Eric Adams Names 5 Women to Top City Hall Posts|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/20/nyregion/adams-deputy-mayors-dot.html|access-date=2022-01-02|issn=0362-4331}} and as the first female president and CEO of the United Way of New York City. Banks and Wright married in September 2024.{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Alyce |last2=Mays |first2=Jeffery C. |date=2024-09-29 |title=Top Adams Aides Get Married as Investigation Swirls Around Them |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/29/nyregion/adams-david-banks-sheena-wright-marriage.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005001741/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/29/nyregion/adams-david-banks-sheena-wright-marriage.html |archive-date=2024-10-05 |access-date=2024-10-04 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |title=About The Author |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/David-Banks/431282879#:~:text=A%20graduate%20of%20Rutgers%20University,%2C%20and%20one%20grandchild%2C%20Hayley.}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://eafny.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/David-C.-Banks-Bio.pdf Biography from the Eagle Academy Foundation]

{{s-start}}

{{s-edu}}

{{s-bef|before=Meisha Ross Porter}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education|years=2022–2024}}

{{s-aft

| after = Melissa Aviles-Ramos

}}

{{s-end}}

{{New York City DOE|state=collapsed}}

{{Eric Adams cabinet}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, David C}}

Category:1962 births

Category:21st-century African-American educators

Category:21st-century American educators

Category:Living people

Category:New York City School Chancellors

Category:Rutgers University alumni