The Best (and Worst) Brooklyn Schools, Districts for Computer Science and Tech

BROOKLYN, NY — A new survey of Brooklyn public schools shows that many of the borough's kids are being taught little to no computer skills to prepare them for a 21st century job market that increasingly values tech-savvy candidates.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed, under his "Computer Science for All" initiative, that by 2025, "every public school student in New York City will learn computer science, making ours the largest school district in the nation to teach this critical subject to all students in all public schools. "

Brooklyn, for one, has a long way to go before that's a reality. The new survey finds that:

• There are only enough on-campus laptops to serve 20 percent of Brooklyn students.
• Only 30 percent of Brooklyn schools have a computer-science curriculum.
• Only 54 percent of schools even have a teacher on campus who's qualified to teach computer science.

To illustrate the problem, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams — who implemented the survey — made his way to Williamsburg to hold a press conference Thursday inside Middle School 577's sad excuse for a computer lab. In the photo above, we see Adams holding up a keyboard missing some keys.

M.S. 577 administrators "can't get anybody to fix" their broken computers and keyboards "because they don't have an IT person," Stefan Ringel, a spokesman for Adams, told Patch by phone.

"Maybe even half the keyboards in that room had keys missing," Ringel said.

In all, 136 schools responded to Adams' survey. This means, of course, that we still don't have info on the other 300 or so schools in Brooklyn that didn't respond.

What we do have is the most comprehensive snapshot to date of the technological advancements and shortcomings at specific schools, neighborhoods and school districts across Brooklyn — something that can't be said for the other boroughs.

Below are the survey results in full, separated by school district. (Not sure which district you fall into? Use this online tool to find out. We've also included a map of Brooklyn's school districts below.) All text courtesy of the Brooklyn Borough President's Office.

District 13 (Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn Heights, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Park Slope, Prospect Heights and Vinegar Hill):

District 13 has a total enrollment of 22,010 students, of whom 4.2 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 66.7 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 77.9 percent four-year (June) graduation rate.2 One in ten District 13 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 13 schools are below the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 11 percent of their students at any given time, and below the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach five percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is above average at 3.38. There are established computer science curriculums in 17 percent of their schools, while 50 percent have trained computer science teachers. The schools that responded account for 10,300 students in the district.

District 14 (Bushwick, East Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Williamsburg):

District 14 has a total enrollment of 19,995 students, of whom 10.5 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 85.7 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 68.6 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in nine District 14 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 14 schools are below the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 14 percent of their students at any given time, and above the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach eight percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is below average at 2.91. There are established computer science curriculums in 58 percent of their schools, while 75 percent have trained computer science teachers. Schools that responded account for 5,800 students in the district.

District 15 (Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Columbia Street Waterfront, Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene, Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Red Hook, South Slope, Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace):

District 15 has a total enrollment of 32,630 students, of whom 15.9 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 66.0 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 63.9 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in thirteen District 15 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 15 schools are above the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 34 percent of their students at any given time, and above the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach nine percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is average at 3.2. There are established computer science curriculums in 30 percent of their schools, while 70 percent have trained computer science teachers. Schools that responded account for 9,100 students in the district.

District 16 (Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights):

District 16 has a total enrollment of 7,687 students, of whom 4.1 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 85.5 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 48.8 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in five District 16 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 16 schools are above the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 32 percent of their students at any given time, and at the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach seven percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is above average at 3.46. There are established computer science curriculums in 14 percent of their schools, while 36 percent have trained computer science teachers. Schools that responded account for 3,200 students in the district

District 17 (Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens):

District 17 has a total enrollment of 24,497 students, of whom 9.2 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 83.1 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 65.6 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in seven District 17 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 17 schools are above the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 26 percent of their students at any given time, and above the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach eight percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is below average at 3.18. There are established computer science curriculums in 18 percent of their schools, while 45 percent have trained computer science teachers. The schools that responded account for 4,900 students in the district

District 18 (Canarsie and East Flatbush):

District 18 has a total enrollment of 16,991 students, of whom 4.5 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 79.3 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 58.1 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in nine District 18 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 18 schools are above the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 22 percent of their students at any given time, and below the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach six percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is above average at 3.33. There are established computer science curriculums in 33 percent of their schools, while 56 percent have trained computer science teachers. The schools that responded account for 5,100 students in the district.

District 19 (Cypress Hills and East New York):

District 19 has a total enrollment of 24,062 students, of whom 11.4 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 86.7 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 55.1 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in six District 19 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 19 schools are above the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 26 percent of their students at any given time, and above the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach 11 percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is below average at 3.08. There are established computer science curriculums in 33 percent of their schools, while 58 percent have trained computer science teachers. The schools that responded account for 4,800 students in the district.

District 20 (Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Dyker Heights, Kensington and Sunset Park):

District 20 has a total enrollment of 52,932 students, of whom 23.1 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 78.9 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 68.4 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in fourteen District 20 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 20 schools are at the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 20 percent of their students at any given time, and above the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach eight percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is below average at 2.94. There are established computer science curriculums in 26 percent of their schools, while 63 percent have trained computer science teachers. The schools that responded account for 23,900 students in the district.

District 21 (Bensonhurst, Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Gravesend, Midwood, Sea Gate and Sheepshead Bay):

District 21 has a total enrollment of 36,565 students, of whom 15.2 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 77.7 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 68.9 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in thirteen District 21 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 21 schools are above the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 36 percent of their students at any given time, and above the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach eight percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is above average at 4.0. There are established computer science curriculums in 33 percent of their schools, while 44 percent have trained computer science teachers. The schools that responded account for 6,500 students in the district

District 22 (Bergen Beach, Ditmas Park, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Flatlands, Georgetown, Gerritsen Beach, Manhattan Beach, Marine Park, Midwood, Mill Basin and Sheepshead Bay):

District 22 has a total enrollment of 35,775 students, of whom 9.6 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 70.8 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 77.1 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in thirteen District 22 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 22 schools are below the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 11 percent of their students at any given time, and below the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach five percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is below average at 2.87. There are established computer science curriculums in 27 percent of their schools, while 53 percent have trained computer science teachers. The schools that responded account for 18,400 students in the district.

District 23 (Brownsville, Bushwick, East New York and Ocean Hill):

District 23 has a total enrollment of 9,952 students, of whom 4.5 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 86.8 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 40.0 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in five District 23 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 23 schools are above the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 22 percent of their students at any given time, and below the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach .2 percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is above average at 4.0. There are established computer science curriculums in 33 percent of their schools, while 33 percent have trained computer science teachers. The schools that responded account for 2,000 students in the district

District 32 (Bushwick):

District 32 has a total enrollment of 13,104 students, of whom 18.2 percent are English Language Learners (ELLs) and 91.4 percent are living below the poverty line. The district has a 53.5 percent four-year (June) graduation rate. One in six District 32 students has experienced homelessness in the last five years.

District 32 schools are below the borough average when it comes to laptops, with sufficient devices to reach 14 percent of their students at any given time, and below the borough average for tablets with sufficient devices to reach two percent of students. Their average Wi-Fi rating is above average at 3.5. There are established computer science curriculums in 50 percent of their schools, while 50 percent have trained computer science teachers. The schools that responded account for 3,100 students in the district.

Lead photo by Erica Sherman/Brooklyn Borough President's Office