The city's embattled superintendent of education delivered a thin speech in his annual address on Tuesday that offered no metrics on student achievement, before bizarrely having the audience recite a poem that Nelson Mandela “recited every day during his incarceration.”
The famous poem “Invictus,” written by English poet William Ernest Henley in 1875, includes lines such as “My head is bloody, but it will not bow” and “I am the master of my fate, the commander of my soul.”
“Nelson Mandela recited this poem every day while he was imprisoned,” Finance Minister David Banks, whose home was searched last week as part of an investigation into corruption allegations, told reporters after an event at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens.
“It's the best poem I know because everyone can relate to it and everyone goes through something,” said Banks, whose two brothers and his fiancée, Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, are also embroiled in the City Hall scandal.
“It's an inspiring poem that teaches us that no matter how difficult the situation, if we stand up and believe in ourselves, things will ultimately be okay,” the principal said.
But Banks' second State of the Schools address was less inspiring for those seeking concrete indicators of potential progress for urban children.
In an address to school superintendents, principals and education advocates, Banks praised the progress made by the city's NYC Reads program but agreed there is still “much work to be done.”
He gave a vague list of priorities for this year, but said they include opening accelerated high schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods, including a first-of-its-kind HBCU preparatory school set to open in Queens next fall.
He said the district is considering using AI to track students' learning progress and will launch an advisory committee of more than 20 people next month to consider options.
Banks also touted her free remote therapy offerings for teenagers.
But the issues parents are most concerned about — graduation rates, test scores, enrollment, especially the influx of immigrant children into schools — are all left unmentioned.
Asked about the metric, a school representative told The Post that the figures are readily available online.
Banks' speech comes as federal authorities are closing in on Mayor Eric Adams' administration, with law enforcement agencies recently launching a stunning series of raids on Hizzoner's top officials, closest political allies and most trusted aides.
Banks, his brother Terrence and a third brother, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, are among those caught up in the investigation.
No arrests have been made and the school's principal maintains that “he was not the target.”
Adams attended Tuesday's event but, unlike last year, did not speak.
Photos and videos showed him sitting with an empty chair between him and Banks, while the pair sat farther apart at the same event last year.
“This morning, the mayor joined hundreds of education leaders and community members for Chancellor David Banks' State of Our Schools address and celebrated the great progress being made across New York City's public schools,” a City Hall representative told The Post in a statement.
“This event wasn't about showmanship, it was about the students. That's why the Chancellor unveiled some exciting new initiatives that will take our students to new heights. We can't wait to see them succeed.”
During a later off-topic press conference at City Hall, Adams extolled the chancellor's “excellent” work on the education system.
“What he's doing with the school system is just a continuation of what I think this administration will be proud of as we continue to move forward,” Hizzoner said.
— Additional reporting by Haley Brown
