NEW YORK—Diana Acevedo loves school uniforms. They are so convenient and she ends up paying only about half of what she would pay for regular clothes—for her 10-year-old son that is.
On the other hand, her son Johan Congrains would be fine with scrapping the navy pants and lavender shirts required at the Voice Charter School he attends.
And both sentiments are well represented nationally. Multiple surveys have shown a majority of parents like school uniforms, while most students do not.
Slow Rise
School uniforms, the long-standing domain of private and religious schools, have steadily gained ground in public schools since the 1990s.
This was especially so after a 1996 thumbs-up from President Bill Clinton. “I believe we should give strong support to school districts that decide to require young students to wear school uniforms,” he said in one of his weekly radio addresses.
While in 2003 about 14 percent of public schools required uniforms, in 2011 it was almost 20 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
The idea is also not new to New York City.
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to introduce uniforms at public schools right after taking office in 2001. He dropped the idea a year later.
