Top NYC education official insists schools won’t get leeway on curriculum mandate due to demographics
A top Education Department official said on Thursday that schools would not have leeway to skirt a new reading curriculum mandate based on student demographics. “There’s no difference in how we’re implementing based on demographics of kids,” First Deputy Chancellor Dan Weisberg said after a Brooklyn superintendent suggested otherwise. “That’s actually a pretty disturbing suggestion.” […]
A push for universal after-school gains traction in Albany
A Brooklyn state senator’s push for universal after-school programs is gaining traction among his Albany colleagues. After Zellnor Myrie’s monthslong effort discussing the importance of expanding after-school programs, the state senate tucked a line into its recent spending proposal: “The Senate is interested in exploring pathways to achieving universal coverage for afterschool programming.” Though the senate’s proposal […]
When the Biggest Student Mental Health Advocates Are the Students
With the number of adolescents struggling with mental health rising, student-led clubs have come to provide support amid a dearth of resources. Last October, to commemorate Mental Health Awareness Week, a group of students at Sacopee Valley High School in Hiram, Maine, created the annual Hope Board. Shaped like an enormous tulip and displayed in […]
As NYC’s literacy mandate expands citywide, some school communities are pushing back
Twelve-year-old Carlo Murray perched on his tiptoes to reach the microphone as he addressed education officials last month. He then unleashed a withering critique of his school’s reading curriculum. “I love to read all sorts of books,” Carlo told the city’s Panel for Educational Policy, a group that approves contracts and other school policies. But […]
NYC to open 9 new schools this fall. Here’s what to know.
Nine new schools will open this fall in New York City, aiming to provide families with more choices on where they enroll their children, schools Chancellor David Banks said Thursday. The new schools will offer a mix of elementary, middle, and high school programs across three of the city’s boroughs. They include a Brooklyn outpost of […]
LISTEN: Students speak out about special education
Check out this podcast episode of P.S. Weekly as they dive into New York City’s notoriously complex special education system, which serves 1 in 5 students — or more than 200,000 children. Students with disabilities have the right to customized support — listed on individualized education programs, or IEPs, or 504 plans — that spell […]
NYC 5th graders receive middle school offers, as city considers changes to admissions process
Amanda Rinzel, a parent and educator who lives in Brooklyn, spent her spare moments on Wednesday nervously refreshing her MySchools account, waiting for the news of where her fifth grade son would attend middle school in the fall. It was the family’s second time going through the middle school admissions process, but in some ways, […]
After technical snafu, NYC says staggered school start times may be necessary for remote snow days
After technical glitches prevented many families from logging in for remote learning during a snowstorm last month, officials on Wednesday presented a temporary fix: staggered start times. The Education Department no longer cancels classes during inclement weather in part due to a growing number of school holidays and a state mandate to provide 180 days […]
