36% of NYC public school students were chronically absent last school year
Thirty-six percent of New York City public school students were chronically absent last school year, missing at least 10% of the school year, according to figures released by Education Department officials on Wednesday. That represents a modest improvement compared with the 2021-2022 school year, which saw chronic absenteeism exceed 40%, the highest rate in decades. Despite […]
5 things we’re watching this school year in NYC
More than 900,000 New York City public school students are slated to resume classes on Thursday with the customary mix of excitement, jitters, and joy. In recent years, one acute crisis after another has overshadowed the start of classes, from chaotic efforts to restart in-person classes during the height of the pandemic to a bruising battle over […]
First day of school for NYC: Smiles, sweat, and fears of a possible bus strike
Bronx student Avery Collazo began the school year on Thursday with an annual tradition: donning a bright blue T-shirt proudly exclaiming, “First Day of Second Grade.” “He likes to stand out, to be a little different,” said Avery’s dad, Albert Collazo, who also brought a uniform shirt just in case. The family joined dozens of […]
Here’s what NYC’s teacher workforce looks like as a new school year begins
New York City hasn’t seen the kinds of severe post-pandemic teacher shortages plaguing other parts of the country. But the teaching force in the nation’s largest school system hasn’t emerged from the pandemic unscathed. Last year, New York City public schools saw a higher rate of teacher attrition than any time in the last decade, and the pool […]
Teachers are calling it quits amid rising school violence, burnout and stagnating salaries
Most educators leaving the field aren’t retiring or being laid off — they’re quitting. Nearly half of the public education employees — working in elementary, secondary and postsecondary institutions — who left the profession in March resigned, according to preliminary numbers released in May by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quits peaked early into […]
As asylum seekers continue arriving in NYC, some face school enrollment delays
As scores of asylum-seeking families continue arriving in New York City, the city’s efforts to quickly enroll their children in public schools are often failing to keep pace, according to families, advocates, and education department staffers. The mammoth task of managing the new arrivals’ school enrollment has been hampered by insufficient staffing, inexperienced shelter operators, […]
As school leaders, we need to create opportunities for our teachers as well as our students
More than a decade ago, while running a high-performing school that I loved, a small moment forever shifted how I lead. As a Black woman who was a teenage mother and had dropped out of high school, I was proud of my career and taking great care to figure out what was next. While at […]
Food fight — the battle for better school lunches
In 1946, President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act. It aimed to “provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day.” More than 60 years later, Michelle Obama championed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which required schools to provide students with healthier lunches. Since 2017, New York City has provided […]
