Pre-K for all? NYC’s universal preschool push leaves behind students with disabilities, report finds
The crowning achievement of former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration is uncontested: universal pre-K. The program guarantees free pre-K for 4-year-olds and has grown to include 3-year-olds in a dozen districts with plans to expand citywide. But the city’s preschool programming has poorly served many students with disabilities, according to an analysis of 2019-2020 city […]
Hochul proposes $2.1 billion increase for NY schools, extension of NYC mayoral control
Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a $2.1 billion increase for the state’s public schools and called for a four-year extension of New York City’s mayoral control of schools in her first budget address Tuesday. Hochul’s proposal builds on her State of the State address earlier this month, which outlined plans to recruit and retain more teachers, […]
Year-round school in New York? De Blasio makes pitch as he hints at gubernatorial run
From Chalkbeat: As he eyes a possible political future in Albany, Mayor Bill de Blasio pitched his next big education ideas Thursday: year-round school and extended school days across New York. De Blasio stopped just short of announcing a run for governor as he touted his statewide education plan on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” and he […]
NYC students go without mandated services because of staffing shortage
The staffing shortage caused by the thousands of unvaccinated teachers and staffers who were out of a job wreaked havoc at some city schools, where students skipped mandated services or were taught by inexperienced teachers. At PS 204 in Bensonhurst and PS 185 in Bay Ridge, there was a lack of speech specialists. At IS […]
Only 1 in 5 NYC students took last year’s state tests, making results almost moot
From Chalkbeat: About a fifth of New York City’s third through eighth graders took the state’s English and math exams last school year, when a majority of students learned remotely and the tests were deemed optional, according to data released Thursday by the state education department. With only about 20% of students in the five […]
With 1.9% enrollment drop, NYC schools have lost 64,000 students since pandemic started
From Chalkbeat: Enrollment in the nation’s largest school system has dropped roughly 1.9% this school year, according to preliminary figures released Friday by the education department. Roughly 938,000 students are enrolled in New York City’s public schools, down from about 955,000 last school year, when the system saw a significant decline related to the coronavirus […]
Massive school safety agent shortage looms in NYC as vaccine mandate set to take effect
From Chalkbeat: More than 5,000 school safety agents guard the doors and hallways of New York City’s roughly 1,600 schools. This coming Tuesday, hundreds of these officers, if not thousands, might come off the payroll, as the city’s vaccine mandate takes effect. Schools are trying to prepare for the fallout from the city’s vaccine mandate, […]
NYC preschools pledge defiance, scramble for staff ahead of vaccination mandate
From Chalkbeat: One preschool director on the Upper West Side may have to combine classrooms to fill in for unvaccinated teachers. Another in Harlem anticipates being down a few staffers and hasn’t heard whether substitutes will come. Yet another in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, plans to keep her teachers in the classroom — vaccinated or not. […]
