Remote Or Hybrid Instruction? Decisions Due This Week: What NYC Parents Are Planning!
coronavirus · DOE incompetence · Parents Helping Parents · remote learning

Remote Or Hybrid Instruction? Decisions Due This Week: What NYC Parents Are Planning!

Alina Adams1 Comment

Last week, New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza boasted how public school teachers have been receiving remote instruction training all summer long, and that his Department of Education has been strategizing to reopen schools safely in September since March. "A huge amount of effort has gone into getting our schools ready months and months… Continue reading Remote Or Hybrid Instruction? Decisions Due This Week: What NYC Parents Are Planning!

NYC Parents To Department of Ed: Who Will Teach My Children?
Blog · coronavirus · Hybrid Learning · NYC Schools · NYC Teacher · remote learning

NYC Parents To Department of Ed: Who Will Teach My Children?

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As soon as New York City public schools switched to remote learning in March 2020, the narrative was set: All teachers and administrators are heroes now. Any dissent, whether it came from run of the mill parents or a Pulitzer Prize-winning one was labeled: Teacher Bashing. Taking the name-calling in stride (not my first time… Continue reading NYC Parents To Department of Ed: Who Will Teach My Children?

NYC Department Of Education Decrees: Bad Education Not Good Enough Reason To Transfer Schools
coronavirus · DOE Fails · School Choice · transferring schools

NYC Department Of Education Decrees: Bad Education Not Good Enough Reason To Transfer Schools

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In October of 2016, I reported that New York City had finally made it easier for students to transfer schools if the child “is not progressing or achieving academically or socially.” In July of 2020, I am sad to report, that permission has been halted. As of last week, the Department of Education’s page on… Continue reading NYC Department Of Education Decrees: Bad Education Not Good Enough Reason To Transfer Schools

It’s Not a Plot, It’s Incompetence: Is the NYC Department of Ed Deliberately Undermining Some Schools?
Blog · coronavirus · DOE Fails · Gifted & Talented · NYC School Admissions · specialized high schools

It’s Not a Plot, It’s Incompetence: Is the NYC Department of Ed Deliberately Undermining Some Schools?

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Even before COVID-19 struck in earnest, the 2019-2020 school year seemed more riddled with screw ups than usual (and that’s saying something). There were the traditional Parent Portal malfunctions when it came to applying kids to every grade level, from Universal Pre-K through High School.  Mayor Bill De Blasio first refused to close schools in… Continue reading It’s Not a Plot, It’s Incompetence: Is the NYC Department of Ed Deliberately Undermining Some Schools?

Why We Created a Website for Students of Color, and Why We Shouldn’t Have Had To
NYC Schools · school diversity · student voices

Why We Created a Website for Students of Color, and Why We Shouldn’t Have Had To

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This is a guest post by:  Aisha Baiocchi: Uses she/her pronouns and is half Brazilian and half Indian. She is a rising senior at the High School of American Studies in the Bronx. She is the founder and executive editor of The Outsiders Guide website. She is also an artist and an advocate for public… Continue reading Why We Created a Website for Students of Color, and Why We Shouldn’t Have Had To

Different Families Get Different G&T Deadlines: Where’s the Fairness and Equity? I Go To the DOE For Answers!
DOE Screw Ups · Gifted & Talented · NYC School Admissions · School Waitlists

Different Families Get Different G&T Deadlines: Where’s the Fairness and Equity? I Go To the DOE For Answers!

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Last month I got to the bottom of why some parents’ Pre-K, Kindergarten, Gifted & Talented, Middle and High School waitlist numbers were moving in the wrong direction. This week we tackle the question of why, unlike in previous years, when there was a hard deadline issued by the Department of Education, different families are… Continue reading Different Families Get Different G&T Deadlines: Where’s the Fairness and Equity? I Go To the DOE For Answers!

NYC Mom Fights DOE – And Wins! How You Can, Too!
NYC Kindergarten · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · NYC Teacher Voices

NYC Mom Fights DOE – And Wins! How You Can, Too!

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In August of 2018, we spotlighted a mom who was deliberately blackballed by her zoned school – and how she pushed back. In July of 2019, we profiled the family who did everything right when applying their child to public Kindergarten – and still got the run-around. Today, we’ll hear from a parent who took… Continue reading NYC Mom Fights DOE – And Wins! How You Can, Too!

NYC Parents & Teachers Reveal What Worked In Remote Learning and What You Should Demand For Your Child
coronavirus · educational equity · remote learning

NYC Parents & Teachers Reveal What Worked In Remote Learning and What You Should Demand For Your Child

Alina Adams1 Comment

In response to my June 15, 2020 post, Are All Teachers Equally Good? What Parents Can Learn From Watching Their Child’s Remote Instruction, a mom wrote:  I’d love a column on what is working with remote learning, meaning specific examples of what teachers are doing that they think is working great, as well as examples… Continue reading NYC Parents & Teachers Reveal What Worked In Remote Learning and What You Should Demand For Your Child

Teachers Union Prez Says NYC Schools Have Been Fixed—But For Whom?
Accountability · Blog · educational equity · NYC Schools

Teachers Union Prez Says NYC Schools Have Been Fixed—But For Whom?

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(This is a guest post by Matthew Ladner, executive editor of redefinED. He has written numerous studies on school choice, charter schools and special education reform, and his articles have appeared in Education Next; the Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice; and the British Journal of Political Science. He is a graduate of… Continue reading Teachers Union Prez Says NYC Schools Have Been Fixed—But For Whom?

Waitlists Were Going To Make Getting Into NYC Schools Simpler (Spoiler: They Didn’t)
Gifted & Talented · NYC high school · NYC middle school · NYC School Admissions

Waitlists Were Going To Make Getting Into NYC Schools Simpler (Spoiler: They Didn’t)

Alina Adams1 Comment

Almost a year ago, when announcing changes to New York City middle and high school admissions, Mayor Bill De Blasio promised that getting rid of appeals and putting in waitlists instead would make it “simple to apply to schools for your kids for the first time in a long time.” School Chancellor Richard Carranza echoed,… Continue reading Waitlists Were Going To Make Getting Into NYC Schools Simpler (Spoiler: They Didn’t)