We really should be used to it by now. The hypocrisy, that is. News broke last week that Cheryl Watson-Harris, whom New York City School Chancellor Richard Carranza promoted to First Deputy Chancellor in July of 2018, had somehow gotten her children into two of Brooklyn’s top screened middle-schools — at least one of whom… Continue reading It’s the Hypocrisy, Stupid: NYC School Choice For… Some
A year ago, I wrote about Letting My 14 Year Old Make His Own Educational Decisions in choosing which high school he’d go to. I did it. It wasn’t easy. But I did it. The problem with high school is that my middle child never wanted to go in the first place. He wanted to go… Continue reading Who’s the Boss? Should Kids Be In Charge Of Their Own Education?
New York City public middle school placement decisions were distributed to students just before Spring Break 2019. For months leading up to the big day, parents had been hearing about how this would be the season of true equality in school admissions. But did that, in fact, happen? The headlines trumpeted: Two NYC districts embarked… Continue reading True Equality Means Everyone Is Equally Unhappy
About a year ago, I asked: Is an ‘Unenriched’ Spring Break Worth Living? I confessed that, despite offers flooding my inbox to sign my kids up for coding camp or a writing workshop or test prep, I was tired. So, over Spring Break, we did… nothing. In New York City, admitting you let a child… Continue reading The Privilege (and Cost) Of Being “Well-Rounded.”
(Photo credit: The TMezz Creative Group) Back in October of 2016, I asked: Do Single Sex Schools Hurt Or Help Students? I shared recent research on the subject which, like the majority of educational research, came down to… we’re not sure. In this interview, Janelle Bradshaw, Superintendent of Public Prep Academies, explains what she believes… Continue reading Can Single Sex Schools Shrink the Achievement Gap?
Spring is a major holding pattern for New York City families. Middle school placement, Universal Pre-K, and Gifted & Talented scores are due “any minute.” Kindergarten General Education, charter schools, and high school offers are out. But the process is far from over. High schools hold a Second Round for those unhappy with their initial… Continue reading The Butterfly Effect: Good and Bad News About Your NYC Public School Waitlist
New York City families who’d been ripping their hair out for over two months finally learned where their children had been placed for General Education public school kindergarten on March 28th. The results had been posted for nearly a full day before the Department of Education notified anxiously waiting parents that they were available. When… Continue reading How It Really Works: Behind the Scenes of a NYC Public School Waitlist & More Parent Portal Glitches!
When my editorial, The Drive To Change Elite School Admissions Is All About Killing the Messenger, ran in the New York Post on March 21, I received many compliments from friends and readers. My husband was not impressed. He started peppering me with questions: What are the numbers for this? What are the numbers for… Continue reading By the Numbers: Math the NYC Department of Education Really Doesn’t Want Parents To Do
Last week, I received the following email from a parent: I‘m being told by the parent coordinator at our zoned school (PS 11Q) that general ed school choice is not real, and my child will be attending the zoned school no matter what I ranked. The PS 11Q parent coordinator did not schedule any open… Continue reading The Sorting Hat: How NYC’s Kindergarten Admission Really Works
News broke last Tuesday, March 12th, that some rich parents, including actors Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) and Lori Loughlin (Full House), paid from $15,000 to $500,000 to fraudulently arrange their children’s acceptances into colleges ranging from Yale to University of Southern California. The usual suspects made the appropriate shocked noises. Like when Major Strasser learned… Continue reading Say Goodbye To Hollywood: How Much For a ‘Good’ NYC Public School?
