Mayor Bill De Blasio officially shut down New York City public schools as of Monday, March 16, 2020. Since then, he and School Chancellor Richard Carranza have had over five months to plan for how to reopen them in September. In July, they announced that families would have a choice: They could opt to continue… Continue reading The (Last Minute) Plans of Mice and Men… and NYC Schools
As of Monday, August 24, clicking on the link: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/calendar produces the message: No items were found. That’s certainly reassuring. Nonetheless, the majority of stakeholders, from Mayor Bill De Blasio to School Chancellor Richard Carranza to UFT President Michael Mulgrew to, oh, yeah, parents and students (remember them?) are operating on the assumption that the… Continue reading De Blasio & Carranza: Open (Schools), Says Me
New York City parents have lots of questions about schools in September 2020: Remote Or Hybrid Instruction? Who Will Teach My Children? If We Leave Now, Will Our Children Be Allowed To Return To Their Public Schools Later? Not to mention: Whatever happened with those lost G&T Scores? But, because this is New York City,… Continue reading Getting Into NYC Kindergarten 2021: COVID-19 Edition
Since March of 2020, I have been forced to repeatedly apologize to my readers for not being able to personally answer all of your questions about what is happening (and what will happen) with New York City schools, but there are simply too many for me to keep up with. There is quite a bit… Continue reading NYC Parents Wonder, “If We Leave Now, Will Our Kids Be Allowed To Return To Their Public Schools Later?”
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!
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?
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
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?
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!
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
