Emmy-winning Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon threw her hat into the New York gubernatorial race two weeks ago and, since then, she been traversing the state, stumping for a variety of issues. While the usual suspects parse her stance on subways, minimum wage, and women’s/LGBTQ rights, I am going to focus (to the… Continue reading Cynthia Nixon on Education: Look At What She Did, Not What She Says
“I’m having a hard time getting through this because of the language. The constant referral to incarcerated individuals as inmates speaks to the inhumane vantage point from which they are viewed by society. Imagine if we all were forever referred to by the result of our worst decision in life?” This was my response to… Continue reading How Deeply Do You Think About Language?
(This post is by Sam Radford, president of the Buffalo Schools District Parent Coordinating Council and a member of the High Achievement New York coalition. It was originally published in the Buffalo News.) Most people are familiar with the “opt-out” effort, a group that encourages parents to withdraw their children from annual state assessments in Math… Continue reading Low-Income Communities Say Yes to the Test Because Knowledge is Power!
Today, Monday, March 26, is the day when all New York City eighth-graders must either decide which public High School offer they are going to accept or, if they were given no match during the First Round, turn in their application for the schools left in Second Round. (For tips on why and how you… Continue reading Letting My 14 Year-Old Make His Own Educational Decisions
On March 22, 2018, I met and interviewed Makaila King, the young lady who encouraged our school to get involved in the National Walkout that took place last week, which I also participated in. I wanted to get to know Makaila better and to find out what drove her to take charge and organize the… Continue reading An Interview With Queens School Community Walkout Organizer Mikaila King
(Glenn Mason is a former CPA who spent over 25 years in a variety of roles in corporate America. He is presently a New York City public high school teacher. This is in his twelfth academic year in his newfound career and his second guest post with New York School Talk. Glenn’s first post is… Continue reading When My Kids Cry out, “Yo, Mister! Connect the dots!” I Know I’m Doing My Job
New York City’s new School Chancellor, Richard Carranza, comes to America’s largest district from San Francisco (after a suspiciously brief 18 month tenure in Houston). For the first 24 hours following the appointment, Carranza being in the International Mariachi Hall of Fame was the leading news fluff. Little about his policies. Which left NYC parents… Continue reading Want To Know What New School Chancellor Will Do In NYC? Take a Look At San Francisco! (And How It Worked Out….)
Last week, the nation watched as students from across the United States walked out of their school buildings and took their voices to loudspeakers and microphones as they spoke their truth about the negative ways gun violence in our schools affects them. My building principal recognized early on that students were going to participate in… Continue reading African-American Pedagogical Experts Are What This Surge Of Student Social Activists Needs!
Six years ago my mentor, Mercedes Muller, informed me about a local NYC book drive that gives away books to teachers who work in Title One schools that serve many low-income students. Every year since then, I have greatly benefited from the books I receive. Working in schools in communities that struggle economically has made… Continue reading In 2018, Books With Diverse Characters Still Few And Far Between At Local New York City Book Drive
Remember the scene at the beginning of “Men in Black” when Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) is auditioning men for a new slot in a secret agency that oversees alien visitors from other galaxies? After a series of bizarre tests, he picks the iconoclast in the group, soon-to-be Agent J (played by Will Smith). The… Continue reading “Wait a minute. You just flash that thing, it erases her memory, and you just make up a new one?” De Blasio, Carranza, and Men in Black.
