The Needs Of the Many Outweigh the Needs Of the Few: NYC Schools Edition
achievement gap · Blog · coronavirus · DOE Screw Ups · Hybrid Learning · online learning · Parents Helping Parents · remote learning · School Budget

The Needs Of the Many Outweigh the Needs Of the Few: NYC Schools Edition

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

As we shared last week, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio unexpectedly held a press conference the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend to announce the school re-opening plan he’d promised the previous Wednesday but then said would be coming sometime in early December. (Got that?) Hizzoner proclaimed that while middle and high schools would remain… Continue reading The Needs Of the Many Outweigh the Needs Of the Few: NYC Schools Edition

Cuomo & De Blasio Promise They’ll “Listen To Parents” On Reopening Schools: Here’s What NYC Parents Want Them To Hear
coronavirus · Hybrid Learning · NYC Parent Voices · NYC Schools Reopening · online learning

Cuomo & De Blasio Promise They’ll “Listen To Parents” On Reopening Schools: Here’s What NYC Parents Want Them To Hear

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

“Do whatever you want to do: Remote, hybrid – whatever your parents agree to, you can do,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio at his press conference on November 22, 2020. In response, De Blasio promised to listen to parents and get “maximum agreement,” before unveiling his reopening… Continue reading Cuomo & De Blasio Promise They’ll “Listen To Parents” On Reopening Schools: Here’s What NYC Parents Want Them To Hear

Exceeding Expectations: How I Chose My Homeschooling Classes
Advanced Placement · Computer Science · homeschooling · NYC high school · student voices

Exceeding Expectations: How I Chose My Homeschooling Classes

Gregory WickhamLeave a comment

At the beginning of November, I left 11th grade at Stuyvesant High School, and started homeschooling myself. One of the primary benefits of homeschooling is that it freed me to select my courses of study. Had I stayed at Stuyvesant, this year I would have taken American Literature, Spanish 3, US History, Health, Regents Physics,… Continue reading Exceeding Expectations: How I Chose My Homeschooling Classes

Whatever You Do For Your Child, You’ll Be Wrong: Why I Gave My Son Permission To Drop Out Of High School
Advanced Placement · Blog · homeschooling · NYC Parent Voices · online learning · transferring schools

Whatever You Do For Your Child, You’ll Be Wrong: Why I Gave My Son Permission To Drop Out Of High School

Alina Adams1 Comment

We see a child in a maple tree We’re watching him climb, You and I. You say, “Come down, You’ll hurt yourself!” I say, “Go up You’re touching the sky!” – “Seeing Things” by John Kander and Fred Ebb Those who’ve been reading me regularly might remember that my middle child has been begging to… Continue reading Whatever You Do For Your Child, You’ll Be Wrong: Why I Gave My Son Permission To Drop Out Of High School

NYC Parent Rails Against “DOE Attack on Literacy in New York City’s Public Schools”
admissions · literacy · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · screened nyc schools

NYC Parent Rails Against “DOE Attack on Literacy in New York City’s Public Schools”

nyschooltalk1 Comment

(This is a guest post by M. Baranski, a parent in the NYC public school system.) The DOE’s movement spearheaded by the school chancellor Carranza and encouraged by the Mayor is trying to completely undermine our already barely functioning educational system by eliminating the concept of “education” and merit based achievement from DOE’s agenda.   Carranza,… Continue reading NYC Parent Rails Against “DOE Attack on Literacy in New York City’s Public Schools”

An NYC Schools Admissions Plan So Crazy It Just Might Work – For Everyone
admissions · Blog · educational equity · NYC high school · NYC middle school · NYC School Admissions · School Choice · school diversity · screened nyc schools

An NYC Schools Admissions Plan So Crazy It Just Might Work – For Everyone

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

On October 29, Brooklyn City Council member Brad Lander reached out to his New York city colleagues: I am writing to request your support for Reso 1397 which would prohibit the use of screens for admission into community school district middle schools for the 2021-2022 school year. To counter, I shared my May 2019 post,… Continue reading An NYC Schools Admissions Plan So Crazy It Just Might Work – For Everyone

Is Outside Of School Education Hurting All of America’s Kids?
achievement gap · educational equity

Is Outside Of School Education Hurting All of America’s Kids?

nyschooltalkLeave a comment

(This is a guest post by Pawan Dhingra, author of Hyper Education: Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough. He has been published in The New York Times, CNN, and elsewhere. He and his work have been featured in The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and USA Today. He can… Continue reading Is Outside Of School Education Hurting All of America’s Kids?

From Stuyvesant HS to Homeschooling in One Marking Period
Advanced Placement · educational equity · Finding the Right School · homeschooling · NYC high school · online learning · School Choice · student voices

From Stuyvesant HS to Homeschooling in One Marking Period

Gregory WickhamLeave a comment

Two Mondays ago I began to homeschool myself in lieu of completing my tenure as a Stuyvesant High School student. There are many reasons I did this, including greater educational and temporal freedom, but it is important that I share not only why, but also how I homeschool, so that others may find it easier… Continue reading From Stuyvesant HS to Homeschooling in One Marking Period

The Other Epidemic: Majority of American High School Seniors Aren’t Proficient at Reading Or Math
Accountability · achievement gap · DOE Fails · educational equity

The Other Epidemic: Majority of American High School Seniors Aren’t Proficient at Reading Or Math

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

The National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP) — nicknamed “America’s Report Card” — released their 12th grade scores at the end of October.  The horrifying results: Just 37% of 12th-graders reached or exceeded the academic preparedness benchmarks for both math and reading that would qualify them for entry-level college courses. (Ed. note: They are being… Continue reading The Other Epidemic: Majority of American High School Seniors Aren’t Proficient at Reading Or Math

NYC Mayor Pressures Families to Opt Into Hybrid Learning: Parents Fire Back!
Blog · coronavirus · DOE incompetence · Hybrid Learning · NYC Parent Voices · Parents Helping Parents · remote learning

NYC Mayor Pressures Families to Opt Into Hybrid Learning: Parents Fire Back!

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

To date, our most popular post of 2020 has been: The (Last Minute) Plans of Mice and Men… And NYC Schools, listing all the ways in which Mayor Bill De Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza have been announcing, then walking back, then changing school reopening plans since the spring. Now comes another bait and switch:… Continue reading NYC Mayor Pressures Families to Opt Into Hybrid Learning: Parents Fire Back!