Waitlists had long been a fact of life for New York City Kindergarten and Gifted & Talented admissions, Hunter College Elementary, and other public charter schools. But Mayor Bill De Blasio only added them to middle and high school admissions in 2019. (Previously, there had been a Second Round for teens who didn’t get any… Continue reading How NYC School Waitlists Work – And How They Don’t
(In our May 10, 2021 post, NYC Endorses Gifted & Talented Approach Determined To Do Least Good For All Students (But Especially Minority and Low Income Ones), we printed an excerpt from a PS 163 parent about their school dropping its G&T program. We now present the letter in its entirety.) On or around June… Continue reading NYC School Drops Popular Gifted & Talented Program: A Parent’s Take
After his own Panel For Education Policy voted down renewing the contract that had been used to test students for New York City public school Gifted & Talented programs in January of 2021, Mayor Bill De Blasio swore that parents of incoming Kindergarteners would still be able to apply their children for admission… somehow. In… Continue reading Where Is the Equity? Different Students Face Different Tests for NYC Gifted & Talented School Admissions
NYC Parents Sound Off on 2021 Kindergarten Admissions: Your Most Commonly Asked Questions… Answered!
Early on the morning of April 8, families began emailing me to report that New York City’s parent portal was acting funny. General Ed Kindergarten results were appearing in the waitlisted section, then promptly disappearing. This is good news, I told them. Based on previous years, when results arrived via blank and garbled documents, this… Continue reading NYC Parents Sound Off on 2021 Kindergarten Admissions: Your Most Commonly Asked Questions… Answered!
Last week, Chalkbeat reported: New York City public schools are projected to receive $4.5 billion in federal coronavirus relief, bringing a significant financial boost as education officials plan for the fall… (B)ig questions remain, including how state and city officials will use this new infusion of cash — roughly $4,500 more per student — to… Continue reading Parents Weigh In On How NYC Schools Should Spend Our Federal Relief Money
New York City families who applied to private high schools this year were obliged to turn in their enrollment contracts — and put down a deposit on tuition — by noon of last Friday, March 12, 2021. In previous years, NYC Specialized, Screened, Arts, Ed-Opt, P-Tech, and all other public high schools would also notify… Continue reading Why NYC High School Admissions Will Be Very Different This Year: How Families Can Make It Better
(As a coalition of parents and teachers sues the DOE to stop the testing, this is a guest post by Diana Brogan, an attorney but currently stay-at-home mom of two elementary school students. She is PTA President and Executive Committee member of the District Presidents’ Council.) Last Monday morning thousands of New York City public… Continue reading NYC Mom Pushes Back Against “Coerced Consent” COVID-19 Testing in Public Schools
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
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!
My husband is a teacher. He’s back at work five days a week. My oldest son is a junior in college. They sent him home back in March, and already informed us they’ll be remote for the entire 2020-2021 academic year. My younger son is a junior in high school. He has opted for all… Continue reading Naked Came the Mother & Other Embarrassing Remote Learning Stories
