Joe Biden’s inauguration promised to usher in a fresh era of sense and science. Americans rejoiced. Joe Biden vowed to re-open all schools closed by the COVID-19 pandemic within his first 100 days in office. Parents rejoiced. Then the details began emerging. High schools would not be included in the reopening plans, only Kindergarten through… Continue reading Biden Vows To Reopen All US Schools in First 100 Days: What That Means For NYC
(This is a guest post by Joseph S. Lento, a licensed Teacher of Orchestral Music and School District Administration. In 2014, President Obama named him a National Teacher of Arts and Humanities. Joseph also has commendations from Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. In 1999, he was named NYC Public Schools Bronx County… Continue reading Remote Learning: A Tool for Educator Self Assessment
Every adult in a school building gets a union. Most are members of the United Federation of Teachers, and together they are incredibly powerful and effective. They negotiate all the rules. They can influence hiring and firing procedures, and everything about teaching. They have negotiated an incredible list of policies and rights for their members,… Continue reading Teachers Have a Union… Why Don’t Students: How They Can Help Each Other When the DOE Fails
As a whopping 40+(!) candidates gear up to run for Mayor of New York City, we thought we’d take a comprehensive look at the education legacy of Gracie Mansion’s current occupant. Bill de Blasio was sworn in as NYC’s 109th Mayor on January 1, 2014. He told a Tale of Two Cities and promised to… Continue reading Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing: NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s Education Legacy
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and his School Chancellor Richard Carranza have been railing against elementary school Gifted & Talented programs since they both stepped into office. (Despite not having a very good grasp of what ‘gifted’ actually meant or why NYC families were so desperate for the meager programming the Department of… Continue reading NYC Mayor Promises Gifted School Programs for 2021: How This Could Benefit ALL Kids
New Yorkers love school choice. Especially those who don’t realize they have it. As I wrote in December 2018, those are the parents who insist everyone should attend their zoned public school. It’s the moral thing to do. But then they apply to progressive unzoned schools. And dual language programs. And Gifted & Talented programs.… Continue reading Free At Last! Why New Yorkers Can Admit To Loving School Choice Again
Last week, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio announced that 2021 would be the last year his Department of Education would administer the public school Gifted & Talented test for placement into Citywide and District programs. His spokeswoman, Miranda Barbot, clarified: “We will spend the next year engaging communities around what kind of programming… Continue reading How NYC Parents Can Save Public School Education: It’s Up To You!
My December 21, 2020 post, Answering Parent Questions About Getting Into NYC Kindergarten 2021: COVID-19 Edition, prompted an avalanche of — what else? — more questions. On top of asking whether there will be Gifted & Talented testing and how seats will be filled at those schools if there isn’t (answer: we still don’t know;… Continue reading Will It Be Easier To Get Into Your First Choice NYC School For September 2021 – Or Harder?
