On Monday, September 23, the Community Education Council of Brooklyn’s School District #16 (Bedford-Stuyvesant) voted to ask New York City to get rid of all Gifted & Talented programs as advised by the Student Diversity Advisory Group (SDAG). There was the by now familiar rhetoric of how District #16’s schools are not racially or socio-economically… Continue reading Follow the Money and See Where It Goes: NYC Schools Edition.
When I give my Getting Into NYC Kindergarten workshops to community organizations, I explain the differences between New York City’s two types of Gifted & Talented programs. The five Citywide G&T’s are Accelerated. That means that, because there is no such thing as a G&T curriculum, these schools take the standard NYC school curriculum and… Continue reading What’s “Enrichment,” Anyway? Can It Really Replace Gifted & Talented Programs?
When news dropped late last month (literally 10 minutes before my middle child’s birthday dinner) about a proposal to get rid of New York City’s Gifted & Talented programs, The NY Daily News asked me to write an editorial on the topic. It ran on August 27 and was entitled, Eliminate Gifted & Talented Programs?… Continue reading “Implying That Black and Hispanic Kids Only Do Better When They’re In School With White Kids Is Racist.” A NYC Mom Speaks Out.
The New York Times reports that “[a] group of selective schools and programs geared to students labeled gifted and talented is filled mostly with white and Asian children,” even though the vast majority of the 1.1 million students in New York City are Black and Latinx. And so a “high-level panel appointed by Mayor Bill… Continue reading NYC’s Gifted and Talented Programs Need Accessibility, Not Elimination.
On Tuesday, August 27, 2019, New York City’s School Diversity Advisory Group released a proposal that formally called for the closing of all Gifted & Talented programs and Screened schools. Not included in the report was Hunter College Elementary and High School, the most coveted NYC gifted school of them all. Full disclosure: My husband… Continue reading Calls For Closing All NYC Gifted & Talented/Screened Schools – Where Does Hunter Fit In?
It’s been an extremely difficult season for New York City public schools admissions. The new Parent Portal found novel and exciting ways to malfunction. Placements would appear and disappear. Results were posted for high school and Gifted & Talented admission, only to be nullified and families informed they weren’t official. One parent shared with me:… Continue reading Parents Helping Parents – When the Department of Ed Won’t (Gifted & Talented Edition)
Like Computer Science for All, Algebra For All is a New York City initiative which predates our current school chancellor, Richard Carranza. According to the official nyc.gov website: Through Algebra for All, by 2022, every student will have access to algebra in eighth grade, complete algebra no later than ninth grade, and there will be… Continue reading Algebra in 8th Grade Is Good! Algebra in 8th Grade is Bad! Pick One, Mr. Chancellor.
We really should be used to it by now. The hypocrisy, that is. News broke last week that Cheryl Watson-Harris, whom New York City School Chancellor Richard Carranza promoted to First Deputy Chancellor in July of 2018, had somehow gotten her children into two of Brooklyn’s top screened middle-schools — at least one of whom… Continue reading It’s the Hypocrisy, Stupid: NYC School Choice For… Some
Spring is a major holding pattern for New York City families. Middle school placement, Universal Pre-K, and Gifted & Talented scores are due “any minute.” Kindergarten General Education, charter schools, and high school offers are out. But the process is far from over. High schools hold a Second Round for those unhappy with their initial… Continue reading The Butterfly Effect: Good and Bad News About Your NYC Public School Waitlist
Kindergarten Connect, the form New York City parents use to apply to public school Kindergarten for September 2019, came out on December 5 after being delayed from its originally announced date, December 3, presumably due to the ongoing disaster that is the new Parent Portal. Kindergarten Connect was designed to help all families exercise school… Continue reading Some Families Don’t Know How To Exercise School Choice. Others Don’t Know They’re Already Doing It: An Open Letter To Both
