Part #1 Part #2 For decades, Community Based Organization preschools in NYC have been the main source of “PreK For All” seats for the city’s children, and are now single-handedly making the “3K” expansion that the mayor brags about a reality. Most of the children and families served in CBOs are the most underprivileged in… Continue reading NYC Teacher Speaks Out: Equity For ALL? (Part 3 of 3)
Part One Most Community Based Organization preschool staff, like myself, worked in person, throughout the past year, when many in the NYC education field “went remote.” I am the leader of a CBO pre-k in the Bronx that has served the community for over 70 years. Recently, the mayor and city council didn’t think school… Continue reading NYC Teacher Speaks Out: “Essential” Workers? (Part 2 of 3)
“NO 3K Without Equal Pay!” This is a slogan that was written several years back on a sign that has been gathering dust in an office closet at the Bronx Community Based Organization (CBO) preschool in a NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) development where I work. Guess it may be time to take it out again,… Continue reading NYC Teacher Speaks out: City Still Falls Short on CBO Pre-K Pay Parity Promises (Part 1 of 3)
America hates teachers. There’s no other way to put it. I’m not interested in massaging language to say what is quite obvious to me and so many of my fellow teachers — especially when nobody cares to massage their language when they’re out there bashing us! America has a very toxic relationship with teachers and… Continue reading America’s Toxic Relationship With Teachers
(This is a guest post by Isis Spann, an educational coach determined to prove that “high poverty can equal high performance when we engage more with families.” She is a founding delegate of the National Parents Union, FUNdamentals of Learning owner, and author of “Taking the WORK Out Of Homework.”) In college, I had the… Continue reading You Can’t Teach Who You Don’t Know!
“Teachers get off at three o’clock. They don’t work a full day.” “Teachers get summers off and all those holidays.” These are the comments that teachers often hear that make our skin crawl. If our workdays are so cushy, why aren’t people lining up to take our place? Folks who make these remarks never seem… Continue reading Lets Talk About Days and Hours Worked
Princess Francois is an Assistant Principal at the Math, Engineering, and Science Academy Charter High School (MESA), in Bushwick, Brooklyn. In 2019, she was New York State’s only winner of the National Milken Educator Award. What makes this educator outstanding and how can her practices be extended to other NYC schools? New York School Talk… Continue reading Forget the Academy Awards, Meet the NYC Assistant Principal Who Won the ‘Oscars’ Of Teaching!
People choose to become educators for a variety of reasons, and become them in a variety of ways. Mr. Stevens became a physical education teacher because he wanted to bring together helping people with his passion for sports and physical activity. Ms. Long became a teacher as a result of her interaction as a youth… Continue reading Becoming An Educator
“Mister, can we speak with you?” three young ladies asked as they approached me one day between classes. They were there on behalf of a fourth young lady, their friend Danielle. It was prom season and Danielle wanted to go but didn’t have the funds. From time to time I would anonymously pay for things… Continue reading A Very Special High School Prom Conspiracy Abetted By A Very Special Teacher.
I sent out the following tongue-in-cheek email to my family and a few friends on my last day of teaching: Did you hear about the disturbance that took place in Harlem at 11:45am today? Apparently there was this teacher dancing down the streets in celebration. He walked out of the rear door of his school… Continue reading Why Was This Teacher Doing The Funky Chicken On 116th Street in Harlem?
