With the Obama/McCain showdown claiming more above-the-fold newspaper space and primetime television minutes each week, I have been considering the delicate relationship between teachers’ personal politics, and their educational obligations to their students. Children have no qualms about asking...
More than 1,000 students, educators and concerned citizens marched outside a rain-soaked City Hall yesterday in protest of proposed budget cuts to New York City’s public schools. Others organized against the budget cuts online, meanwhile, directing an onslaught of emails to City Council...
In the days since middle-school placements were announced, we've heard repeatedly from parents of kids in CTT and self-contained special ed classes: Some students haven't received seats in middle school, even though they will graduate from grade school in a few days. "Special education students...
On top of admissions jitters, stormy weather and Brooklyn’s new IKEA opening, a busy week on the budget and funding fronts is ahead of us. Stay up-to-date with the Insideschools calendar as we plow towards the summer break. Today the Keep the Promises Coalition is holding a rally against the...
We've heard troubling news from parents in Brooklyn: It seems that some rising sixth-graders with special needs, both those who participated in Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT) classes and self-contained classes, haven't yet received middle school seats. The news is especially worrisome because...
Parents citywide should have g+t kindergarten and first grade placement results no later than today, according to the DOE, which used couriers to hand-deliver letters across all five boros -- even in Staten Island, according to one commenter. Apparently, the fallout from pre-K had big...
First, Happy Papa's Day, Dads -- hope your families are treating you well, soggy weather notwithstanding. On the g+t front, one commenter to the blog either got a letter today, Sunday, or found one in her mailbox that might have been left there yesterday. Another commenter was grateful for the...
According to the DOE, placement letters for g+t kindergarten are in the mail, at last. They assert some families will have news today, others, over the next few days. We've also heard directly from the family of a pre-K sibling who didn't initially get a seat -- but whose case was resolved...
Another long week for plenty of New York City parents, waiting for the DOE to deliver on their promise of g+t letters out "this week," per their home page Spotlighta couple of days ago (but now removed). Many commenters have written in (understandable) frustration, and we and others have had...
This past winter, the DOE surveyed the city's 1400 principals. And today, the results of thesecond principal survey were released, with steady improvements in many measures, including principal satisfaction with DOE support in attaining school goals, school support organizations, and DOE...
Click here for District 3 kindergarten lottery results. Next steps: If a school is listed next to your child's lottery number, that's where your child will go in September. Register before school lets out this year on June 26th. You'll need to bring the admissions letter from the DOE, which...
We've been hearing today from lots of parents who haven't yet had word on their child's g+t kindergarten and first-grade placement. The official word from the DOE is "this week" -- and as it's 'only' Wednesday, more waiting's in order. If we learn more about when news was mailed, we'll let you...
If your kids aren't booked solid after school with dance, baseball, Kumon and Kaplan -- and especially if you're a family that relies on after-school programs for enrichment, homework help, clubs, teams and more, the Kids Protest Project wants you, to speak out against budget cuts that may...
From the DOE, "All parents will receive their G&T placements later this week," in line with their plannedearly-June timeline. Parents concerned that their child's application may not have been received can call OSEPO or their local borough enrollment office to inquire, but expect voicemail...
After a long wait for news from the DOE, it seems that some parents are beginning to hear about pre-K appeals and kindergarten gifted and talented placement. Some are getting good news, others, not so much. But if OSEPO has moved into a more responsive mode, parents can hope that many of the past...
Delays, confusion and misinformation have marked the middle school choice process this year, and it is simply unacceptable. This is a perfect example of the Department of Educationputting children last. Principals and guidance counselors in the elementary and middle schools have tried to be...
Rally today at 1pm at City Hall, organized by Council Member David Weprin of Queens and joined by Council colleagues and parents citywide to protest pre-K admissions -- and omissions. Bring kids, signs, and lots of water -- and plan on extra travel time, especially if you're coming from uptown,...
As plenty of parents can attest, talk has been swirling about pre-K and middle-school appeals, and second round applications for pre-K. Here's the latest: Appeals for pre-K are due to the DOE by next Friday, June 13. These appeals are meant to address clerical/record-keeping issues, like address...
We just heard from Marty Markowitz' office, who asked us to have parents write rather than telephone with pre-K information. Contact mpthomas@brooklynbp.nyc.gov. If you do write, be sure to include the following: Your name, address, and telephone number Your child's name; if there's a sibling,...
The Pre-K coverage in today's Times brings familiar tales of woe -- siblings bounced, in-zone kids displaced by out-of-zone applicants -- but some semi-encouraging news: it seems that OSEPO might reconsider its planto standardize next year's kindergarten admissions. Other reports (and our own...
Last week, Philissa asked about your kids' favorite books, for parents looking to bolster summer reading lists. In a week thick with real-life confusion, a little fiction escape may be more than welcome. One reader, bermbaby, responded with a few select NYC-based titles, awfully clear-eyed for a...
A few organizations have set up petitions and letter-writing campaigns to attempt to address education issues of concern: Families of pre-K siblings denied seats at their older-sibling's school, take a few minutes to complete this survey, conducted by Parents for DOE Accountability and...
Lots of questions waiting for answers from the DOE, but in the meanwhile, here's some feedback on specifics that have come in via comments. (Thanks as ever for posting, and for voicing questions shared by scores of city parents.) One parent asked about out-of-zone kids getting pre-K seats while...
A midday protest on the steps of Tweed organized by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and City Council member Bill deBlasio drew a few dozen parents and DOE representatives David Cantor and Andy Jacob, who fielded questions but had few concrete answers to offer. "The scale of the problem is...
During the long wait to hear about middle school acceptance, I've had the chance to think about about what really matters during the often awkward and uncomfortable years. By now, many parents have already analyzed academic programs, test scores, class size, location and any specialties they...
Local papers largely skip over the pre-K situation today; there's Sam Freedman's valedictory at the Times -- on to other endeavors -- and a cursory nod at the Post. The Sun previews possible zoning changes, sure to cast fear into the hearts of homeowners and high-rent tenants citywide, while the...
Incredible as it seems, we've had some follow-up from the DOE on pre-K sibling applications. The DOE has reviewed "about 9,000 sibling applications by hand, " according to Andy Jacob, and found "issues we might need to address" in about 200, some of which are still under review. Some scenarios...
Middle-school parents, sit tight. The DOE says what they said yesterday: Everyone should have letters by June 9th, which seems an eon away when you're waiting by the mailbox. Am trying to confirm that all letters have been mailed -- as press rep Andy Jacob said would take place by yesterday --...
It's hard to imagine how much more time the DOE will require to review the pre-K applications that have caused so much turmoil. But as there's no official word there beyond 'we're working on it and will let parents know,' I don't have news of substance to report. For those seeking political...
Despite widely-voiced hopes of a formal response from the DOE on the preK imbroglio, there's no real news on that front today, and not much consolation for worried parents. Representatives say that parents who received offers for their children should go ahead with registration, and say that the...
Parents of kids waiting for g+t kindergarten news, here's a thread to continue the conversation. Anything new in the mail today?
Commenters have spoken - separate threads, please, for distinct questions. So, let's start fresh. This post will establish a g+t middle school thread for parents who have heard, or have yet to hear, about their youngsters' applications. Kindergarten families, see the next post. (PreK, we're...
Last week's budget arguments continue to expand; this afternoon, the Alliance for Quality Educationwill protest the proposed $428 million cut, starting at 4 pm, at Stuyvesant High School. If you're stuck at work, write your City Council representative. If you attend, let us know what you see and...
Here's the start of a G+T thread for parents to share information, leads, and news. The latest sense we have is that citywide gifted and talented schools have sent out acceptances and rejections; parents have yet to hear from other schools to which their children applied. Andy Jacob of the DOE...
Pre-K and middle-school parents' conversations and chat rooms continue to buzz with worry, concern, and rising anger, with ample cause. We're hoping for clarification from the DOEon the preK admissions snafu -- having heard that some schools are rescinding acceptances, while others are not -- and...
One final note before I sign off: even though OSEPO pulled an all-nighter earlier this week trying to nail down the scope of the pre-K admissions problems, it is still planning to mail out long-delayed middle school placement letters right about now. Here's a space for parents of 5th graders to...
Today's tragic crane collapse on the Upper East Side, the latest in a series of construction accidents in city that's experiencing a building boom, took place at the site of the new East Side Middle School, where developers tore down an old public school building to make way for a new condominium...
Earlier this week, Helen posted about "Chancellor Klein's no good, very bad morning." One commenter immediately noted the allusion to the classic children's book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," by Judith Viorst, saying that she reads the book to her own son...
Some of the soon-to-be pre-K parents commenting on this blog are working through their anger and frustration about the admissions problems by generating possible solutions for them. If the DOE aims to make things right for the families it shortchanged — and I believe that is the DOE's intention —...
Earlier this week, Leonie Haimson commented on a post about the budget showdown that "no one believes that $200 million is going to be cut centrally." During this challenging week, I've really tried to give the DOE the benefit of the doubt, but all the evidence certainly does point that way. As...
I just heard from Andy Jacob at the DOE, who said he had explained many details about the nature of the pre-K admissions problems to reporters at the Times and the Post but that those details hadn't made it into print. The Daily News had a hint of the details, but I didn't see that article...
Finally, today, the pre-K debacle has made it into the papers — where we learn that the DOE believes all the problems are parents' fault. DOE spokesman Andy Jacob told the Times that the problems appear to have affected only families with siblings already enrolled in a school with a pre-K...
I had sort of thought that the folks who last autumn were talking about bringing a Hebrew-language charter school to New York City would have been dissuaded by the controversy surrounding the Khalil Gibran International Academy, but apparently they were not. Next week, representatives of the...
Sometime today the DOE put up new information about pre-K on the pre-K enrollment page. It contains a sprinkling of new information but no admission at all of widespread problems with the admissions process. And of course there's no phone number at all for parents who have questions. (If we...
This has been a tough month for public school parents and activists in New York City, the kind who fight for better schools, support the ones their children attend and try to convince friends, neighbors and other parents to do the same. These activists know that simply registering your child and...
The DOE hasn't commented on the scope of problems with pre-K admissions letters -- no matter that one Insideschools blog reader hypothesized that the problems are "HUGE" -- but officials are saying they are investigating every complaint they receive. So if you believe your child was mistakenly...
Last week, at the same time Chancellor Klein started his "classic divide and conquer" campaign to cut the budgets of high-performing schools, he also announced that he would be cutting $200 million from the DOE's central budget. We're starting to get a picture now of what programs and services...
Chancellor Joel Klein spent the first part of his day today fielding a barrage of budget questions from City Council members. In tones ranging from polite skepticism to outright accusation, member after member denounced proposed school budget cuts and Klein's appeal for state relief by...
In keeping with its grand tradition of finding a long weekend during which to mail important letters to parents, the DOE let loose Pre-K admissions decisions at the end of last week. Already, the Insideschools forum is abuzz with discussion of the process. A couple of disappointed parents lament...
Were you at the beach on Sunday? (I hope you weren't sitting around by your computer reading blogs!) If you were, you might have seen an airplane towing the message "Mayor Bloomberg, keep your promises to our schools." The Keep the Promises Coalition was spreading the word about the budget cuts...
Parents have always known they are taking a risk when they put down a deposit at a private school while waiting to hear whether they've been accepted at their preferred public schools. But I didn't know until recently that they can be risking as much as a year's tuition — which can total as much...
