I'm about to head down to City Hall for a briefing on next year's school budget and then to the Keep the Promises rally against the budget cuts. There's been so much information floating around in the last few weeks, not to mention the leadership shakeup in Albany, that it's hard to know what's...
The city's new social promotion policy scares me. I keep imagining corridors filled with giant sneakers and puny 6th graders bumping into their bearded, muscular classmates who are repeating 8th grade. It brings me back to our first tour of a middle school two years ago, when my then 5th grader...
At the Panel for Educational Policy last night, parents from the Coalition for Educational Justice did raise such a fight against the DOE's 8th grade promotion policy that the rest of the agenda had to be jettisoned. But as we all predicted, their protest had no affect. Even one of the two panel...
At 6 p.m. today, the Panel for Educational Policy will convene at Tweed to vote on the chancellor's proposed 8th grade promotion policy. Unlike many recent DOE policies, this one has met some real resistance on the path toward finalization. The Sun reports that both the Manhattan and Bronx...
Last week, I took advantage of the elementary school half day to sit down with Jake G., a 2nd grader and member of the Insideschools family. Jake leveled with me on what it's like to go to Lower Lab, why having a computer means more responsibility for him, and how parents can keep their 7 year...
We already know that military recruitment goes "unchecked" at many high schools around the city and that the DOE says it prefers schools to have freedom from regulations than freedom from military incursions. But did you know that the Marines routinely fly teachers, counselors, and parent...
As the excitement of Governor Spitzer's resignation wanes and the state prepares for next week's leadership change, we can start to think about the practical implications of the leadership shakeup upon the city's schools. Upon taking office in January 2007, Spitzer promised to equalize funding...
Plainly stated, the Weighted Regents Pass Rate sucks. For those of you who don't know, the Weighted Regents Pass Rate is an assessment of a school's performance based on students' Regents test scores, and it's one component that makes up a high school's progress report grade. As you can probably...
Today the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Committee and other parent groups are up in Albany lobbying on behalf of the city's schools. But something tells me lawmakers have other things on their mind besides the plight of New York City's public schools.
In the last few years, the city's schools have gotten better about identifying overweight students and suggesting more activity for them, but physical education still gets short shrift at most schools, according to the Gotham Gazette. The DOE's Office of Fitness and Physical Education implemented...
At a recent Legislative Breakfast in District 3, a member of the state legislature explained that the city's representatives in Albany face challenges as they seek to restore education money to the state budget because of Mayor Bloomberg’s cuts to the city's education budget. The money in...
As the mayoral control forums have heralded in an open season against the last five years of New York City school reform, I've heard a growing defense of large high schools. Last week at a New School event, Merryl Tisch called on the DOE to "revitalize the concept of large high schools," noting...
More bad budget news -- and this time, it's not just for schools. The mayor announced yesterday that all city agencies will have to trim an additional 3 percent from their budgets next year because of decreased state aid. It's not clear whether the cuts will actually happen -- the Times suggests...
The internet's abuzz with talk of this week's New York Times Magazine's cover story, "Teaching Boys and Girls Separately." The article describes a growth in single-sex education nationally, fueled by two sets of proponents of single-sex education: neuro(pseudo)scientists, who believe hard-wired...
The words middle school strike fear into the heart of otherwise rational parents. It causes some to pack-up and move to the suburbs, afraid that the New York City public school system will fall woefully short of their expectations.Others may declare, "My child needs private school, with all that...
Less than a year after struggling to land a location, Khalil Gibran International Academy could become a vagabond again. The DOE is hoping to move it to PS 287 in Fort Greene for the fall, even though last summer DOE officials said the Dean Street building where it's currently housed would be...
Less than a year after struggling to land a location, Khalil Gibran International Academy could become a vagabond again. The DOE is hoping to move it to PS 287 in Fort Greene for the fall, even though last summer DOE officials said the Dean Street building where it's currently housed would be...
First, the City Council recommends realistic, affordable, broadly supported middle school reforms. Then, after earmarking only $5 million to fund a few of the reforms, the DOE rolls out a punitive policy to retain more 8th graders. The mayor then cuts funds that go to support the very programs it...
Dozens of parents, advocates and students representing the Coalition for Educational Justice crowded the foyer of Fashion Industries High School tonight in Manhattan to hold a press conference calling for middle grades reform. The boisterous conference, which featured speakers who included City...
Today is the DOE's annual lobby day, where DOE representatives as well as parents travel to Albany to push the city's schools' agenda in the budget process. Usually, the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council spearheads the effort to get parents up to Albany. But this year, unhappy at the city's...
Is the DOE's next cost-cutting move going to be dismantling District 75, the city's district for students with the severest disabilities? That's what parents and the teachers' union allege in yesterday's Post. They say the "hush-hush" study being conducted now by the Council of the Great City...
Parents — looking for something to do during this week off? Take a survey about the arts in your school. The Center for Arts Education is surveying parents about their opinions on arts education and the role of art at their schools. By taking the survey, you'll be helping CAE advocate for better...
Parents — looking for something to do during this week off? Take a survey about the arts in your school. The Center for Arts Education is surveying parents about their opinions on arts education and the role of art at their schools. By taking the survey, you'll be helping CAE advocate for...
If it's February, it must mean that the DOE is scurrying to find spaces for all of the new schools it plans to open in September. In addition to the 27 high schools and transfer schools opening in the fall, some number of elementary, middle, and charter schools will also open, and they all need...
With no funding for tutoring and after school programs for the rest of the year, some schools must be turning to free labor to provide those important services. I just heard that Learning Leaders, the half-century-old organization that places trained volunteers in schools, is urgently seeking...
Arlen Benjamin-Gomez/Insideschools, AFC This was the scene yesterday at the student-run "Broken Hearts" rally against the budget cuts. We've heard that the kids there were pretty fired up -- hopefully they can sustain their energy in the coming weeks, as the Keep the Promises Coalition ramps up...
According to the Daily News, the DOE is spending $32 million— more than three times what it spent last year — to grade standardized tests this year. New state and federal laws require teachers to do the grading, so instead of grading tests after school, teachers in middle and elementary...
Thank you guys for all of the positive feedback, it feels great to know that I have some support! Wednesday night was the Bronx Science open house, and therefore a good chance to get a feel for what the subway ride was going to be like. From the time that we got into the subway to the time that...
One more dispatch from last night, where I was surprised to hear several speakers thinking about the possible long-term economic effects of the budget cuts. Ziporah Steiner, principal of Maxwell High School, offered a real-world example of what the budget cuts could mean once she cuts all after...
Today at 4 p.m., Students Against the DOE Budget Cuts, a new student-organized group that looks like it's getting support from NYCORE and Time Out From Testing, will be holding a march on Tweed to oppose the budget cuts. Many folks last night said they would be supporting the student protest, and...
While the response to the budget cuts started quietly and informally, it's now shaping up to be a loud, organized expression of years of frustration with the way the mayor and chancellor have managed the city's schools. At the Borough Hall meeting last night, it was the repeated calls for...
At a strategy meeting tonight at Brooklyn Borough Hall, City Council member Bill deBlasio emphasized that the recent budget cuts are "huge, reversible, and represent broken promises," staying on point with the message of the Keep the Promises Coalition, which held an inaugural press conference on...
NYC's students are taking action. In response to the city's and state's recent education budget cuts, a group called Students Against DOE Budget Cuts has organized a protest on the steps of Tweed Courthouse for tomorrow, Valentine's Day. This is no surprise to me. These cuts have sent a shock...
The head of the American Federation of Teachers, the national teachers' union, is stepping down this summer, and UFT President Randi Weingarten is the heir apparent to the job; elections will be held in July and she could be headed to Washington, D.C. shortly after that. The Times notes that...
When $100,000 is yanked out of your school's budget, every dime that your PTA has raised is more precious than ever. That dime is yours to spend, and no one can take it out of your bank account in the middle of the night. It represents the ability to control your school's destiny. So whatever...
Just a reminder that tonight's the last public hearing about the DOE's proposed changes to pre-K and kindergarten admission policy. 6:30 p.m., Dewitt Clinton HS, the Bronx. For a refresher on what happened at the Brooklyn and Manhattan hearings, read our earlier coverage. If you can't make it...
Photo by Philissa Cramer/Insideschools Everyone who's anyone in the fight to improve the city's schools stood on the steps of City Hall this afternoon for a press conference announcing the creation of the "Keep the Promises" Coalition. The coalition of teachers, principals, advocates, elected...
Great news!! We got our specialized and non-specialized school results back yesterday, and I got into my first-choice specialized high school... BRONX SCIENCE!!! I'm really excited and really proud, because I honestly didn't expect to make it. I was on a bus riding back from a school trip when...
Let's keep our fingers crossed for Izzy -- today's the day that most kids who applied to a specialized high school find out whether they've been admitted. (It could take a few days for kids to get their decision letters if their middle school chose to mail them home.) According to the DOE's press...
Since October, we've visited more than half a dozen middle schools, compared notes and listed our top five choices in order. We care a lot about education and choice in our family, so we laid out a fairly ambitious schedule of tours, questions and considerations. But we fell down on the job. I...
I've been a bit depressed lately. After learning about the new budget cuts, I had to begin talking about how to work around the cuts with my school's School Leadership Team. It's a scary situation for principals, teachers, students and just about everyone else in our school communities. Last...
Chancellor Klein understands that principals are furious about the mid-year budget cuts. That's why he emailed them on Monday to tell them how much he wants to help them (through their Integrated Service Centers, of course) and to explain that the city has shielded schools from budget cuts for...
We just added a dozen more principal responses to our compendium of what schools are cutting as a result of last week's budget cuts. The most frequent things to go: After school programs, extra tutoring, and per diem personnel. Principals say classes will be more crowded and students who need...
The Times reports today from India: This year, admissions for prekindergarten seats in Delhi begin for children as young as 3, and what school they get into now is widely felt to make or break their educational fate. And so it was that a businessman, having applied to 15 private schools for...
Charter schools have never sounded like a better idea than they do now — at the same time that regular public schools are being forced to cut essential services like tutoring and counseling, a new charter school is planning to offer unprecedented levels of social support. According to the Sun,...
If the DOE is using state test scores to judge students, schools, teachers, and principals, how can it stomach forcing schools to cut extra tutoring (among other programs and services) just six weeks before the state math exam? Assuming that the DOE understands that it's in the city's best...
Today is Super Tuesday — and in an unusual circumstance, New Yorkers will cast their ballots in a presidential race that has not yet been whittled to two opponents. Vote early or late, or on your way to celebrate the Giants' Super Bowl win, but do make time to vote at your local polling place....
On Friday, Insideschools asked principals to tell us how they're dealing with the mid-year budget cuts, and our record of their responses is up now. We'll be continuing to add to this as we principals get in touch with us, so tell your principal to email us now.
Robin Aronow, a consultant who advises parents on school choice, wrote with additional information from last week's Manhattan pre-K proposal hearing. It sounds like most of the issues raised there are similar to those raised in Brooklyn, which I reported on last week. Parents want more preference...
You must be living under a rock if you haven't heard about the significant school budget cuts that the DOE made last week. In addition to the $324 million that schools will need to cut from their budgets next year, principals were also lost 1.75 percent of this year's budget — before they could...
A 5th-grade boy raised his hand on our last middle school tour and posed a question that took everyone aback. It reminded grown-ups in the room what it must feel like to be 10 or 11 years old, contemplating your educational future. “Is it easy to make friends at this middle school?’’ the...
