Year-round school in New York? De Blasio makes pitch as he hints at gubernatorial run
From Chalkbeat: As he eyes a possible political future in Albany, Mayor Bill de Blasio pitched his next big education ideas Thursday: year-round school and extended school days across New York. De Blasio stopped just short of announcing a run for governor as he touted his statewide education plan on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” and he […]
NYC special education referrals plunge 57% from pre-pandemic levels
From Chalkbeat: Significantly fewer students were referred for special education evaluations last year, dropping 57% since the year before the pandemic started, raising concerns that thousands of students have not been identified for services they may need. During the 2020-2021 school year, 9,457 students were referred for evaluations to determine if they need more intensive […]
Just 35% of eligible NYC students have consented to coronavirus testing so far
The effectiveness of New York City’s school-based COVID testing program came under scrutiny on Wednesday when education department officials for the first time disclosed the number of students who consented to participate: just over a third of those who are eligible. In total, 192,705 students have submitted consent for the random testing program, First Deputy […]
NYC students go without mandated services because of staffing shortage
The staffing shortage caused by the thousands of unvaccinated teachers and staffers who were out of a job wreaked havoc at some city schools, where students skipped mandated services or were taught by inexperienced teachers. At PS 204 in Bensonhurst and PS 185 in Bay Ridge, there was a lack of speech specialists. At IS […]
NYC will receive 231,000 pediatric COVID vaccine doses next week. How will shots get in-arms?
From Chalkbeat: New York City parents and caregivers are likely days away from making appointments to get COVID vaccines for their children ages 5 to 11 — but city officials have yet to reveal what role, if any, schools will play in vaccine distribution. While the education department hosted clinics in nearly 800 schools this […]
NYC students heading back to school got form letters instead of MetroCards to ride transit
From Chalkbeat: Julie Lam, 16, had to crawl under a turnstile to catch the subway on her second day of school this week. Lam relies on a school-issued MetroCard to commute to and from Manhattan’s Baruch College Campus High School. But, on the first day of classes, instead of a pre-loaded card to ride city […]
NYC teachers union calls for weekly covid testing for some students as first school closes with at least 16 positive staff cases
From Chalkbeat: New York City’s teachers union called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to ramp up the frequency of random coronavirus testing in schools for students under 12, just one day after the city’s first school closure of the year due to widespread virus transmission among staff. The city should test 10% of students under […]
NYC plans to screen nearly 200,000 students in the early grades to uncover struggling readers. Then what?
From Chalkbeat: In a massive bid to gauge reading skills following COVID-related learning disruptions, New York City’s education department is introducing literacy screening for its nearly 200,000 children in kindergarten through second grade. This fall’s early literacy effort is part of a wider $635 million infusion, almost entirely federally funded, aimed at getting thousands of […]
