As family homelessness climbs, calls grow louder for solving school attendance woes
Nine-year-old Ameerah remembers when her commute to school was a five-minute walk. That was before her family left their Queens home for a shelter in another part of the borough. During the year they lived in the shelter, Ameerah was at the bus stop with her mom and sister at 6:30 a.m., commuting at least […]
How one Chicago school social worker is grappling with COVID’s toll on students
Inside a staff bathroom at Piccolo Elementary School on Chicago’s West Side, Mary Difino wiped away tears and tried to catch her breath. It had been a long day in another stressful week. A spate of fights and a string of cyberbullying incidents among students two months into the school year had taken a toll […]
A unique Philadelphia school cultivates family members as staffers
Kimberly Singleton was the parent of a student at Overbrook Educational Center in West Philadelphia when she lost her job at a billing company. Already an active volunteer at the school, she jumped at the chance when she saw an ad in the school newsletter for a classroom assistant. Singleton got the job in February […]
Pandemic learning loss has affected students. Should we push to lower standards?
The opposite should happen. Expose students to grade-level material. Create opportunities for expanded learning using online resources. Seek funding for additional support. There’s been a significant gap in learning caused by the pandemic and my high school math students are discouraged when our class-level standards are over their heads or out of reach. I read […]
New School teachers’ strike ends as NYC university agrees to first pay raises in 4 years
The New School reached a tentative contract agreement with its part-time faculty this weekend, ending a strike that lasted nearly a month. A joint statement released by the faculty’s union, ACT-United Auto Workers Local 7902, and the New School on Saturday said two highlights of the five-year deal are pay raises and boosts to health […]
4 Ways to Increase Teacher Retention
These days it’s getting harder for administrators to retain staff, but there are ways to boost teacher morale and turn things around. Why have so many teachers either failed to return to work, resigned, or chosen not to enter the field since the pandemic? What’s made the profession become less attractive, and what can we […]
“It’s Not Sustainable”: NYC Public School Administrators, Teachers Struggle With Staffing Shortages
Faced with high absentee rates among students and teachers, principals at public schools across New York City are scrambling to staff classes and keep their doors open. Depending on who you ask, the result is barely controlled chaos, or an exercise in creative problem solving during a crisis. Mark Cannizzaro, president of the Council of […]
