As fewer kids enroll, big cities face a small schools crisis
On a recent morning inside Chalmers School of Excellence on Chicago’s West Side, five preschool and kindergarten students finished up drawings. Four staffers, including a teacher and a tutor, chatted with them about colors and shapes. The summer program offers the kind of one-on-one support parents love. But behind the scenes, Principal Romian Crockett worries […]
There’s a teacher shortage! (U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona Calls on States, Districts…)
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona Calls on States, Districts, Higher Ed Institutions to Address Nationwide Teacher Shortage and Bolster Student Recovery with American Rescue Plan Funds Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will issue a nationwide call to action for states, higher education leaders, and schools to tap federal resources and work together to […]
NY cancels January Regents exams as COVID cases surge
New York students won’t take Regents exams this January. New York education Commissioner Betty Rosa canceled the winter tests on Tuesday, citing a “daunting” spike in coronavirus cases across the state. No decisions have been made yet regarding the June and August exams, which far more students take. Officials previously said they planned to move […]
NYC to eliminate ‘gifted’ test in overhaul of segregated program
Starting this fall, New York City will no longer test rising kindergartners for entry into its gifted and talented program, which has long attracted controversy for enrolling starkly low numbers of Black and Latino students. Instead of having a specific gifted program sorting a small number of children, all kindergarten students attending the city’s 800 […]
Things are changing fast’: More schools requiring masks for all, vaccines for teachers
In just a week, more than a dozen of the country’s large urban school districts have shifted policies to require masks for all students and staff. And on Monday, the country’s largest school district announced it will require all school staff to be vaccinated, joining Chicago and Los Angeles. New York City’s decision came just […]
Critical race theory debate hits New York City public schools
From Chalkbeat: Maud Maron was taken aback during her son’s recent fifth grade graduation when school administrators took a moment to acknowledge that the school building sits on land once taken from Native Americans. “I was like, ‘yes, that is true,’” Maron recounted. “But, as it turns out, for the better part of human existence, […]
‘How do we rebuild a sense of community?’ A Brooklyn school seeks to find joy and connection after a devastating year
From Chalkbeat: Milagros Reyes’s husband was in the first wave of New Yorkers to succumb to the coronavirus, taking his last breath in their East New York apartment. His death in April 2020 left Reyes alone with her two children, ages 3 and 10. Reyes called 911 to retrieve her husband’s body, which was quarantined […]
How this NYC special education teacher creates a supportive ‘village of love’ for students and families
Chalkbeat has this great teacher profile: Danielle Guggenheim missed her physical classroom so much, she took on a weekend volunteer shift at her neighborhood farmers market in the Bronx. Every Saturday this past year, weather permitting, Guggenheim has sat outside and read books aloud to any children that wanted to stop and listen while their […]
