Tag: Education Department

NYC schools need more opportunity — not ‘redistribution’ based on race

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New Schools Counselor David Banks last week essentially apologized for the new “standards” for admissions to the city’s screened middle and high schools — and rightly so. “When I got here, there were a number of things that were really moving,” Banks said at the Queens meeting. “For now, we have come up with these new admission criteria. We had to make a decision because parents need to make decisions about admissions sooner rather than later,” he said, saying he would re-examine the issue next year. In other words, he…

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Parents notify school board members of the virtue

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Three San Francisco school board members who prioritized signs of virtue and racial equality over opening schools and improving education for all students were called on Tuesday in a landslide vote. While any school board election is by definition a local matter, this vote has been watched and reported nationally. It’s another sign that parents tired of school closures, mask mandates and ideological battles will be a force to be reckoned with at the polls in the upcoming midterm elections. Each member was voted on with more than 70% of…

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DOE committee weighs contract to award funds to new advisor’s former institution

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A nine-member education committee appointed by Mayor Adams will decide whether the city should approve a $6.5 million contract on Wednesday in which half will be paid to the foundation formerly headed by school counselor David Banks. The no-bid contract will be for Teachers College, Columbia University and the Eagle Academy Foundation for approval by the Education Policy Committee at its first meeting under Adams’ administration. The two groups will split the $6.5 million “to develop a comprehensive K-12 black studies curriculum that recognizes the history and contributions of African…

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$323 million as evidence of the failings of the New York City public school system

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Ouch: The city’s Department of Education is bailing out schools whose children have hemorrhaged, at a cost of $323 million — so far. The pandemic has exposed the system’s massive failures, leading to mass school dropouts from MOE schools, nearly a quarter of which have lost at least 10% of enrollment as the total number of students from kindergarten to grade 12 fell by 5.6% in the last year alone. . The last mayor pretended everyone would be back after COVID. But the biggest decline is at younger ages, with…

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Department of Education finds $323 million for school budgets amid falling enrollment rates

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The Post has learned that the Department of Education has committed more than a quarter of a billion dollars to cover the massive school budget shortfall linked to the continuing decline in student enrollment. The Department of Education will give the city’s public schools a total of $323 million this year to help them cover basic costs — including teacher salaries, according to a memo issued last week. According to the agency, the massive spending “is allocating funding to schools in order to offset budget declines resulting from the 2021-2022…

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The school banned my ‘Proud Zionist’ T-shirt

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An angry Park Slope teacher says he learned the hard way that it’s OK to wear Black Lives Matter shirts to work at his “Awake” school in Brooklyn — but not the pro-cop or pro-Israel uniform. Jeffrey Levy, an ESL teacher at MS 51 in the liberal Brooklyn area, told The Post that principal Neil Singh had instructed him to stop wearing his “proud Zionist” T-shirt on the premises — despite other employees wearing T-shirts promoting BLM and women’s rights. Levy filed a discrimination complaint for not being allowed to…

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The New York City Department of Education eliminates the zoned high school option

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New York City families are assigned outside of their local high schools. The city’s Department of Education has quietly ditched high school zoning, which for decades guaranteed students a seat at a school close to their home. That leaves eighth-graders facing more uncertainty as they try to deal with an increasingly confusing admissions system, which is spoiling some families’ long-term plans. “When my son applied to attend high school, all he had to do was exclude Queens Metropolitan,” said Rena DeGina, whose Woodhaven address prioritized her children on the Forest…

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Adams appoints police chief and head of schools after Thanksgiving

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He said Friday that Mayor-elect Eric Adams will begin naming key members of his administration after Thanksgiving. “I will put up my first two ads. They will be mine [schools] The counselor and police commissioner said, “Adams said Friday in a ribbon cutting for a new library at a public high school in Brooklyn. “I want to do it after Thanksgiving,” Adams said. A source in the campaign told The Post that announcements are expected in early December. The outgoing Brooklyn District Chief said the Department of Education’s No. 1…

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NYC mayor finds loot from student weapons seized in office

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A new Queens manager found a cupboard stuffed with a stash of knives in his office this week — after former officials apparently put guns away without reporting them. Sources said Michael Borelli, who became the head of the IS 125 in Long Island City just this year, opened a safe in his predecessor’s office, Judy Mettler, to make some petty cash entry. He noticed two shelves – and was shocked to see them filled with a dizzying variety of knives and what appeared to be a revolver. Weapons found…

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New York City, Paul John Leo Calls Forums Of Gifted And Talented Parents “Orwellian Theatre”

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State Senator John Liu tore up the city’s Parents’ Engagement Meetings for the Gifted and Gifted as Orwell’s Theater was staged on Wednesday. Mayor Bill de Blasio canceled the advanced learning format last month in favor of a new structure that would introduce accelerated materials into public education classrooms. Along with school counselor Mischa Porter, de Blasio has pledged to hold Zoom meetings in all districts to solicit feedback on the future of advanced learning. But some gifted and talented parents said the sessions were primarily marketing seminars for City…

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