More NYC Students Were Homeless Last Year, Even as Enrollment Declined

Though total enrollment in city schools fell by 3.2 percent, the number of homeless-identifying students increased by 3.3 percent. Those 104,000 students include 29,000 who spent time in shelters, 69,000 temporarily sharing housing with others, and approximately 5,500 who were unsheltered—living in cars, parks, or abandoned buildings. 

Opinion: NYC’s COVID Recovery Requires an Indoor Air Revolution

“Though outdoors strategies are a great and necessary option, there remains a serious need for innovation and creativity to generate excellent air quality in spaces that are enclosed, covered, or conventionally ‘indoors’ and hold more than groups of 10. From elevators to heated tents, indoor air quality will be a significant factor in our society’s health care.”

NYC’s Schools Funding Formula Should Consider Homeless Students, Advocates Say

The Fair Student Funding Formula, used to distribute the majority of New York City’s education budget to each of its 1,600 public schools, has been criticized for failing to provide enough funds to students who need it most, including those in temporary housing and in the foster care system. A working group has until the end of October to recommend changes.

Should New York High Schools Be Required to Teach Financial Literacy?

A bill that would require high school students across the state to take a personal finance course has been introduced a number of times in the Albany legislature dating back to 2009, but has yet to pass. “This is something that every kid kind of needs to do, and we are kind of thrown into doing it on our own time, without any guidance,” said Anisha Singhal, a senior at Stuyvesant High School who’s pushing more schools to teach financial skills.