There were roughly 145,723 English language learners (ELL)—representing 13.3 percent of all students, including school-age and preschool students—in New York City public schools last year. Two years after the pandemic hit the city, there are several academic areas in which ELLs have not recovered.
The DOE and the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) are required to launch 200 new teams in the next two years, part of a settlement over disparate access to sports for Black and Latino students. The change comes at time of increasing competition for sports fields and courts: The city turned down a quarter of the permit requests it received last year, up slightly from before the pandemic.
State lawmakers on Friday held a hearing to consider whether to extend mayoral control of city schools for another three years. City Limits takes a look back at our early coverage of the nearly 20-year-old policy, which was intended to provide a “a radical jolt” to faltering NYC public schools at the time, following in the foot steps of cities like Chicago and Boston.
Youth and advocates are optimistic, saying Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget takes important steps to expand resources, but that more needs to be done to make up for years of ‘chronic underfunding’ across the system.
By training and paying students to support their peers on the path to college, not only do schools reduce their student-to-counselor ratio, they also make an investment in the student leaders themselves.
Advocates are pushing for the incoming Eric Adams administration to address the persistent issue with a number of policy changes, including hiring more DOE staff to work directly with students in shelter, who tend to experience a number of challenges that impact their learning compared to their permanently-housed peers.
‘If our most affluent public school families choose to donate the value of their P-EBT card, New York City charities could reap as much as $150 million.’
‘It is unacceptable for NYC schools to continue to expect students to succeed knowing that access to reliable internet connection and devices still remains spotty at best.’
‘The mayor and chancellor should spare us the optics of the “great comeback” and focus more on sparing the lives of those most at-risk.’
‘I want our children to be good ancestors and citizens of the world, to see the beauty in all voices and stories. But to do that, they need to see diverse representation not just in their neighborhood, but in their school curriculum as well.’
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
