‘Broad use of PBL/PBA in the city’s schools could jumpstart New York’s post-pandemic educational era away from the drill-and-kill, standardized test-based techniques of the last 20 years, invigorating teachers and students when motivation and a sense of success are so needed.’
The de Blasio administration has proposed an increase in spending for student mental health initiatives, but advocates and council members are pushing for more.
‘The pandemic has widened the gap between young people with the educational and support systems they need and those without, making the issue of unequal opportunity ever more urgent.’
Last week, a group of organizations demanding a more culturally diverse curriculum in New York City public schools took to the Department of Education’s (DOE) Lower Manhattan headquarters seeking to remind the authorities of the debt they have with the city to expand culturally responsive projects in schools.
Data released recently by the Department of Education for January shows students living in the shelter system saw the most absences, with a monthly attendance rate of 75.7 percent compared to the citywide rate for all students, which was 89.2 percent.
‘Essential government-funded youth programs could be repurposed to transform the current potpourri of citywide services into a comprehensive public-private partnership focused on creating a rigorous academic tutoring system, with education and youth workers at the core.’
‘We need more parents to run so that each CEC’s economic diversity reflects that of the district. Without such diversity, whole swaths of a school district may be voiceless.’
‘Fifty-five percent of city public schools didn’t have a music educator, even before the COVID-19 pandemic…one aspect of that rebuilding must be integrating music as a core subject in the curriculum and ensuring all city schools have certified music educators.’
‘The truth is, New York State has not met its constitutional responsibilities, laughing off multiple court orders and duly-passed laws mandating minimums for neglected, underfunded schools. And it has never mattered more, but instead of standing together, parents and teachers are finger-pointing in classic “scarcity mindset.”’
In this week’s episode, reporter Nicole Javorsky discusses the latest on schools, which are slated to reopen Monday to offer in-person instruction to some students following a systemwide shift to all-remote learning last month.
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.
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Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
