Chalkbeat

At my son’s first in-person recital since COVID, I cherished the small, tender moments

2022-03-31T15:57:48+00:00

I smiled so much Monday my face hurt as my son and his fifth grade classmates swing danced and boogie woogied and waltzed across the stage of their school auditorium for the fifth grade ballroom dance performance. Their faces were tight with concentration, even those behind masks. And their 10-year-old awkwardness was on full display even though the tango was touchless. (It was social dist-dancing, their instructor joked.)

My favorite moment, though, was before the fox trotting and merengue-ing even began, when my son stepped on stage, craned his neck, and scanned the crowd for us. My husband and I waved maniacally until his eyes met ours, and then he jumped up and down and waved back, relieved.

Carrie Melago

It was such an ordinary school recital moment, one that probably played out across the Brooklyn auditorium among other nervous dancers and enthusiastic parents. That normalcy, that familiarity is what caused tears to sting my eyes. As COVID restrictions ease, my sons’ school is welcoming vaccinated visitors and bringing back some of the plays, recitals, and events we missed during the pandemic. And getting this glimpse into my kids’ education felt like a gift.

The last time I sat in that auditorium was a little over two years ago, just days before New York City shuttered its school buildings. We were all anxious at the third grade superhero concert on March 12, 2020, some folks sitting far apart and others flinching at every cough or sneeze. I was so on edge I almost didn’t bother taking any photos of my son, whose dirty blond hair and orange superhero cape were barely visible in the second row of students. But even then I wondered when I would see him sing (or dance or score a goal) again. So I recorded videos of the children singing sweet songs about being forever friends, about tomorrow needing us, about being agents of change.

We watched those videos and flipped through other old school photos over and over in the trying months of isolation that followed. There was my older son’s star turn in “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” and his sign language rendition of “I just called to say I love you.” There was my younger son’s Groundhog Day sing-a-long, and his belting out of “This land is your land” at pre-K graduation, his thumbs tucked behind his special suspenders.

It pales greatly in comparison to the more significant and traumatic losses that so many New Yorkers suffered in the pandemic. But I’m nonetheless saddened by the in-school moments we missed. Kindergarten graduation. The school play. Countless little visits to the classroom. Face-to-face parent teacher conferences. The Zoom recitals and ceremonies were valiant efforts by overworked staff, but I missed squeezing into child-size chairs to fashion stamps out of apples or build Balsa airplanes.

The Zoom recitals and ceremonies were valiant efforts by overworked staff, but I missed squeezing into child-size chairs to fashion stamps out of apples or build Balsa airplanes.

Not all parents share my warm fuzziness about school involvement. For working parents, the timing of school activities can feel like a cruel joke, the request for boxes of coffee or sliced cantaloupe just one more item on the endless to-do list of parenting. Before I worked at Chalkbeat, where my status as a mom and public school parent is considered a positive, potlucks and performances were a source of immense stress.

And as the pandemic has reinforced, schools have not felt like welcome places for many parents, particularly parents of color who have seen years of disinvestment, discipline disparities, and inequity. Building that trust and rethinking what parent engagement means is likely front of mind – or should be – for many administrators as restrictions ease.

Ahead of the ballroom recital, a school staffer mused to me that she wasn’t sure if the dancing was more for the students or the parents. I assured her that my son had gained so much from his twice-weekly lessons – the self confidence and pride that comes from trying something way, way outside his comfort zone. Plus, he learned a few new moves that could come in handy on TikTok someday! But maybe this performance was also for the parents and caregivers who have longed for a chance to applaud, to beam, to wave wildly, making sure their children know they are there for them.

Carrie Melago is one of Chalkbeat’s managing editors for local news.

Pandemia 360: Una mirada al impacto de COVID en las comunidades escolares

2021-06-11T10:00:00+00:00

Ansiedad. Depresión. Encierro. Aislamiento.

Estas palabras se repitieron una y otra vez cuando a principios de este año les pedimos a nuestros lectores de las ciudades de Nueva York y Newark que nos contaran cómo la pandemia afectó a sus comunidades escolares.

Recibimos respuesta de 275 padres, estudiantes y maestros, y las respuestas fueron sorprendentes. Familiares habían muerto de COVID, y se habían perdido empleos. Los maestros se sentían agotados. Algunos niños estaban a la deriva en la escuela y en el hogar.

“Ha sido devastador física y emocionalmente”, dijo un padre de Brooklyn que también es maestro, siendo eco de docenas de otros afectados por el cierre de escuelas y la enseñanza a distancia.

“Varios miembros de mi familia han perdido sus trabajos y han tenido que mudarse a refugios para personas sin hogar... muchos de mis amigos han tenido un aumento de depresión, ansiedad y este creciente miedo a estar aislados”, dijo un estudiante de 10^mo grado en Newark, refiriéndose a la carga económica de la pandemia y a la tensión emocional que sienten muchos.

Estas respuestas ayudaron a guiar el trabajo que se encuentra en Lecciones de la pandemia: una mirada de 360 grados al impacto de la pandemia en dos comunidades escolares de Nueva York y Newark, un proyecto de Chalkbeat en colaboración con Univisión 41.

A través de reportajes y relatos personales, exploraremos cómo el COVID-19 impactó en las vidas de estudiantes, padres y maestros dentro y fuera de los salones de clase.

A partir de hoy, le presentaremos la Cypress Hills Community School de Brooklyn, una escuela de programa bilingüe (inglés-español) con unos 470 estudiantes desde preescolar hasta octavo grado. Casi todos los estudiantes de la escuela son latinos, y la mayoría proceden de familias con pocos ingresos. La escuela, que ofrece servicios sociales y también un programa después de la escuela y fue establecida por un grupo de padres y la Corporación de Desarrollo Local de Cypress Hills, siempre ha tenido la misión de ayudar a las familias más allá de las paredes de la escuela. La pérdida de vida y de estabilidad económica ha sido extensa en Cypress Hills, una de las comunidades de Nueva York más impactadas por el COVID-19 en términos de salud y desigualdad socioeconómica, según datos de la ciudad. Cuando las escuelas cerraron el año pasado, el personal y los padres se pusieron en marcha para apoyarse mutuamente. A medida que la amenaza de la pandemia se está alejando, la comunidad sigue apoyándose mutuamente y enfocada en el año que viene.

Arthur King y Melvin Watson ayudan a taladrar el cartel de la Roseville Community Charter School en su lugar después de que se cayera a finales de abril. Muchas de las familias de la escuela se han visto directamente afectadas por la pandemia.

Más tarde este mes, nos reuniremos con la comunidad de la Roseville Community Charter School en Newark. Al igual que la gente de todo Newark, muchas familias de Roseville fueron directamente afectadas por la pandemia, y esto incluye un estudiante de primer grado cuyo padre murió a causa del COVID-19. Más o menos la mitad de los aproximadamente 400 estudiantes de la escuela son de raza negra, la mitad son hispanos y alrededor de un 20% están aprendiendo inglés; poblaciones desproporcionadamente afectadas por el coronavirus. Estuvimos con los maestros y los estudiantes cuando la escuela reabrió sus puertas en abril, después de más de un año, y hemos vuelto a visitarlos varias veces desde entonces.

Nuestras historias reflejarán este extraordinario periodo de tiempo, la pérdida que ha dejado a su paso y los retos que las familias han enfrentado. Pero ahora que nos acercamos al final de este año escolar, también miraremos hacia adelante para ver lo que significa la recuperación, tanto en términos de pérdida de aprendizaje y enseñanza, como lo que significa para la comunidad en general. ¿Cómo se adaptarán los estudiantes después de estar tanto tiempo en la casa? ¿Y cómo será el próximo año escolar?

Necesitamos seguir escuchando a nuestros lectores para contestar estas preguntas y contar historias reales. ¿Tienes una idea para compartir? ¿Una pregunta que deberíamos hacer? Escríbenos a community@chalkbeat.org.

Pandemic 360: A comprehensive look at COVID’s impact on school communities

2021-06-11T10:00:00+00:00

Anxiety. Depression. Cabin fever. Isolation.

These words appeared over and over when we asked our readers in New York City and Newark earlier this year to tell us how the pandemic impacted their school communities.

We heard from 275 parents, students, and teachers — and the responses were jarring. Relatives had died of COVID, and jobs were lost. Teachers felt drained. Some children were adrift in school and at home.

“It has been devastating physically and emotionally,” said one Brooklyn parent who is also a teacher, echoing dozens of others impacted by school building closures and remote learning.

“Several of my family members have lost their jobs and had to move into homeless shelters...many of my friends have had an increase in depression, anxiety, and this growing fear of being isolated,” said a 10th grade student in Newark, speaking to the pandemic’s financial toll and the emotional strain felt by so many.

These sobering responses have helped to guide the work found in our end-of-year series “Pandemic 360: A comprehensive look at COVID’s impact on school communities” that Chalkbeat is undertaking in New York and Newark in partnership with Univision 41.

Through reported pieces and First Person accounts, we will explore how COVID-19 impacted the lives of students, parents, and teachers inside and outside of classrooms at one school in each city.

Starting today, we will introduce you to Brooklyn’s P.S. 89, a dual language school (English-Spanish) with about 470 students from 3-K through eighth grade. Nearly all of the school’s students are Latino, and most are from low-income families. Started by a group of parents and the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, which provides social service help as well as an afterschool program, the school’s mission has involved helping families beyond the school walls. Loss of life and economic instability has been widespread in Cypress Hills, one of New York City’s neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID-19 in terms of health and socioeconomic disparities, according to city data. When schools closed down last year, staff and parents jumped into action to support each other. As the threat of the pandemic recedes, the community is continuing to support each other — and look to the year ahead.

(Left to right) Arthur King and Melvin Watson help drill the Roseville Community Charter School sign back in its place after it fell forward in late-April. Many of the school’s families have been directly affected by the pandemic.

Later this month, we will meet the community at Newark’s Roseville Community Charter School. Like people throughout Newark, many families at Roseville have been directly affected by the pandemic. About half of the school’s approximately 400 students are Black, half are Hispanic, and roughly 20% are English language learners, populations disproportionately affected by coronavirus. We were with teachers and students when the school reopened in April after more than a year and have revisited them several times since.

Our stories will reflect on this extraordinary period of time, the loss that has been left in its wake, and the challenges families have faced. But as we approach the end of this school year, we will also look ahead at what recovery means, both in terms of learning loss and academics and for the community at large. How will students adapt after being home so long? And what will next school year look like?

We need to continue to listen to our readers to answer these questions and tell true stories. Have a story idea to share? A question we should be asking? Drop us a note at community@chalkbeat.org.

A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, school as we know it has been transformed

2021-03-08T12:30:00+00:00

A teacher in Newark trudges through the snow to find students who haven’t logged into her all-remote class, a sad ritual of tracking down teens that began for her last March.

A student in Indiana gets the lead role in her school musical — only to rehearse over Zoom after she’s quarantined.

An alternative high school in Brooklyn grapples with twin crises: the death of their principal and how to keep students who have previously struggled on track during remote learning.

On the first anniversary of a cascade of nationwide school shutdowns, Chalkbeat is looking back on this toughest of years in education through those who experienced it firsthand: educators, counselors, students, parents. Some of them will be familiar to our readers, compelling figures we met early in the pandemic who we wanted to revisit. Others we have met since and felt their stories powerfully spoke to this remarkable year.

School during the pandemic looks different for every district, every school, every family. For some there are plexiglass dividers and face shields; for others, Zoom and Google Classroom. Where one teacher eagerly attends class in person, another is filled with fear. The random testing, the grading systems, the hybrid schedules vary wildly. But one thing unites them all — school as we know it has been completely transformed.

The first inkling of how vastly American education would be disrupted by the pandemic came during a Feb. 25 Centers for Disease Control press availability. It was almost an afterthought, really. Nancy Messonnier, a CDC director, was spelling out “non pharmaceutical interventions” to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus when she suggested Americans talk to their school about plans for dismissals or closures.

“Ask if there are plans for teleschool,” she said. “I contacted my local school superintendent this morning with exactly those questions.”

Just two days later, Bothell High School in Washington state became the first school in the U.S. to shut down.

Last spring, Chromebooks and iPads suddenly became as much a part of students’ daily lives as chalkboards and notebooks. Terms like live instruction, asynchronous learning, and Zoom bombing were suddenly part of everyday education parlance. Graduations were canceled, standardized tests were scrapped, grading systems were upended. A reality that reopening school buildings would require masks, distance, plexiglass, and money — lots of money — was setting in.

Just as the virus has taken a greater toll on communities of color, education disparities emerged almost immediately as well. The digital divide created inequity from the start, with some students struggling to attend virtual classes while sharing devices, relying on unreliable internet, or without a device at all. When jobs evaporated, families were left worrying about having enough food for their children and whether they would need to suddenly leave their homes. While wealthy families created pandemic pods and hired private teachers, other parents who worked outside of the home had to scramble for care.

In the darkest days, educators stepped up in creative, inspiring ways. Teachers dropped free school meals off at their students’ homes so fearful parents didn’t have to stand in lines. Educators who are parents themselves juggled teaching while overseeing their children’s remote learning. Teachers mailed homework packets and arranged device drop-offs.

Once schools began reopening, the divisions deepened. Districts with mostly white students were more likely to be open for some in-person learning. In some large cities that offer in-person school, the majority of families have declined seats and opted for virtual — particularly families of color who are more likely to be impacted by the virus and whose trust in schools has been eroded. Meanwhile, enrollment has dropped in districts and states across the country, especially as parents found other options for their youngest children, a trend that could shape budgets and enrollment trends for years to come.

As the year anniversary of shutdowns approaches, the debate over whether and how schools should reopen continues to roil. Some studies show schools aren’t major sources of transmission, as long as the larger community’s rates aren’t high and precautions are taken. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new guidance urged districts to reopen full-time where community spread is low or moderate — and even where it’s high with enough testing.

Meanwhile, all sides of the complicated debate worry about the long-term impact on students and how teachers will make up for learning loss. Ideas abound for how to address these two disrupted years, from an influx of federal money to longer school days to widespread tutoring programs.

While some districts are still struggling with whether and how to reopen this spring, others have their sights set on the fall, particularly with teachers across the country getting vaccinated. For some schools, there will be a super-charged summer school. For others, an early back-to-school date. And some administrators already feel certain some form of hybrid or virtual learning is here to stay.

A year into the pandemic, coronavirus is still here, and most schools are very far from normal. Parents, teachers, and students are struggling with the disruptions to learning. There is fear and, for many, there is grief. Intense disagreements about reopening persist, and divisions have been unearthed that won’t disappear with vaccinations. But many people are now pulling in the same direction and united in a common goal: how to give students the support they need and how to make school better.

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Nueva York y Newark, cuéntennos, ¿de qué manera afectó la pandemia de COVID-19 a sus comunidades escolares?

2021-01-26T22:54:38+00:00

La pandemia de COVID-19 ha causado grandes estragos en muchos aspectos de la vida en Estados Unidos, pero no todos los hemos experimentado de igual manera. En muchas maneras, el virus agrandó la brecha entre el privilegio y la necesidad. Las comunidades de color han sido las más impactadas; los ciudadanos de raza negra e hispanos tienen más probabilidad de contagiarse y morir por el virus. Al agregar los factores adicionales de estrés en cuanto a vivienda, hambre y trabajos, muchas familias históricamente marginadas están ahora en crisis.

En Chalkbeat nuestro enfoque es la educación, y la pandemia afectó a las comunidades escolares temprano y fuertemente, con efectos devastadores que continuaron después de cerrar los salones de clase. Cuando las escuelas cerraron sus puertas, las familias perdieron acceso no solo al aprendizaje, sino también a entornos seguros para los estudiantes de familias necesitadas.

En los próximos meses, Chalkbeat se unirá a Univisión para hacer un recorrido completo de las comunidades de Nueva York y Newark y documentar el impacto que la crisis ha tenido dentro y fuera del salón de clases.

Estos son algunos de los retos: Los padres de familias en desventaja económica han tenido que luchar para hacer un equilibrio entre ganarse la vida y atender el aprendizaje de sus hijos. La habilidad de los estudiantes para aprender se ha visto afectada por límites de tiempo, ya que muchos necesitan trabajar para ayudar al sustento de la familia o cuidar a sus hermanos menores mientras los padres trabajan. Los maestros y el personal de las escuelas tienen que diariamente cambiar de dirección para satisfacer las necesidades de los estudiantes y las de sus propias familias. Los consejeros saben que se avecina una crisis de salud mental, o que ya nos está tocando la puerta.

Ya sea con clases en persona o virtuales, las comunidades escolares se han visto obligadas a enfrentar estos retos de frente, y en algunos casos, se han convertido en fuentes de innovación, gracia y resiliencia.

Nosotros necesitamos que ustedes nos ayuden a contar estas historias. Con la encuesta a continuación, nuestro deseo es entender mejor cuáles son los retos mayores que enfrentan los residentes de Nueva York y Newark con respecto al tema de educación durante la pandemia. Las preguntas abordan muchos aspectos de la vida, desde el aprendizaje a distancia y las dificultades económicas, hasta la salud física y el bienestar mental.

Nosotros usaremos sus respuestas en nuestros reportajes y contaremos las historias de las comunidades que servimos. Esperamos que nos ayuden en este esfuerzo.

O puede ver la encuesta aquí.

Newark: How has COVID-19 affected your school community? Tell us.

2021-01-26T22:28:07+00:00

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on so many aspects of American life, but not everyone has experienced the fallout equally. The virus has, in many ways, deepened the chasm between privilege and need. Communities of color have been hit hardest, with Black and Hispanic citizens more likely to be infected and killed by the virus. With the additional stressors on housing, hunger, and jobs, many families in historically marginalized communities are in crisis.

At Chalkbeat, our lens is on education, and the pandemic hit school communities early and hard, with devastating effects beyond classroom closures. When school buildings shut their doors, families lost access not just to learning hubs but safety nets for students in need.

In the coming months, in partnership with Univision, Chalkbeat will take a 360-degree look at school communities in New York and Newark to chronicle the toll the crisis has taken inside and outside the classroom.

Some of the challenges: Economically stressed parents have struggled to balance work and their children’s learning. Students’ ability to learn has been hampered by time constraints, with many needing to work to support their families or babysit younger siblings while their parents work. Teachers and school staff must pivot day to day to meet the needs of students and their own families. Counselors see a mental health crisis looming, if it isn’t upon us already.

Whether in-person or virtual, school communities have been forced to face these challenges head on and have become, in some cases, wellsprings of innovation, grace, and resilience.

We need your help to tell these stories. Through the survey below, we hope to gain a better sense of the main challenges New York and Newark residents face with respect to education in the pandemic. The questions touch on many facets of life, from remote learning and economic hardship to physical and mental well being.

We’ll use the responses to help guide our reporting and tell stories for and with the communities we serve. We hope you’ll join our effort.

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Tell us, New York: How has COVID-19 affected your school community?

2021-01-26T22:27:54+00:00

Whether in-person or virtual, school communities have been forced to face these challenges head on and have become, in some cases, wellsprings of innovation, grace, and resilience.

We’ll use the responses to help guide our reporting and tell stories for and with the communities we serve. We hope you’ll join our effort.

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Here are the New York City schools stories we plan to cover this year, and how you can help us

2019-09-04T21:11:33+00:00

This spring, the controversy surrounding the education department’s anti-bias training for New York City teachers had reached a boiling point.

While some educators and administrators bashed the sessions and Chancellor Richard Carranza for creating a culture that felt unwelcoming to white staffers, others gathered on the steps of education headquarters in an unusual show of support.

We at Chalkbeat wondered, outside of the extreme headlines and protests, how did people who took the training really feel? So we asked and heard from nearly 100 principals, teachers, administrators, and parents whose answers offered the clearest picture yet of how Carranza’s push was playing out in the place that matters most — inside schools.

With 1.1 million New York City school children returning to classrooms Thursday, Chalkbeat will continue turning to readers and being transparent about our work as we try to understand the city education department amid these promises of massive change. As Carranza calls attention to longstanding issues of inequity, to what extent will his rhetoric be accompanied by action? How much support does he have across the system — and in City Hall? And will the bold rhetoric and proposals change the realities in most classrooms, especially given the entrenched nature of segregation and the furious pushback from many quarters?

As we explore these topics, we’ll continue relying on you, our readers, to find answers to our burning questions and guide our reporting. So introduce yourself, send a tip, give us feedback or even propose a First Person essay by emailing us. Here are the storylines we plan to follow this year, and we promise to keep you updated about our progress. Stay tuned for information about in-person events and other opportunities to connect with our reporters.

School segregation, SHSAT, and beyond

The release of the School Diversity Advisory Group recommendations — including a bombshell proposal to eliminate gifted and talented programs as we know them — grabbed headlines last week. The uproar was reminiscent of that over Mayor Bill de Blasio’s now-stalled proposal to scrap the exam used to determine admissions to the city’s specialized high schools.

We’ve long covered issues related to diversity and segregation in city schools that are now catching some New Yorkers by surprise. As the new year begins, we’ll continue exploring all angles of these stories, diving deep into the advisory group’s recommendations and their potential impact, as well as exploring the integration efforts already underway in several districts. We’ll hold leaders accountable for the promises they are making about equity in education but also always elevate the voices of teachers, students, and parents at the center of the controversies. Reach out to our reporters — Christina Veiga, Alex Zimmerman, and Reema Amin — if you have thoughts.

Special education students and English Language Learners

Carranza has been calling attention to racial inequities in city schools, but other barriers baked into the school system affect some of the city’s most vulnerable students: those with disabilities and English language learners.

Students in special education and their parents face many hurdles that Alex has been chronicling. Evaluations for special education services are often delayed or don’t happen at all. Mandated services go unmet. And the formal appeal process is overwhelmed with a skyrocketing number of complaints. We’re collaborating with THE CITY, the non-profit news organization, to delve even further into these issues. (We started this week!) And Chalkbeat New York will hold a listening tour event later this month to hear straight from parents.

The plight of students learning English as a new language is a topic we’d like to explore more. We want to understand how schools can improve their academic outcomes, whether families’ immigration statuses are holding them back from seeking services, and how school communities support immigrant-rich student bodies. Have thoughts on these or other areas we should look at? Reach out to Reema.

Pre-K

The past year has been a monumental one for the city’s universal pre-K program. De Blasio frequently touts pre-K as he travels the presidential campaign trail. Christina chronicled the effort by teachers in community-based preschools — largely women of color — to earn the same amount as pre-K teachers at education department schools. And just last month, the test scores for the inaugural universal pre-K class showed that students performed slightly better than their peers.

But test scores are just one measure. This year, we’ll continue paying attention to the quality of pre-K programs and the impact the mayor’s signature education effort is having on children. Let Christina know if you have ideas about this.

Charter schools, lead in schools — what else?

To be sure, the above list barely scratches the surface of the topics we plan to monitor over the next school year and beyond. We’ll also be paying close attention to charter schools in the wake of the state’s decision to cap the sector’s growth in NYC. We’ll continue following the remediation of classrooms found to have deteriorating lead paint. We will keep digging into changing school discipline policies and how they affect students. We’ll continue to follow state education policy and how decisions made in Albany affect New York City schools; this year, the state’s Board of Regents will launch a major discussion on what diploma requirements should look like and whether to scrap the vaunted Regents exams. We’ll watch out for curriculum news and important studies about teaching and learning. What are we missing? Let us know!

2 questions for 17 candidates: The education voter’s guide to New York City’s 2019 public advocate race

2019-02-20T18:42:01+00:00

New York City’s top watchdog, the public advocate, carries no stick but can speak loudly — and does often, when it comes to how the city’s schools are run.

Since the position was created in the 1990s, public advocates have weighed in on mayoral control, parent participation, and the charter cap. The last public advocate, now-Attorney General Letitia James, sued the city’s Department of Education multiple times over special education issues.

Now, many of the candidates to fill the vacated spot say they have big ideas for the city’s schools, from addressing segregation to reforming discipline policy to filling school cafeterias with healthier food.

Whoever wins the special election Feb. 26 won’t be able to make anyone take action or impose new policies. But he or she will be able to call attention to issues, refer public complaints to city agencies, compile reports for the City Council and mayor, and sponsor City Council legislation.

We asked each of the 17 candidates appearing on the ballot two questions: What do you think is the biggest education issue facing the city, and what out-of-school factors that impact classrooms would you address?

Eleven answered. Scroll down to see every candidate’s response, or select individual names using the tool below to narrow the field. The responses were edited for clarity and length.

The following candidates did not respond to multiple requests: Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell, Jared Rich, City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, Helal Sheikh, Assemblywoman Latrice Walker (Walker reportedly ended her campaign but will still appear on the ballot), and Benjamin Yee.

After hearing from educators across the city, Carranza outlines his ‘bold, progressive’ to-do list

2018-06-27T18:49:22+00:00

Over his first two months as chancellor of New York City schools, Richard Carranza embarked on a listening tour that introduced him to 2,125 students, 1,876 parents, 2,984 teachers and employees, and 336 elected officials and community partners.

As he announced a major reorganization of the Department of Education Wednesday, Carranza also released a report detailing his takeaways from all he heard.

“I am excited to work with our Mayor on a bold, progressive agenda, that embraces diversity and is committed to making New York the fairest, most enlightened big City in America,” he concluded.

“The last four years gave us a strong foundation,” he said in reference to the work of his predecessor Carmen Fariña. But the reports suggests he will have some different priorities from the chancellor he replaced, including his push to increase integration in the city’s schools. “Now, we are laser focused on equity, because you cannot have excellence without it.”

Here are the highlights of the report, which introduces the system’s successes first and then addresses some of the challenges that Carranza hopes to address.

He wants to expand arts instruction. Carranza, who credits his experience in a mariachi band with keeping him focused and out of trouble as a teen, applauded the art and music education he witnessed on his school visits. And he wants to see more of it.

He believes in adding counselors and social workers. The chancellor said he will expand resources to support students facing trauma and other stressors “to achieve a socially just school system.” This is in line with the city’s budget deal earlier this month, which provided a modest increase to hire social workers in schools with high concentrations of students living in temporary housing.

The first challenge he notes: “Desegregating Our Schools.” That’s notable language given that the previous chancellor and mayor have shied away from the word segregation, though it’s not new for Carranza. “I am fully committed to investing in and expanding programs to desegregate our schools, and will work with communities to tackle this challenge head on in order to create a more fair, equitable, and just system,” he writes.

He wants to confront broader racial disparities. Carranza specifically cites gaps in student discipline rates and access to Gifted & Talented programs, and mentions the importance of culturally relevant curriculum. “Throughout our system, I will continue to ask tough questions, and work with our staff and community partners to ensure we address disparities, deconstruct inequitable systems, and build more equitable future for every child.”

He addresses charter schools directly, keeping focus on partnerships. “For me, the politicization of education is a red herring—we must make sure that each child in our City has an excellent education. When we focus on collaboration, we can better serve all students,” he writes.

He’s committed to the schools in the Renewal turnaround program. He says struggling schools should be called “schools of opportunity,” and investing in those schools can help change the national narrative about urban schools. But he doesn’t get into specifics.

He’s reworking the bureaucracy. He says principals have complained about receiving mixed messages from multiple offices in the education department. He announced a staff shake-up attempting to fix that this morning.

What’s not here: Concrete, academic challenges like getting more students to graduate. Carranza does say he is focused on improving math and reading instruction, and offer this academic vision: “We must ensure that every student knows how to write well, think like a scientist, understand history, and learn computer science. The diploma they leave our schools with should also say that they are critical thinkers (and know how to discern news), have a digital identity (because that will follow them for the rest of their lives), are articulate (so that they can express ideas), and that they can work in teams and collaborate.”

New York City agrees to provide paid family leave to teachers

2018-06-20T16:41:05+00:00

New York City will begin providing paid family leave to teachers, officials announced today, a victory for the United Federation of Teachers.

The city will pay full salary to birth, foster, adoptive, and surrogate parents for six weeks — covering about 120,000 union members. Combined with sick time, birth mothers will now be able to take 12 to 14 weeks of leave starting in September. The city estimates 4,000 parents annually will benefit.

The new policy is expected to cost the city $51 million. To help cover that cost, the city and the union agreed to extend their current contract for an additional two-and-a-half months past its expiration in November.

“It’s a fundamental matter of fairness to make sure that people have this opportunity,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The decision follows heavy pressure from the teacher’s union, which has campaigned for a more generous policy for teachers since the city extended six weeks of fully paid time off to its non-union workforce in 2016, covering about 20,000 managerial employees. Paid leave had become a rare point of contention between the mayor and powerful teachers union — with the union president accusing the administration of sexism during a City Council hearing.

“All we asked for was to be treated fairly when members of our own union bring children into their families,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said Wednesday. “That wrong has finally been righted.”

The new policy also comes as the UFT braces for a Supreme Court ruling that could take a big bite out of the union’s ability to collect dues. Securing a victory on paid family leave could help demonstrate the union’s utility at a time when retaining members could become increasingly difficult.

Educators who work for the Department of Education, the city’s largest agency, previously had to use accrued sick days after having a baby — and that policy applied only to birth mothers, not educators who become parents through adoption or surrogacy.

The city has contended that the issue would be addressed during negotiations for the UFT contract. But Mulgrew has bristled at that, saying at a hearing in April that leave was “being used completely as a bargaining chip against our union.” The UFT’s membership is 77 percent female.

Top city officials have previously hinted that they planned to come up with a family leave policy, even if they have been reluctant to share details about what it could look like. “Obviously we’re not going to negotiate in public,” Carranza said last month. But, he added, “I will be very supportive of anything that helps [teachers].”

The battle for paid family leave was re-ignited by an online petition started by two Brooklyn teachers that had more than 80,000 signatures in the fall. After the teachers brought attention to the issue, the union took up the cause, sending out an “action alert” to members in November.

“We’ve chosen to dedicate our lives to helping children, so the irony is glaring that we don’t get any support when we’re having our own,” said Emily James, a Brooklyn high school teacher who was behind the viral petition.

Even as strides in family leave have been made elsewhere, union officials said teachers were being left behind. New York state, for example, passed a mandatory paid leave policy that covered private employees as of 2018.

Taking leave under the old policy created hardship for parents. Mothers had to use sick days if they wanted paid time off after giving birth. But teachers earn only one sick day per school month worked: To save up for an eight-week leave, a teacher would have to work about four years without taking a sick day.

If a woman hasn’t accrued enough days, she can “borrow” days that she hasn’t accrued yet, up to 20 days. But if she or her children actually get sick, any days beyond the 20 must be taken unpaid. And borrowed sick days have to be repaid if the teacher leaves the education department.

Monica Disare and Christina Veiga contributed reporting.