LISTEN: The teachers who shaped us

Man with red tie and female with red tie stand in front of a blackboard.
P.S. Weekly reporter Dorothy Ha and her Stuyvesant High School English teacher, Emilio Nieves. (Cindy Ye / For Chalkbeat)

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, and in this special episode, P.S. Weekly and Chalkbeat reporters — plus their parents — share stories about the teachers who have inspired, encouraged, and shaped them.

This episode goes out to the “dedicated adults — sometimes strict, sometimes goofy — who make us feel safe, make us feel seen, who push us to excel,” said host and Beacon High School junior Bernie Carmona.

P.S. Weekly is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Be sure to drop a review in your app or shoot an email to PSWeekly@chalkbeat.org. Tell us what you learned today or what you’re still wondering. We just might read your comment on a future episode.

P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell. Listen for new episodes Wednesdays this spring.

The Latest

Federal investigation targets Chicago schools’ long-awaited Black Student Success Plan. State law mandated the Chicago Board of Education create a plan to “bring parity between Black children and their peers.”

Colorado ranks third in the nation, after Washington, D.C. and Vermont, for the share of 4-year-olds served in its state-funded preschool program.

Backers of a proposed religious charter school argue that charter schools are more private than public. The Supreme Court case could upend the charter sector, with implications for funding, autonomy and more.

The Illinois legislative session is scheduled to end on May 31. Lawmakers are considering several education bills and negotiating the fiscal year 2024 budget. Here is what Chalkbeat is following.

Advocates warn that transferring federal special education oversight to another department could weaken enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other disability rights laws, while jeopardizing funding, research, and implementation.

Some districts invested pandemic relief money in instructional coaches and increased time spent on math. Test scores suggest that strategy’s paying off.