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HideFor months, students have been fighting back against the MTA’s budget cuts that would phase out the free Metrocards that allow them to get to school and back.
Khaair Morrison, a Queens high school student, explains in the community section what such a change would mean for him and his peers. Morrison writes:
I wouldn’t even attend the great school I go to, Francis Lewis High School in Queens, if I hadn’t known I would be able to get there for free. But my mom knew I couldn’t go to the schools in my neighborhood. Now those schools are among 19 that the mayor and chancellor are closing. Next year, if I don’t get a free Metrocard, it would be hard for me to stay enrolled at Francis Lewis for my senior year. (more…)

School buses parked in Red Hook, Brooklyn, wait out a winter storm. From Flickr via Michelle
No news travels faster than word of a snow day. It’s on the radio, on teacher blogs, and in a notice sent by the Department of Education this morning: There is no school tomorrow.
The Department of Education sent out a notice at 11:10 am to say that regular school as well as all after school activities and sports are canceled. The Panel for Educational Policy meeting, which was scheduled for tomorrow night, has also been canceled and the proposals moved to the March meeting.
Last March, Chancellor Klein waited until 20 minutes before 6 am to declare a snow day, angering teachers who’d already begun their commutes and parents who had to find childcare.
The chancellor’s notice this year reads: (more…)
A parent just left this comment on today’s Rise and Shine post:
I think education reporters should disclose information about their schooling–public or private–as well as where their children go, if they have them. I think this is fair especially when a cover story blasts certain aspects of public schools. I always wonder after reading such a story: Did this reporter go to private school? Just a random thought.
We agree that it’s fair to ask education reporters, like all journalists, to reveal any biases they might have. So here’s the answer to Random Question’s question for GothamSchools’ four reporters: We are all products of public schools, but not New York’s. And none of us has children.
Major state education stakeholders are funneling money to both sides in the not-yet-official-but-looking-likely gubernatorial primary contest between Governor David Paterson and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
But donors say that although their gifts coincided with increased speculation about Cuomo’s entry into the governor’s race, the donations are more a reflection of what they want to see happen now than a sign they’re taking sides in a future race.
The state teachers union, which vigorously opposed Paterson’s recent attempt to raise the cap on charter schools in the state without additional restrictions, gave $8,400 to Cuomo in the middle of December. That donation followed a $10,000 gift to the attorney general last June.
Union spokesman Carl Korn said that the most recent donation was an indication of support for the attorney generals’ crackdown on predatory lending to students and not a forward-looking political move.
Cuomo has so far kept quiet on his views on charter schools and recently refused to comment on whether he supported Paterson’s push to increase the number of charters allowed under state law. (more…)
New York State’s standardized tests could see big changes next year if a series of a proposals under consideration are approved by the Board of Regents.
According to the State Education Department’s website, the Board of Regents is considering three changes that would not alter the English and math tests’ content, but could still affect their level of difficulty. The changes under consideration include implementing vertical scaling, adding about 15 multiple choice questions to both exams, and curbing the amount of test information that’s made public. (more…)
Charter school advocates’ day of political action in Albany last week appears to have had an unintended consequence: State Senator Bill Perkins now wants to hold hearings to expose an alleged lack of oversight and parent voice in the schools.
In a half-hour interview on WWRL’s Working New York radio show this Saturday, Perkins said that a group of charter school parents who have become disenchanted with their childrens’ schools came to see him and left a lasting impression. Those parents belong to the New York Charter Parents Association, a recently-started group that’s supportive of charter schools, but quite critical of their management.
“There’s a parent movement that’s not being paid attention to within the charter schools,” said Perkins, who recently supported a bill backed by the teachers union that would have lifted the charter cap while placing tight restrictions on how and where the schools open. (more…)