School Stories

Principal Santi Taveras has a bold plan to turn around the failing DeWitt Clinton High School. But is he too late?

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Proponents and critics of inBloom, an educational-software company that collected student data, continue to offer reasons for last week’s announcement that it is closing. The company, funded by a $100 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corp. of New York has been at the center of the debate over […]

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During his campaign for mayor, Bill de Blasio called for an end to the letter grades the city gives to each public school in New York. He called them “blunt instruments” that don’t give the nuanced portrait that policymakers, teachers, students, and parents deserve. His spokeswoman said last month that the grades offered “little real […]

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Josh Penafiel dropped out of his East New York high school after it was closed by the New York City Department of Education several years ago. Now he’s trying to get his diploma, but time is running out.

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The Panel for Education Policy approved the city’s plan to phase-out 20 schools and close two others during a meeting on Monday night, the New York Post reported.  Hundreds of parents and teachers came to Brooklyn Tech, where the vote took place, to protest the move. Since taking office in 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has […]

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Community groups rallied in front of City Hall yesterday to protest proposed budget cuts to the city’s after school and child care programs, GothamSchools.org reported. If the proposal goes through, the city will cut 37,000 spots across its three after-school programs and 10,000 spots in child care programs. Last year, similar cuts were proposed but City Hall averted […]

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Although he’s been called “the education mayor,” according to a NY1-Marist Poll, the majority of New Yorkers disapprove of Mayor Bloomberg’s educational policies. Those polled also stated that they hoped the new mayor will move New York City’s schools in a different direction.  

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The mayor and the chancellor announced at a press conference at Washington Irving High School that 54 new schools will open in the fall, Gotham Schools reported.  Twenty-four of those schools will be charter schools.  Under Bloomberg, 589 schools opened, while 140 schools have closed or are in the process of being closed.

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New York City mayoral candidates have been aggressively reaching out to UFT President Michael Mulgrew, according to The New York Times, as they gear up for campaigns that will likely be much more union-friendly than those that were run by current Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

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According to GothamSchools, UFT President Michael Mulgrew recently said he could support Bloomberg’s plan to pay back the student loans of top college graduates who come teach in New York City schools. However, the plan would have to meet certain conditions before earning his full endorsement.

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