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Fear of School Closure Is Personal for This Principal
Whether Bed-Stuy's Boys and Girls High School—with its declining enrollment and F ratings—survives is not just a professional concern for Principal Bernard Gassaway. His classroom roots, his former marriage, his career ambitions are all tied to the building on Fulton Street.
Leasing Rules Eyed After Toxic School's Closure
When a Bronx school shut this summer because of contamination, parents of students who'd attended the site over the past two decades worried about their children's health—and wondered why the problem wasn't detected earlier.
Flat Gains on U.S. Tests Clash with Picture of Progress in NYC
New York school officials claim city students are making consistent gains, even in the face of national scores that suggest little progress over the past two years.
2 Schools, 1 Space: Scars Linger from Controversy on Adelphi Street
The elementary school and the middle school shared a building without strife. But when one school felt compelled to grow, tensions arose around race, class and space.
Workers, Kids Suffer in Corruption Probe's Aftermath
One of northern Manhattan's largest non-profit organizations, only last year the focus of a city investigation into corruption allegations, now faces a fresh crisis – one that threatens to disrupt the lives of dozens of working parents and over 100 pre-school children.
In Public School Reform, What Can Private Money Buy?
Bill Gates has donated more than $5 billion to improve U.S. schools. But he sees little bang for all those bucks. What do other philanthropists—and the school systems who've benefited from them—think they have to show for what's been spent?
New York's School Principals Struggle Quietly Amid Teacher Controversies
The headlines are full of concerns about teacher tenure, teacher pensions, teacher layoffs. What do some of the city's principals have to say about the challenges their schools face?
For Low-Income Immigrants, Status Complicates Survival
C is like many students at Hunter College. She balances work and school, struggles to pay her tuition bill, wonders what the future will hold. Secretly, she also carries the burden of being an undocumented immigrant.
Obama Anti-Poverty Programs Begin to Take Shape
The president's neighborhood-based anti-poverty initiatives will soon move into a second stage. But in an era of budget-cutting, Promise Neighborhoods and Choice Neighborhoods face a steep political challenge.
Boxing Programs In Fight For Their Lives
Despite their traditional appeal as a way to get tough kids off the street, youth boxing programs are struggling to survive as foundations favor programs whose success is easier to measure.
Q&A With An 'Unsatisfactory' Teacher
In the debate over budget cuts, teacher layoffs and improving schools, much has been said about teachers who get “unsatisfactory” ratings. But little has been heard from those instructors.
The Principal Is New. The School Is Closing.
With new boss Dennis Walcott, the city school system gets a new chance to improve relations with parents and teachers. But there'll be no second chance for Robeson High in Bed-Stuy. What does that mean for students?
What Cuts Will Cost: Children's Learning, Parents' Work
As tabloids celebrate an on-time state budget, a look at what one budget cut at the city level will mean: fewer childcare slots, less school prep for kids and a tough choice for their working parents.
Izzy, Ippies Honor City Limits
City Limits' magazine coverage of the Harlem Children's Zone, synthetic turf in city parks and other topics garnered three journalism prizes this week.
Credits As Collateral: Schools Withhold Records If Debts Unpaid
Some students transferring to public school arrive with no educational records because a private or parochial school has withheld them until tuition debts are paid.
Teachers Are Fair Game, But Cops' Records Are Off Limits
The city is pressing to release internal ratings on public school teachers. But cops, prison guards and firefighters don't have to worry about similar exposure.
The Election's Over. So Let's Talk Issues
A look at the policy questions that campaign 2010 didn't answer
Going National
We are so desperate for any little inkling for success
Student Safety Act Passes City Council
Third time’s the charm for the bill, which requires detailed reporting on school crime, arrests, suspensions and expulsions.
Ten Questions for Cathie Black
How would the incoming schools chancellor—or you—score on a quiz covering the system she inherits, her predecessor's reforms and the steep challenges awaiting her?
Education
City Limits investigative reporting covers where policy meets pupils: public schools, charter schools, colleges, and greater opportunities.
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The Reading List: Whiter Colleges, the Price of Trash and Killer Heat - Jarrett Murphy
There's more to know today about the effect of CUNY admissions policies on student demographics, the fiscal impact of city sanitation policy and more.
Background Briefing: Teacher Ratings - Jarrett Murphy
The release of New York City's teacher data reports has triggered a flurry of coverage on the numbers and the teachers singled out as ranking high or low. Here's some background on what the numbers mean—and what they don't
Closing Schools More Poor, Less White - Jarrett Murphy
Schools the Bloomberg administration has targeted for closure have student populations demographically different from the average facility. And many had absorbed an increasing number of struggling students.
Schools Targeted for Closure Serve Kids with Higher Needs - Helen Zelon
Schools on the new DOE closure list serve more low-income, special ed and English-learning students than the system as a whole. Is the city simply fighting for poor kids to get the best, or applying unfair expectations in a way that disrupts students' lives?
School Progress Reports Suggest Grad Rate Trouble Ahead - Helen Zelon
The DOE's report cards are out for high schools. Amid higher standards, fewer schools notched the highest grades. With graduation criteria about to tighten, what do the numbers bode for the class of 2012 and beyond?
Nailed for Insider Trading, but Not Ditched by Antipoverty Pioneer - Jarrett Murphy
In a letter this summer to the judge overseeing Raj Rajaratnam's sentencing, the head of the Harlem Children's Zone suggested that community service would do more good than hard time.
Cheat Sheet for Parents: Understanding School Progress Reports - Helen Zelon
The grades are out, and so is the list of schools that might close because of them. But what's the difference between an A and a B when the DOE grades its 1,700 schools?
Survey: NYers Would Pay More for Better Schools - Jarrett Murphy
A new survey finds that New Yorkers generally think the city's schools have improved and are willing to pay more in taxes to fund education. But among political priorities, creating jobs edges out schools.
Outcome Of School Violence Crackdown Hard To Detect - Helen Zelon
Early in the Bloomberg administration, the city put more cops and stricter rules into some of the most dangerous schools. Tracking the program's effect is complicated by other policies that have closed, shrunk or replaced some of the targeted facilities.
Fighting To Save A Harlem High School - Johann Hamilton
As underclassmen decide where to transfer, efforts are underway to save Rice High School, a private Catholic institution that is slated to close because of financial problems, not academic failure.
New Graduation Numbers Show Growth, Gaps - City Limits
The state released new statistics on high school graduation rates. New York City's improved once again, but a new measure of college readiness suggests huge challenges remain.
Searching For Stability At Robeson High - City Limits
Watch a video interview about the challenges confronting one Brooklyn High School: A dwindling student population, reduced class offerings and the third principal in about a year.
Group Homes Face Change. Question Is, How Much? - Michele Narov
After media revelations of abuse at homes for the developmentally disabled, the Assembly is considering a law to improve employee screening. But some contemplate broader change, like getting the state out of the group home business altogether.
CONVERSATIONS/OPINONS
A History Lesson as NYC School Tests Near
Next month, city students take the standardized tests on which their progress, and perhaps the fates of their teachers and schools, depend—all amid a debate over testing that, this writer observes, is nothing new.
The GED: Public Good or Private Sector Trove?
A private corporation has just taken over the test that millions use to attain credentials outside of high school. Amid talk of rising fees, it's time for the city to step up for students counting on the GED.
Kickball & Other Games Adults Play with Education Reform
The current education reform climate reminds this writer of a 4th grade kickball game: Elites select their favorites, unions fight for the ball—and parents and students wonder when someone will pick them to play.
School Testing: Time We Asked Some Really Hard Questions
Last year's recalibration of statewide exams led to a dramatic drop in the number of students answering the required number of questions. This op-ed writer wonders why we haven't asked harder questions about earlier tests.
Support And Advice For Chancellor Dennis Walcott
New York’s public schools don’t need a savior or a superman. We need a leader with the maturity and vision to draw on the talent and resources in this city.
MULTIMEDIA
ACS Foster Care Contracts By Borough
The Administration for Children’s Services is calling for a "do-over" of the contracting process it undertook last year to implement a sea-change in child welfare policy. This document shows where the contracts went.
Transgender Need Not Apply: A Report on Gender Identity Job Discrimination
A report on possible gender bias against transgendered and gender non-conforming job applicants found a 42 percent rate of discrimination by employers.
