‘The pandemic has widened the gap between young people with the educational and support systems they need and those without, making the issue of unequal opportunity ever more urgent.’
Last week, a group of organizations demanding a more culturally diverse curriculum in New York City public schools took to the Department of Education’s (DOE) Lower Manhattan headquarters seeking to remind the authorities of the debt they have with the city to expand culturally responsive projects in schools.
Data released recently by the Department of Education for January shows students living in the shelter system saw the most absences, with a monthly attendance rate of 75.7 percent compared to the citywide rate for all students, which was 89.2 percent.
‘Essential government-funded youth programs could be repurposed to transform the current potpourri of citywide services into a comprehensive public-private partnership focused on creating a rigorous academic tutoring system, with education and youth workers at the core.’
‘We need more parents to run so that each CEC’s economic diversity reflects that of the district. Without such diversity, whole swaths of a school district may be voiceless.’
‘Fifty-five percent of city public schools didn’t have a music educator, even before the COVID-19 pandemic…one aspect of that rebuilding must be integrating music as a core subject in the curriculum and ensuring all city schools have certified music educators.’
‘The truth is, New York State has not met its constitutional responsibilities, laughing off multiple court orders and duly-passed laws mandating minimums for neglected, underfunded schools. And it has never mattered more, but instead of standing together, parents and teachers are finger-pointing in classic “scarcity mindset.”’
In this week’s episode, reporter Nicole Javorsky discusses the latest on schools, which are slated to reopen Monday to offer in-person instruction to some students following a systemwide shift to all-remote learning last month.
Coronavirus infection rates have remained low in the school system even as cases across the city rise, prompting officials to take a new reopening approach this month. But questions and uncertainty remain.
Councilman Mark Treyger says the city should tap into the resources it uses to run its senior meal delivery program to offer similar hot food options to students, saying his office has received “numerous complaints” about the current grab-and-go cold meals at schools.
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