The following is my written testimony on the education budget and five-year capital plan, detailing the additional staffing and space that will be needed for schools to reopen safely next year. Smaller class sizes are always of concern, but are especially critical now given the need for social distancing in light of the COVID-19 crisis. […]
The need to reduce class size next fall to improve health and safety and strengthen academic and emotional support and how this could be achieved through budget savings Download the PDF version here. Shorter version in the Gotham Gazette, “To Reopen Schools, The Mayor Needs Smaller Classes — Here’s $570 Million in Potential Department of […]
Dear Friends– 1. I had a piece in the Gotham Gazette yesterday that explains how schools should not reopen next fall without a plan to reduce class size, to provide both the social distancing necessary for health and safety and the academic and emotional support that students will need to make up for the […]
Dear Friends — A quick note to update you on a few issues: 1- In my previous email, I had the wrong date for this week’s meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy when a bunch of highly questionable, potentially wasteful contracts will be voted upon – it is Thursday May 7 at 6 PM. DOE’s […]
Dear Friends, 1. On Wed., the Panel for Educational Policy was scheduled to meet and vote on several huge contracts, including school busing for $200 million for March and another $200 million for April, though all buses have been idle since mid-March. The DOE had told Panel members they were legally obligated to pay 85% of […]
April 28, 2020 Yesterday there was an emergency press conference to protest the DOE’s $827 million proposed cuts to education and to urge that they cut contracts and unnecessary spending on bureaucracy instead. A video of this press conference featuring parent leaders, teachers, advocates, and elected officials, is posted on our blog, along with a press release and […]
Please join us via Zoom on Monday, April 27 at 3 PM to fight the Mayor’s $825 million cuts to schools by cutting contracts and other unnecessary spending instead. RSVP here or at http://tiny.cc/6pdrnz
Dear Friends, 1. A week ago, I looked at the DOE contracts that the Panel for Educational Policy were being asked to vote on at their monthly meeting, scheduled for tonight. The list included hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, including $200 million to pay for busing services in March, with an automatic extension of another […]
Dear Friends, 1.First, some good news to report! The Board of Regents announced yesterday that the Regents exams due to take place this spring are cancelled. Today they put out guidance that any student who would have needed to pass any Regents exams to graduate in June can be issued a diploma without taking them. More details in […]
Dear Friends, 1 -Sadly, it looks like the state budget that was just voted on by the NY Senate will freeze education funding for next year, which given increased costs will be experienced in many schools and districts like a cut. Please call your Assemblymembers now and ask them to vote no on the education budget, […]
Sign here to urge NYC to implement a real, multi-year strategy to lower class size, as the law intends, without exempting up to half or more of all students.
Talk out of School radio show and podcast airs Sunday night at 7 PM on WBAI 99.5 FM or online at www.wbai.org when Leonie Haimson and Daniel Alicea interview guests and discuss issues affecting public schools in NYC, the state level and nationally. You can stream or subscribe to the podcast here; or at iTunes, Spotify or Google.
We held our annual Skinny award dinner Wed. June 28, 2023, honoring Rep. Jamaal Bowman, former Bronx principal and now a progressive trailblazer who is fighting in Congress to protect and improve our public schools. More photos on Facebook .
