| Top Stories AP Parity Regents vote for tougher high school dual enrollment standards Times Union, 9/10/2025 The state Education Department plans to track the outcomes of high school students who take college classes and require those classes to be of the same rigor as those offered to older students. The goal is to “strengthen the quality of dual enrollment programs,” according to the Board of Regents. Each college class offered to high school students must have the same content, materials, methods of assessment and level of rigor as other sections of the same college course. It can’t be easier just because it’s offered in a high school or via Zoom for high school students only, the board decided Tuesday. ICYMI NYC’s high rate of chronic absenteeism: 1 in 3 students missed 10% of school year Chalkbeat, 9/17/2025 One in three New York City public school students was chronically absent last school year, which is defined as missing at least 10% of school days, according to statistics released Wednesday. That represents a slight dip from the 2023-24 school year, when 34.8% of students were chronically absent. But it is still considerably higher than pre-pandemic levels, when chronic absenteeism rates hovered closer to 1 in 4 children. Attendance is considered a key metric for school performance for a commonsense reason: Missed school typically means missed learning. Big Apple’s Big Spending New York City Public Schools Are the Nation’s Least Efficient City Journal, 9/10/2025 Since 2020, New York City public schools have lost nearly 70,000 students in grades K–12—equivalent to 8 percent of their student population—according to the 2024–25 Demographic Snapshot report released last month. This drop occurred despite an influx of 48,000 recent immigrant students since the summer of 2022. During the same period, the New York City Department of Education budget increased from $34.5 billion to $40 billion. According to New York State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, education spending accounts for 35.5 percent of the city’s total budget. This mismatch between falling attendance and rising budgets has resulted in an official per-pupil spending total of $32,284, making New York City public schools the most expensive in the nation. The Citizens Budget Commission estimates that this per-pupil figure will pass $41,000 by next year. Advocacy Corner |
| PLACE NYC Townhall with NYC Mayoral Candidate Andrew Cuomo Date: Thursday, September 25, 2025, 7:30pm – Virtual Free event Register: https://tinyurl.com/placenyc-cuomo Request a Mail In Ballot for the November General Election https://www.nycvotes.org/how-to-vote/register-to-vote/ Petition for Queens SHS Grant a New Building for Queens High School for the Sciences at York College (QHSS) QHSS School Community “We, the students, families, staff, and supporters of Queens High School for the Sciences at York College (QHSS) respectfully call attention to the urgent need for improved facilities and a new school building.” Elections Coverage Andrew Cuomo’s Plan to Win It’s not exactly likely. But it’s also not impossible. NY Magazine, 9/21/2025 NY Democratic boss’ stand against socialist Zohran Mamdani sparks full-blown rift in party NY Post, 9/21/2025 How the DSA Became the Democrats’ Tea Party The Free Press, 9/17/2025 New York Power Brokers Try to Claw Back Clout Before It’s Too Late The Free Press, 9/9/2025 What Happens if Eric Adams Drops Out of the Mayor’s Race? The City NYC, 9/4/2025 Bill de Blasio: Why I am endorsing Zohran Mamdani NY Daily News, 9/2/2025 Other Headlines Lost But Not Found Public school kids were already going missing. Now schools are poised to see sharper enrollment declines Hechinger Report, 9/22/2025 For many Americans, the specter of missing children evokes forlorn images on milk cartons or Amber alerts on cell phones. But a new report from the Brookings Institution suggests that the pandemic may have created a new generation of lost kids — this time, from classrooms. The number of students who are not in school exploded in 2020 after the Covid outbreak, and many still aren’t back. The missing kids are not in private schools or being homeschooled. Many children are simply not enrolled anywhere, according to the Brookings’ analysis of federal data. Some are older teens, nearly at the end of their high school years, but many are younger. And no one knows whether these kids are getting an education. Many college students praise Cuba over US, poll shows: ‘American higher education is in trouble’ NY Post, 9/21/2025 U.S. student applications to colleges in Europe, U.K. and Asia jump amid rising costs and political turmoil CBS News, 9/20/2025 Large jumps points to a problem National Merit Semifinalist Cutoffs Class of 2026 Compass Education Group, 9/18/2025 The recently confirmed cutoffs reveal that the Class of 2026 had the highest Semifinalist scores ever on the PSAT. Of the 12 largest states, 8 set new records and the other 4 tied their highest historical marks. Students in Massachusetts and New Jersey (225) would have needed to score at least a near-perfect 750 on the Reading & Writing (RW) and combine it with a 750 or 760 on Math. Adams Says He Will Revisit N.Y.C. Schools’ Bathroom Gender Policy NY Times, 9/18/2025 NYC student, 16, pledges to shoot up school on social media, found with loaded semiautomatic handgun after Instagram steps in NY Post, 9/18/2025 Hochul, top lawmakers sued after shifting yeshiva, nonpublic school standards Times Union, 9/18/2025 Math Slide Why Johnny Can’t Add Anymore Wall Street Journal Editorial, 9/18/2025 The bad news keeps coming from America’s K-12 schools. Last week it was the dismal results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and a report Tuesday documents more evidence of declining mastery of basic math. Since 2013 NAEP math scores have dropped 11 points for eighth-graders and five points for fourth-graders—and the declines are steepest for the lowest-performing students. Twelfth-grade scores have dropped six points. Thirty-nine percent of eighth-graders and 45% of twelfth-graders scored below “basic” proficiency in 2024. Scores were trending up before 2013, so what explains the slide? Researchers at the Center on Reinventing Public Education cite “lowered expectations, inflated grades, and obscured learning gaps.” In recent years, some states have abolished standardized tests or lowered proficiency standards that help keep schools accountable. Only six states still require high school exit exams, compared to 24 in 2013. More tax dollars for education doesn’t mean better-performing students, shocking study finds NY Post, 9/17/2025 A Glimpse Into the Extravagant Lives of New York City Teens NY Times, 9/17/2025 Youth Crime on the Rise NYC youth crime doubled since controversial state Raise the Age Law kicked in, new report shows NY Post, 9/17/2025 Youth crime in the Big Apple has more than doubled since the state’s controversial “Raise the Age Law” kicked in — despite overall dips in crime, Mayor Eric Adams’ latest annual report revealed. The newly released Mayor’s Management Report shows drops in six of the seven major crimes across the five boroughs over the past year — but also shows that there were 5,623 felony youth arrests in fiscal year 2025, up from 2,200 in fiscal 2018 when the lax law kicked in, and 2,807 in 2021. A Thousand Teachers Were Asked About ‘Equitable’ Grading. Most Didn’t Like It The 74 Million, 9/17/2025 ICYMI AG unveils new rules on algorithmic feed ban for young people Times Union, 9/15/2025 Social media companies will have to vastly restrict how they target young users, as the scaffolding of new rules supporting a landmark New York algorithm law begins to take shape. And as a result of the new restrictions, six of the largest and most prominent social media platforms stand to lose combined advertising revenue estimated at $119 million per year, according to a new report released Monday by the New York attorney general’s office. That office has been charged with creating regulations to implement the dictates of the 2024 law, which aims to decrease the exposure of children under 18 to addictive feeds. Football fantasy: Colleges add sports to bring men, but it doesn’t always work Hechinger Report, 9/13/2025 NYC school board votes to rescind resolution on transgender students in school sports NY Daily News, 9/11/2025 From burner phones to decks of cards: NYC teens are adjusting to the smartphone ban Gothamist, 9/11/2025 Progressive Orgs NYC’s next mayor could shake up the schools chancellor search. This group has ideas for doing that. Chalkbeat, 9/10/2025 Zohran Mamdani, the current frontrunner in November’s race, has campaigned on ending mayoral control and giving students, parents, and educators more influence over the school system — though he has shared few details about how that would work. Now a group of progressive education advocates is releasing a slate of policy proposals to make the school system more responsive to local communities in the hopes of influencing the next mayor. Their coalition may have sway with Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, as he devises an education agenda…The policy blueprint is from New Yorkers for Racially Just Public Schools, a coalition of advocacy groups …Mamdani said last week that he plans to select a chancellor in consultation with groups who have supported his campaign, including the teachers union… Kids claim NYC gifted school segregation at top state court Courthouse News Service, 9/10/2025 New York Loses Federal Grant for Head Start Program for Poor Families NY Times, 9/10/2025 COVID Worsened Long Decline in 12th-Graders’ Reading, Math Skills The 74 Million, 9/8/2025 Man With A Plan Andrew Cuomo: My plan to deliver for NYC’s 1 million schoolkids NY Post, op-ed by Andrew Cuomo, 9/8/2025 That is why I announced my Overhaul NYC Schools Plan, built on three pillars: excellence, access and innovation — closing failing schools, expanding opportunity and aligning education with the jobs of tomorrow. …We will double specialized high schools like Bronx Science from nine to 18, expanding rigorous programs in STEM and emerging fields like AI and cybersecurity. The Specialized High School Admissions Test will remain the admissions standard, while prep programs will expand in underserved neighborhoods so all students have a fair shot. We will raise the charter-school cap, ensuring high-quality options where they are needed most. Twelfth-Grade Math and Reading Scores in U.S. Hit New Low Wall Street Journal, 9/8/2025 Cellphones out, Chromebooks in: NYC to give 350,000 students new laptops with free internet Chalkbeat, 9/8/2025 NYC students not getting enough help to learn English: comptroller’s audit NY Daily News, 9/8/2025 Man Without A Plan How would Mamdani improve NYC public schools? The mayoral frontrunner offers few clues Chalkbeat, 9/5/2025 On the first day of school, Zohran Mamdani stood in front of a middle school in Queens with the president of the teachers union and expressed enthusiastic support for a state mandate to reduce class sizes and a new law banning cellphones in school. But, when asked by a reporter, he struggled to lay out how his administration would improve the city’s highest-need schools if he wins in November. Education has not been a focal point in the election, even though the school system is the city’s largest department and commands a budget of more than $41 billion with roughly 146,000 employees. Mamdani, a 33-year-old Queens assemblyman who won the Democratic primary, devoted a single 168-word paragraph to K-12 education on his campaign website. ‘The Highest Exam’ Review: China’s Big Test Wall Street Journal, 9/5/2025 High-priced Stakes Billionaire Zohran Mamdani donor bankrolling national ‘woke math’ movement NY Post, 9/6/2025 The billionaire heiress who recently donated $250,000 to a super PAC supporting socialist Zohran Mamdani’s NYC mayoral campaign is bankrolling a national push to bring “woke math” into public schools — a twisted bid to turn kids into socialist revolutionaries, critics told The Post. Philanthropist Liz Simons, daughter of late hedge-fund billionaire Jim Simons, oversees a foundation with a near-billion-dollar endowment trashing traditional race-neutral math in favor of race-obsessed leftist lessons inserting social justice principles into many aspects of students’ studies. New year, new building: Queens Innovation Center brings health, film, and tech-focused schools Chalkbeat, 9/3/2025 Chilling Silence How Zohran Mamdani Could Kill New York’s Schools The Free Press, 9/3/2025 Zohran Mamdani, the odds-on favorite to be the next mayor of New York City, has said precious little about education. But as someone who ran our school system for almost a decade, I can tell you what little he has said is alarming. A Teen Was Suicidal. ChatGPT Was the Friend He Confided In. NY Times, 8/26/2025 |