This piece makes some sharp critiques, but the argument that more school spending pushes families to leave NYC is puzzling, + discounts the ways NYC's school budget already serves as social safety net, incl: ~$2B for free 3-K/Pre-K, >$600m for free meals, free dental/vision at 100s of schls, etc.

The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · 3mo ago

New York City spends more money per pupil than many public-school districts—and yet its educational outcomes “are average at best,” Marc Novicoff argues. He examines how the city’s education budget became untouchable, and what that means for students:

Students across New York couldn’t log into state math exams Wednesday morning, raising fresh questions about the transition to computer-based testing.

Tech trouble for NY’s state math tests: Some schools pause and reschedule exams

Students across New York couldn’t log into state math exams Wednesday morning, raising fresh questions about the transition to computer-based testing.

bit.ly

Scoop! NYC Chancellor Kamar Samuels is pulling four controversial proposals from Wednesday's PEP vote: - Opening of 'Next Gen,' the city's first AI-focused HS - Closing middle schools at P.S. 191 and Manhattan School for Children - Relocating Center School www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026...

NYC scraps new AI high school and Manhattan middle school closures after intense pushback

Facing community opposition, Chancellor Kamar Samuels nixed plans to open an AI-focused high school, close two Manhattan middle schools, and relocate another.

chalkbeat.org

Among the popular "industry credentials" in Philly schools: a 2-hour online ladder safety course that most employers who ask people to climb ladders would be required to offer anyway. Good work by @rebeccaredelmeier.bsky.social on what's going wrong in high school. www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

‘You don’t have to learn anything to graduate’: Dubious credentials boost Pennsylvania’s graduation rate

Philadelphia teachers say they’re incentivized to push students to earn low-value credentials — like a 2-hour online ladder-safety course — by state and district officials who want to see graduation rates continue to climb.

chalkbeat.org

Mayor Mamdani announcing at a press conference today that the "default model" for the new free 2-K program will subsidize child care 8am-6pm, year-round, in contrast to the default of 8am-2:20 pm, September-June for the 3-K and Pre-K programs.

Last week, Dylan Lopez Contreras returned to his Bronx high school after 10 months in ICE detention. It was a day full of joy, and also inescapable reminders of the threat of immigration enforcement still facing Dylan and his classmates: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026...

Dylan Lopez Contreras returns to his Bronx classroom after 10 months in ICE detention

The jubilation of Dylan’s return has been mixed with frequent reminders of the looming threat of immigration enforcement facing him and other ELLIS students.

chalkbeat.org

NYC is about to release a long-await AI policy for schools. But over the past 2+ years, as AI use has grown, schools have had to figure out their own approach to confronting AI. Here's what some are doing + what the city might learn from them: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026...

NYC’s Education Dept. is releasing a long-awaited AI policy. Some schools already have their own.

Schools have embraced a wide variety of approaches, from policies outlining acceptable use, to bans, to no formal discussion of AI at all.

chalkbeat.org

After 10 months, Dylan, the first NYC high school student detained by ICE in Trump's 2nd term, has been released. www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026... Here's what Norma Vega, the principal of Dylan's school ELLIS Prep, which has played a key role in the efforts to rally behind him, said:

NYC is proposing a new, selective-admissions, AI-focused high school in Manhattan's D2, w/ support from Google + Open AI. Hundreds of parents have already sent letters expressing concern. PEP votes next month on the proposal. Via Lizzie Walsh: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026...

NYC is proposing a public high school with an AI focus. Parents are pushing back.

Manhattan High School superintendent with ties to Google wants to open Next Generation Technology High School. The school promises to “expand pathways connected to high-growth technology careers.”

chalkbeat.org

Great read from @alexzimmerman.bsky.social on NYC’s new chancellor, his vision for the system, and what happens when Mamdani visits an elementary school: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026...

Come join us Thursday at the Brooklyn Heights library for a conversation on what it means to educate immigrant students in this moment - with educators doing amazing work on the ground + great orgs with resources to share.

Chalkbeat@chalkbeat.org · 8mo ago

How can New York City schools better serve and educate immigrant students in Trump's second term? RSVP for this important discussion at the link below.

Important reality check from @mattbarnum.bsky.social on the oft-heard refrain that loosening admissions at selective schools will harm the lower-scoring students who get in by setting them up for failure. Research shows precisely the opposite: those students see real benefits.

Matt Barnum@mattbarnum.bsky.social · 8mo ago

New — What the internet backlash over rising remedial math at UC San Diego misses: Yes, it's a problem that math scores are going down, but selective, well-resourced universities are arguably best equipped to help students catch up. cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/what-the-i...

One sign of how bad NYC’s child care crisis has gotten: there are *10,000* kids sitting on a waitlist for low-income child care vouchers b/c the program is out of $. Some observers say that’s a logical place for Mamdani to start his push for universal child care: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

NYC’s child care voucher waitlist swells to 10,000, leaving working parents in the lurch

The waitlist for child care vouchers swelled to 10,000 children, forcing low-income working parents to rely on unstable care. Can Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani fix the problem?

chalkbeat.org

New: the arrival of ~50K migrant students from 2022-24 buoyed NYC schools after years of enrollment decline. But over the past year, as the city closed shelters + Trump took office, that pattern reversed - posing long-term challenges for many schls + the system: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

A wave of immigration boosted enrollment at dozens of NYC schools. Now, their numbers are falling.

At dozens of schools that took in the largest shares of migrant students in recent years, enrollment fell by 11% over the past year, wiping away years of gains.

chalkbeat.org

Rly important work by economist Lauren Melodia finds the median income for NYC’s family child care providers, many of whom rely largely on public funding + will be a critical part of any push for universal child care, is $6 an hour: www.centernyc.org/reports-brie...

Dignified Pay for Quality Care: What New York’s Family Child Care Providers Need to Thrive — Center for New York City Affairs

As the recent, historic mayoral election campaign demonstrated, the soaring costs and insufficient availability of quality child care continue to be matters of paramount importance to New Yorkers. The...

centernyc.org

VIDEO: Federal Agents Bust Into Queens Apartment, Pointing Guns at Mother and Her Four Kids www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/19/q...

On Camera, Fed Agents Point Guns at Mother and Four Kids in Queens

The agents came looking for a relative who no longer lived in the apartment, the shellshocked mother told THE CITY. Days later, her children are terrified to leave their parents' sides.

thecity.nyc

New w/ @alexzimmerman.bsky.social: NYC declared victory on a major class size deadline: >60% of classes under the caps. What they didn’t mention: they only got there by quietly declaring 10,500 classes exempt. W/o those, DOE would’ve been at 59.5% compliance: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

Eric Adams declares victory on class size reduction — by issuing 10,500 exemptions

NYC officials quietly issued thousands of exemptions to class size law. Did your school get one?

chalkbeat.org

Mamdani’s visit to a BK child care center yesterday illustrated one of the problems in the system he’ll have to confront: 2 of the center’s classrooms, meant for 3K/PreK, have sat empty for 5 yrs. Citywide, ~27,000 free child care seats, 1 in 5, were empty last yr: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

First puzzle Mamdani’s universal child care plan must solve: NYC’s empty seat problem

Last year, more than 27,000 of the city’s roughly 136,000 free child care seats for kids ages 4 and under went unfilled, about 1 in every 5 seats.

chalkbeat.org

Most of the conversation about whether Mamdani can deliver universal child care has focused - rightfully - on cost. But I've been curious (as a reporter and parent of an infant + toddler) what it would take operationally. So I talked to lots of knowledgable ppl: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

Mamdani pledged universal child care for NYC. What will it take to get there?

Mamdani will face an array of logistical and operational challenges in standing up new public infrastructure for hundreds of thousands of youngsters.

chalkbeat.org

Plot twist in NYC's chancellor search! Meisha Ross Porter, a former schools chief under de Blasio who's considered a top contender for the job under Mamdani, is a finalist for CEO of Chicago schools. www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025...

Former NYC schools chancellor in the running for head of Chicago Public Schools

Meisha Ross Porter, who led New York City Public Schools until 2021, will interview with Chicago Board of Education members, a community panel, and the mayor next week.

chalkbeat.org

A little more election-eve news for NYC schools: Enrollment is down 2.4%, the largest drop in 4 yrs. Seems likely immigration played a role - the influx of 50K migrants propped up NYC’s enrollment the last 3 yrs, but that’s ground to a halt under Trump. www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

A bit of news for NYC schools: schools w/ lower-than-projected enrollment won't have to give back $ midyear. That could be especially beneficial to schools that have enrolled large immigrant populations + have seen big drops under Trump. W/ @amyzimmer.bsky.social: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

It’s a ‘blessing’: NYC schools get to keep their cash, despite lower than projected enrollment

Schools that missed their enrollment targets won’t have to return millions in funding midyear back to the Education Department. Some principals say it’s a ‘blessing.’

chalkbeat.org

Hundreds of thousands of NYC students + families are about to lose SNAP. Their schools are scrambling to set up ad hoc food pantries, raise $, + collect donations to keep them fed. Another way schools are trying to hold up a crumbling social safety net: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

As SNAP cuts loom, NYC schools scramble to deliver extra food

Schools are launching fundraisers, setting up food pantries, and collecting donations to try to secure extra food for families at risk of losing SNAP benefits.

chalkbeat.org

As momentum builds for universal child care in NYC, the city is for the first time piloting free, non-means-tested seats for kids 2 and under. Here's the list of neighborhoods getting priority: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

Seeking free child care for kids under 2? A NYC pilot program is about to open 240 seats.

City Council leaders hope the pilot program will be a blueprint for further expanding free child care to a wider swath of the youngest New Yorkers.

chalkbeat.org

As more NYC public school parents are detained by ICE, schools are often the first places the family members left behind turn for help picking up the pieces. Here’s how some schools are supporting those students: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

How NYC schools become lifelines for children after ICE arrests their parents

Educators and advocates say a growing number of schools are stepping in to support students who have had one or both parents detained by ICE.

chalkbeat.org

After Mamdani announced plans to phase out gifted programs, Cuomo + Sliwa said they would expand them instead Eric Adams tried to do that — and roughly 1 in 3 of the city's gifted programs are underenrolled. Heres why w/ @michaelelsenroo.bsky.social www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

Mamdani’s opponents want to grow NYC’s gifted programs. Attracting students isn’t easy.

Cuomo and Silwa want to expand kindergarten gifted classes. Mamdani prefers to keep programs starting in third grade. A new analysis uncovered lagging enrollment in the current program.

chalkbeat.org

They wandered back to the hotel shortly after to their terrified children who had already seen video of both of their parents being detained. "It was like something out of a movie,” they told me.

This has been updated with strange new details. I spoke to one person who was arrested but then released, who described being taken to a subterranean parking garage and questioned by agents who said they were with ICE and told them they were looking for Venezuelans.. www.thecity.nyc/2025/10/17/r...

Federal Raid Outside Row Hotel Migrant Shelter Rattles Residents

In what appears to be a first under the current Trump administration, federal agents targeted migrants just outside a shelter.

thecity.nyc

Mamdani announcing a teacher recruitment plan where NYC will offer tuition assistance, mentorship, other support to prospective teachers in exchange for commitments to stay at least 3 years. Class size law requires thousands of addl teacher hires in coming years

Lost in the debate over NYC’s gifted and talented program rekindled by Mamdani’s proposal was the fact that the program underwent a big change in recent years: eliminating its admissions test. @alexzimmerman.bsky.social dug into how that change has played out: www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

NYC gifted and talented: Mamdani’s calls for change comes amid already shifting landscape

Mamdani wants to rethink gifted and talented in NYC schools. The program has already seen big changes.

chalkbeat.org