In an effort to combat childhood obesity, the city’s highest school board voted Wednesday to change vendors for school vending machines. The new machines will dispense drinks and snacks that adhere to strict nutritional guidelines. Snacks such as wasabi peas, diced peaches and seven grain crackers will now be sold. That means food companies will [...]
More charter schools may be coming to the city under a plan proposed Wednesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Speaking at a 10th anniversary celebration of charter schools at the Sisulu-Walker Charter school in Harlem, the mayor said if reelected, he would fight to abolish the cap put on charter schools by Albany. Bloomberg’s plan would [...]
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has leveled a rare attack on the Democrat aiming to unseat him, comparing their records on education. At his regular news conference Tuesday – not a campaign event – Bloomberg was asked about City Comptroller William Thompson Jr.’s education plan. The billionaire mayor said he hadn’t seen it, but said that [...]
A new study finds the city’s charter school students are outperforming their public school peers. The report says students who entered lotteries and won spots in charter schools performed better on state exams than students who entered the same lotteries, but did not enter charter schools. It also found the gap between charter school and [...]
City and state scores on SATs spiraled downward for the fourth straight year, according to new data. Since hitting a peak in 2005, the city’s average score on each 800-point section of the SAT has dropped by 13 points in reading, to 435, and by 18 points in math, to 459. Scores on the writing [...]
Governor David Paterson is expected to sign a bill today that once again gives Mayor Michael Bloomberg control of the city schools. The New York State Senate passed the bill last week. The measure does loosen the mayor’s control. It calls for the formation of an oversight board, which supporters say will give parents more [...]
Mayor Michael Bloomberg now has control of city schools once again through summer 2015. The measure, which was drafted by the State Assembly, passed the State Senate during a special session in Albany today. The bill previously expired on June 30 during the Senate’s power struggle, forcing the city to revert back to the old [...]
A program that rewards city students for earning good test scores is paying off. The Department of Education will hand out more than $825,000 in cash rewards to participating students today. About 20 percent more students passed Advanced Placement exams at the 31 participating high schools than before the incentive program began. The privately-funded initiative [...]
The State Senate will return to a special session this upcoming Thursday to vote on mayoral control of city schools, according to leading Senate Democrats. During the session, which is scheduled for Thursday, August 6, the senators will also vote on amendments to mayoral control, according to a statement by Senate President Malcolm Smith, Senate [...]
The State Board of Regents Monday named Dr. David Steiner as the state’s new education commissioner. He is currently the Dean of the Hunter College School of Education in Manhattan. Dr. Steiner is best known for his effort to improve teacher quality and preparation. “We have to train them, retain them, support them and develop [...]
