Gary The Creator
Just my thoughts!
Twenty-Nine Schools Are Under State Control: Albany Gave Their Families Until September 28.
New York is rewriting how it labels and takes over failing schools. The comment window runs through back-to-school, and the Regents are on recess for most of it.
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Your Evaluation Is Being Rewritten: A New York Teacher's Playbook for the STEPS System
New York is retiring APPR and HEDI for the STEPS system. Here is what changed, and the questions every teacher should ask this fall.
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The Trench Is Holding: What Kids Learn Before School
Five kids, one sand trench, and an incoming tide. A school district budget officer on why the difference between two students in the same classroom is usually decided years before either one walks in.
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The Adult Most Likely to Be Threatened at Your Child's School Is the One Running It
New research finds parents direct verbal threats and public humiliation at school administrators at roughly three and a half times the rate teachers experience. Nobody is counting it, and the districts paying the price are the ones now struggling to fill leadership jobs.
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New York's Free-Tuition Clock Is Ticking: A Student's August Deadline Guide
Two of New York's biggest tuition scholarships close this month. A student's plain-English guide to Excelsior, STEM Incentive, FAFSA, and SUNY Reconnect.
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Your School Taxes Do Not Pay for Lunch. Here Is What They Actually Buy.
New York homeowners pay an average of $7,573 a year in property taxes while their districts spend $37,033 per student. Here is where school money actually comes from, which programs the local levy never touches, and why the bill keeps arriving long after the kids graduate.
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New York Says 88 Degrees Is Too Hot to Teach: Many Schools Still Can't Afford the Fix
New York caps classroom heat at 88 degrees but funds no cooling. In a second summer of record heat, the result may be more early dismissals where they hurt most.
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New York's New School Immigration Law Turns on a Rule About Pickup Time
New York quietly enacted one of the country's strongest school immigration laws this spring. Districts have until September 21 to certify compliance, and the provision that matters most to families is about who picks your child up.
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Retire at 58: The Tier 6 Playbook for New York Teachers
New York's Tier 6 overhaul lets many teachers retire at 58 without penalty. What changed, who qualifies, and the five moves to make this fall.
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Before Tryouts: What Changed on New York's Sports Clearance Form and What Did Not
New York deleted two things from student-athlete clearance on July 29: a redundant medical-director signature and the Tanner Sexual Maturity Rating. The physical is still required, the state form still has a Tanner box, and fall tryouts start in weeks.
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One Curriculum for Every Toddler Is Over: What New York Parents Should Watch Next.
New York City just ended its rule forcing nearly every preschool onto one curriculum. The mandate-versus-choice fight behind it is coming to districts statewide.
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New York Wants to Rewrite How Teachers Learn to Teach Reading: The Fix Arrives in 2028
New York would require teacher colleges to adopt the science of reading, but the change will not reach classrooms until 2028. Here is what it means and what families can do now.
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