Latest news with #MelissaAvilesRamos
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
NYC public schools newsletter accusing Israel of ‘genocide in Gaza' prompts new crackdown
The New York City schools boss has suspended release of mass communications sent to educators, students and parents without her approval — sparked by a furor over a recent Department of Education newsletter claiming Israel is committing 'genocide in Gaza.' The Post first reported Wednesday on the antisemitic message that was included in a 14-page 'Teacher Career Pathways' spring 2025 newsletter — sent out to 'master teachers' across the system's 1,800 schools. Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said newsletters and other mass communications cannot be released without first being reviewed by her office, amid consultation with Mayor Eric Adams' office. 'It is egregious and deeply disappointing that despite our efforts to streamline communication protocols in this massive system, politically one-sided materials that are deeply offensive to the Jewish community were once again shared with educators,' Aviles-Ramos said in a statement Thursday. 'I profusely apologize for this. Moving forward, all system-wide communication will be directly signed off by my office until we can further build team capacity to reflect our core values and the highest commitment to curating materials that ONLY reflect political neutrality.' Adams — who is considering running for re-election under an independent 'EndAntiSemitism' ballot line -— was furious after hearing of the Israel-bashing message sent out by his education department. 'Let me be clear: Schools are where our children should feel safest, which is why neither antisemitism, nor any other form of hate, has any place in New York City Public Schools,' the mayor told The Post. 'As the home of the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel, we must ensure our Jewish students, families, and educators feel welcomed, not targeted. Today, our city's public school system is taking direct and sweeping action to ensure that no politically one-sided rhetoric ever appears again in any official communication sent from our schools.' Meanwhile, a DOE directive sent to educators Thursday was even more explicit. 'Effective immediately, please pause all newsletters and mass communications from your teams and divisions until further notice,' the memo sent by a DOE supervisor obtained by The Post said. 'This applies to any staff-facing, family-facing, or citywide messages, regardless of audience or platforms,' the memo sent to educators said Earlier this month, Aviles-Ramos was also forced to apologize for a different newsletter that linked to a 'Stop Gaza Genocide Toolkit' — sparking outrage in the Jewish community. That 17-page document contained radicalized messaging that encourages readers to 'Stop arming Israel and free Palestine!' Meanwhile, an anti-Israel group last week sent an email blast to hundreds of city teachers pushing for a May Day strike and other 'civil disobedience' to protest the Gaza war. The Labor for Palestine Network called for union members to rise up against 'the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza' and even coordinate their efforts with student groups, which teachers were told to ignore by city school officials. Jewish educators applauded the action from the chancellor and City Hall. 'We thank the chancellor for recognizing that certain mass email communications and distributed resources have reflected historical inaccuracy and bias, undermining the Department of Education's core commitment to political neutrality,' said Karen Feldman, co-founder of the New York City Public School Alliance.' 'We welcome her efforts to build a team that truly reflects and upholds these values. However, we must emphasize that this is not an isolated incident—what we are facing is a systemic problem that demands comprehensive and sustained attention.'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NYC schools racing to reduce class sizes to spend $400M, hire thousands of new teachers
Ahead of a key deadline to reduce class sizes, New York City's sprawling school system will spend upwards of $400 million as it races to fill 3,700 new teaching positions by the fall, new data shows. Under the state's 2022 class size law, 60% of classrooms must comply next school year with caps between 20 and 25 students, depending on grade level. It's expected to be the first time schools have to make real changes to abide by the regulation. To meet that benchmark, principals developed and had approved 741 school-specific plans in exchange for more funding. Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos and her deputies revealed during a City Council hearing on Tuesday that costs associated with those plans will top $400 million, paid for with a combination of state and city funds. While nearly all schools will use those dollars to bring on more teachers, some also expect to hire about 100 assistant principals or convert spaces into classrooms. 'We wanted to make sure that the impact was not felt at the school budget level, because they needed to meet this mandate,' Aviles-Ramos said. 'And so when we say the plan, we meant a holistic plan that really, really captured all of the steps that would ensure the school can meet the mandate.' Schools including Queens' M.S. 158 Marie Curie in Bayside and Hillcrest High School in Jamaica were approved to hire as many as 31 and 23 additional teachers, according to a list of funded positions released later in the week. Other campuses will likely feel less of an impact from this year's hiring push: About a third of schools were authorized for three or fewer new teachers. Of the 81 schools who applied for room conversions, only 10 projects were 'deemed feasible to date,' according to a citywide proposal issued alongside the list of schools. Principals could also ask to cut 3K or Pre-K sections to free up classroom space, but a schools spokeswoman declined to share how many of those requests were ultimately approved. Olympia Kazi, a mom of two students at P.S. 187 in Washington Heights and the chief PTA member on efforts to lower class sizes, said the school is so overcrowded that it could only fit one more teacher — and had to give up an art room to make space available. It's the second time P.S. 187 has to surrender a key facility: Before the art room was renovated for that purpose, it was a library, to which the school no longer has access. 'My kid had 30 kids in their class in first grade. I saw firsthand how impossible it is from every perspective — for the teacher, for kids,' Kazi said. 'We need to invest in improving, and improving for real.' Kazi called the plan 'low-hanging fruit' and wished that three years after the law was passed, the city would have done more to cap enrollment at overcrowded schools, hire dedicated staffers for class size reduction, or otherwise think ahead. 'We did intentionally announce this early to give more teachers time to apply, since we're getting close to doubling the number of teachers we usually hire,' Emma Vadehra, the chancellor's deputy tasked with operations and finance, said at the Council hearing. Some boroughs and school districts were more eager than others to apply for the funding to hire more teachers, according to the citywide proposal. Schools in Queens applied for and are receiving funds to hire more than 1,280 additional teachers, and Brooklyn schools over 980 teachers, it showed. The Bronx and Manhattan will each get about half of the teachers awarded in next year's plan as Queens received. Vadehra cautioned that more hires are being made than usual in areas of lower economic need: 'We did see more applications for more teachers from schools in our comparatively better-off communities,' she said. School districts with the smallest shares of principals applying included Districts 4 in East Harlem and 12 in the central Bronx, according to the proposal. To encourage schools to apply, the spokeswoman said central office staffers scheduled sit-downs and trainings with district superintendents and principals to discuss the opportunity and answer any questions. But the school system still has a long way to go until the law is fully phased in over the next few years. Between backfilling positions and complying with the new caps, the city expects to hire upwards of 20,000 teachers between now and the start of the 2028-29 school year, according to new data in the proposal. And beyond hiring, some advocates said the plan does not go far enough to address how 495 overcrowded schools — which do not have the space to lower class sizes in their current foot print — will meet the requirements of the law. 'We are now coming into the third year of what's supposed to be a five-year plan, and yet the DOE is still dragging its feet,' said Leonie Haimson, executive director of the advocacy group Class Size Matters. 'These schools enroll nearly half of students. Without a coordinated plan that includes an accelerated effort to build more schools, aligned with more rational enrollment policies, these students will never get the individualized attention from their teachers that they so desperately need.'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Andrew Cuomo and other NYC mayoral candidates ‘teach' for a day in UFT ‘stunt' — while breaking school rules
NYC mayoral candidates likely violated long-standing rules forbidding the use of school visits for political purposes to participate in an endorsement 'stunt' by the powerful teachers' union, The Post has learned. With the blessing of schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, the United Federation of Teachers announced in March that candidates must spend a full day teaching in a NYC public school to be considered for its endorsement. 'To be eligible for the UFT endorsement, you will need to spend at least seven (7) periods in a public-school classroom, helping the teacher and paraprofessional with lessons, classroom management, and whatever needs to be done to keep the students engaged,' read an invitation to candidates from Vanecia Wilson, director of the UFT's Political Action Department. 'If you choose not to participate, we will not consider you for mayor,' read the invite that went to 12 Democratic, GOP and independent candidates. 'Mayoral candidates have traditionally promised to listen to educators and to base their education policies on the recommendations of the people doing the work,' UFT President Michael Mulgrew said in a press release. 'Then they get in City Hall and all that goes out the window . . . If you want our endorsement you have to understand the work we do.' The UFT picked the schools where the candidates would teach, and put a union staffer in the classroom 'to facilitate' if necessary. Aviles-Ramos 'signed off' on the plans, and the press was banned. The Post confirmed that at least four mayoral candidates — former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, state Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens), Comptroller Brad Lander and former Comptroller Scott Stringer — all taught for a day last month. Lander said he taught third-graders what a comptroller does and served as a judge on a mock 'Shark Tank' competition at PS 96 in East Harlem. Ramos visited PS 224 in East New York where she prepped students for state math exams, participated in an exercise about Earth Day and spoke with teachers about chronic absenteeism. Stringer went to PS/IS 30 in Sunset Park and helped a class of English language learners with math drills. State Sen. Zelnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) is 'scheduled to teach soon, and [is] looking forward to it,' a spokeswoman said. In a 'Good Day New York' interview Tuesday, Mulgrew said Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani (D-Queens) and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens) also taught in schools for a day. Mulgrew, who in 2018 chanted alongside Cuomo at a Lower Manhattan rally for gun safety, said the UFT endorsement will come in June. At least one candidate refused the offer because it appears to blatantly violate Chancellor's Regulation D-130, which restricts political activities in school buildings. 'While I think I am the best candidate to support our courageous public school teachers, I cannot agree with the UFT's process for making its endorsement,' Jim Walden, a lawyer running a longshot independent campaign, told The Post. 'Chancellor's Regulation D-130 makes clear that public schools should not be used for political purposes. The endorsement process is, by definition, political,' he said. 'I hope the UFT will grant me an exemption from this requirement. If not, I will not be seeking its endorsement.' The regulation, which applies to DOE employees, states that candidates can visit schools if approved by the principal, but that 'schools must request and seek to ensure that such visits are not to be used as vehicles for personal political purposes.' The rules also prohibit any person, group, or committee to use any school during school or business hours 'on behalf of, or for the benefit of any elected official, candidate, candidates, slate of candidates or political organization/committee.' David Bloomfield, an education law professor at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, said mayoral candidates should have done their due diligence before agreeing to the UFT's 'quid pro quo.' 'Woe betide the poor principals who gave in to this stunt, which appears to violate one or more protocols of D-130,' Bloomfield said. 'Teachers, too, need to beware of actions that can be construed as campaigning for their classroom visitor,' he added. Investor Whitney Tilson, seeking the Democratic nomination, said he would guest teach but isn't seeking the UFT's endorsement, according to Chalkbeat. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa said he would take part, though it's not clear if he did or is scheduled to do so. The DOE acknowledged that candidates are not permitted to visit schools as a condition for political endorsement by any group, but said regulations carve out 'allowable conditions' for visits. Spokespersons for the DOE and City Hall refused to specify the conditions. The UFT insisted the regulations were followed. 'Providing anyone who wants to be New York City's next mayor an opportunity to see what goes on in our classrooms is a net benefit for our students, educators and for public education,' Mulgrew said in a statement provided to The Post. A veteran teacher blasted the move. 'I would not judge a mayor on classroom skills,' said Arthur Goldstein, a part-time ESL teacher at Francis Lewis HS in Queens who retired after 39 years in the DOE. 'And I'm sorry, but one day in a classroom with big shots standing around does not make you understand what teaching entails.'
