This is a new page where I add independent projects from
The Other PPP: Principal-Parent Partnership
Parents and guardians are one of a school's greatest assets in finding solutions and offering help in a pinch. They volunteer time, share skills and donate money, benefiting all students (not just their own). A big part of what made my kids' elementary school so successful was the collaborative spirit of our families, principal and teachers. So it frustrates me when I see a school that needs help, and its principal fails to take advantage of the help that many parents want to give.
Conditions for shelter: whose rules are they?
Untreated mental illness and emotional disorders, self-medication with mind-numbing chemical substances that overtake the individual’s judgement and ability to self-manage are the real causes of homelessness. Urges and choices that involve illegal activities, sometimes violence, and often, a disregard for the impact of one’s choices on others (family members, neighbors, community supports and random strangers) are what perpetuate homelessness for the vast majority.
NY State Education Dept: Testing Over Learning
Instead of teaching and learning, teachers and a few students will get to spend 4 days with tests for the sake of bureaucratic rules from the Federal and State education departments.
Challenging the digital divide during the pandemic.
In April, my son’s 8th-grade teacher asked her students to read a book a week from a list of suggested titles - downloadable. That’s when I decided to make it my mission to challenge our dependency on screens… So far, most of the proposed solutions to education during COVID-19 involve screens and technology. That has become the de facto solution to learning from home. And it assumes that all families have the same facility with technology.
How Government Procurement Disadvantages Small Businesses
New York City procurement rules actually hurt many small businesses, including MWBEs.
High School Lock Up 2019
Ever been greeted at a public school with a metal detector and half a dozen security guards where parents are forbidden to enter?
The Catch-22 of De Blasio's PreK
If you’re a parent of a four year old, in need of After-School, you most likely have some tough choices. Apparently, NY State thinks the school building is safe enough for PreK students from 8:30 - 2:30 but not after that. And the State doesn’t trust the same After-school staff who care for Kindergarten children to care for PreK children.
New York is designed to keep kids segregated.
I’ve learned that our schools and neighborhoods will continue to grow more disparate and segregated until New York’s policy makers treat early childcare, education and extra-curricular enrichment as an investment in whole families all along the income scale.
Choice and equity
For the past eight years, The Public Good has been actively researching NYC Department of Education (DOE) policies around school choice and choice leads to or is lead by segregation and inequity.
We have been exploring is the link between resources and funding for services such as after-school programs and the socio-economic composition of elementary schools.