EDUCATIONAL WEEK — A program meant to diversify New York City’s infamously segregated specialized high schools failed to admit representative numbers of black and Hispanic students this school year, figures released last week by district officials show.

NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS — A student at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, a K-12 private school in the Bronx, announced that he and his parents filed a lawsuit against the institution Monday, April 1, in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, with the demand that the Head of the School Jessica L. Bagby and other administrators resign or be terminated.

AMSTERDAM NEWS — If we want to improve education outcomes and strengthen our state, we need to improve our schools and assure that every child has access to a high-quality education, no matter their zip code or the color of their skin.

EDUCATION WEEK — For decades, two factors drove the demand for dual-language education: a desire to preserve native languages and recognition that dual-language learning can boost overall achievement for English-language learners.

HUDSON VALLEY PRESS — Elizabeth Lugones has been selected as the student representative to the college’s Board of Trustees. Her goal is to graduate from the college with a degree in Engineering Science and then move on to a master’s program before entering the industry.

AMSTERDAM NEWS — Grammy winning recording-artist and Oscar winning actor, Common, took a break from his busy schedule to surprise the students of PS 111 in New York City.

HUDSON VALLEY PRESS — Vassar diploma candidates are all smiles just prior to the start of Sunday morning’s 154th Annual Commencement ceremony.

HUDSON VALLEY PRESS — Ramirez, the CEO of R & M Promotions as well as the Director of the Latino High School Scholarship Fund, has been diligently following his own people tip for much of his life- particularly with area youth-for over 20 years with the creation of the Hudson Valley Latino High School Scholarship Awards program.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who has had difficulty selling her school choice agenda in Washington, railed against state constitutional prohibitions on public funds going to faith-based institutions, in a recent speech to a Roman Catholic organization. The target of DeVos’ wrath: so-called “Blaine” amendments to state constitutions that prohibit public funds from being used for religious purposes. DeVos said those amendments, many of which originated in the late 1800s, began as “bigoted” against Catholics.

HUDSON VALLEY PRESS — Speakers at SUNY Orange’s 68th Commencement ceremony on Thursday evening (May 17) emboldened the more than 500 attending graduates to “build” a brighter future for themselves and their community, “step” briskly into that new future, and positively “influence” those with whom they come in contact.

HUDSON VALLEY PRESS — NEWBURGH – With graduation only a few days away, Mount Saint Mary College seniors were recognized for their dedication to academics and the campus community.

THE AMSTERDAM NEWS — The New School launched the Digital Equity Laboratory, a project-based center that identifies and supports strategies to transform how technology is understood and used to drive racial, gender and economic equity and disrupt the use of technology to produce and reproduce inequity in our social, economic and civic life.

The Every Student Succeeds Act is supposed to bring about a big change in school improvement. The law says states and districts can use any kind of interventions they want in low-performing schools, as long as they have evidence to back them up.

DEFENDER NEWS NETWORK — As schools around the U.S. look for ways to impose tougher security measures in the wake of last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead, they don’t have to look further than urban districts such as Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York that installed metal detectors and other security in the 1980s and 1990s to combat gang and drug violence.

AFRO NEWSPAPER — In the wake of yet another mass slaughter of innocent Americans, I am writing to implore my colleagues in both the Congress and our state legislatures to go to CNN’s website and listen carefully to the words of a young American named Cameron Kasky. You can find his declaration of principle and truth on CNN.com.

THE AFRO NEWSPAPER — According to school officials, about 73 percent of Washington public schools’ students graduated on time, another record high for a school system that had struggled years ago to graduate even half of its students.  The graduation rate marked a four-point rise from the previous year and a 20-point gain from 2011, when just over half of D.C. Public School students graduated within four years.

EDUCATION WEEK — This week, Education Week is bringing its trademark analysis to the remaining state plans for fulfilling requirements of the Every Student Succeeds law. On Monday, we had a look at the states’ proposed “school quality” indicators, €”the required but nonacademic portion of each state’s plan to judge schools. Today, we’re going to take a look at states’ goals for raising student achievement and their timelines for doing so in the plans awaiting federal approval.

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — It was several years ago that Lubna Hindi realized the impact she and Step Up — a nonprofit that empowers young girls in under-resourced communities –– were having on the kids they served.

Carmen Fariña, the chancellor of New York City Schools, announced Thursday that she would be resigning in 2018, leaving behind a school system fundamentally changed from where it stood when her tenure began four years ago.

NEWBURGH – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Friday visited Newburgh Free Academy to announce her bipartisan legislation, 21st Century Strengthening Hands On Programs that Cultivate Learning Approaches for Successful Students Act.

EDUCATION WEEK — Minnesota, New York, Virginia, and West Virginia have some work to do on their plans to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) generate $14.8 billion in economic impact annually, according to a stunning new report by the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).

As parents, you make a real difference in your child’s learning — from reading with your child to helping your child with homework to spending time in your child’s classroom. It’s also National Family Week, a good time to recognize and support you and your families. I hope you will be able to spend time with your families this week and throughout the holiday season.

“What’s the latest timeline for distribution of Title IVA funds to states? Are they able to receive funds as soon as their plans are approved? Do you have any sense of how many states will opt to administer those grants competitively, given the smaller appropriation?”

CHICAGO – Libraries are taking a proactive approach toward engaging parents and caregivers in supporting the early literacy development of their children, and the Every Child Ready to Read® @ your library® (ECRR) Program is an excellent tool to ensure libraries’ success.

A new report from The Education Trust-New York shows that many Black and Brown students are taught by people who don’t look like them.

Most states are not planning to do enough to prevent low-income students and students of color from being disproportionately taught by ineffective or inexperienced teachers, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the NYSPTA Annual Convention. Regent Collins also attended the convention and participated in the Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Caucus.

As unpopular as No Child Left Behind was by the time it was ushered off the stage in 2015, advocates for students with disabilities could always point to one aspect of the law that they liked: by requiring that test scores of different student groups be reported separately, the law exposed the low academic performance of students in special education and required schools to do something about it.

The number of students who are learning the English language has been growing, mostly in the York City School District but also in some suburban districts, at a smaller scale.

More than 104,000 students were identified as homeless by NYS school districts and charter schools according to a report by New York State Technical and Education Assistance Center for Homeless Students.

Since nearly all states have at least turned in their ESSA plans, and many ESSA plans have been approved, we now have a good idea of how states are answering those questions. Keep one thing in mind: ESSA requires certain low-performing schools to be identified as needing either targeted or comprehensive support.

The Board of Regents today approved the New York Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan, which will be submitted to the United States Education Department (USDE) on September 18 for review and approval. It is anticipated that USDE will provide feedback to the Department in December 2017. Final approval of the state’s ESSA plan is expected early next year.

NY AMSTERDAM NEWS — In the months since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, activists and scholars have converged, condemning his violent and divisive racial rhetoric. In response to Trump’s rhetoric, leaders are working to build a resistance against an agenda that not only divides the country but also sets precedence for violent and discriminatory policies and actions.

The New York State Board of Regents has approved its state ESSA plan “laying out the state’s goals for its education system.” Under the plan, “elementary and middle schools would continue to be evaluated on English and math test scores and high schools on graduation rates,”…

BEACON – The Howland Public Library is all a buzz with excitement. The library’s teen Battle of the Books team, The Beacon Buzzers, took home first place in the Mid-Hudson Library System’s 2nd Annual High School Battle of the Books.

New York’s Excelsior Scholarship is the first of its kind. It covers the cost of tuition for qualifying students who are enrolled in a two- or four-year degree program at any of the state’s 88 public colleges and university campuses.

Young, who served as the UN ambassador during the Carter administration, received the 2017 Hal D. Payne Educational Opportunity Lifetime Service Award during the banquet. He also served as the event’s keynote speaker.