Mid-70s and partly sunny skies are on the way

Posted by Insideschools Blog at 3:32 PM

--posted by Tanner Kroeger

More than 100 people responded to our poll asking “How should the DOE respond to the UFT's call for precautions concerning extreme heat?”

Here's how you voted:

• 39 percent (41 votes) said the DOE should implement all of the UFT’s suggestions.
• 25 percent (26 votes) said the DOE should dismiss classes early on extremely hot days.
• 19 percent (20 votes) said the DOE should hold classes as usual.
• 16 percent (17 votes) said the DOE should cancel school altogether.

Thanks again for your votes! Enjoy the nice weather this week.

Hot enough for you?

Posted by Insideschools Blog at 5:20 PM

UFT president Randi Weingarten is urging the DOE to to consider protocols to protect students and teachers in schools without air conditioning from the extreme heat.

Weigh in through the Insideschools poll...


posted by Tanner Kroeger

What's making your kid obese today?

Posted by Philissa at 10:34 AM

It's not the lack of gym classes in schools -- that was earlier this week (and last month). Perhaps it's the changes to school lunches being made because of rising food prices?

"From such healthy staples as fresh spinach to more haute cuisine like cornmeal-encrusted fish and Cuban roast pork, dishes are getting 86'd from school menus as officials scramble to maintain the same quality with cheaper options," the Post reported recently about food in the city's schools.

As we know, of course, canned fruits and vegetables and "imitation" foods like fish sticks and chicken nuggets aren't at all in the same league as fresh spinach and fish in terms of quality. But they do give kids all the calories they would need if ever they were given the opportunity to use them in a game of kickball or tag. (Or if they were allowed to bike to school; parents in England are stopping their kids from riding to school because of safety concerns. Are parents here, with their fear of "free-range kids," making similar rules?)

Report: Just 4 percent of 3rd graders getting enough PE

Posted by Philissa at 3:20 PM

Yesterday, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum's office released a report on the state of physical education in the city's schools, concluding what we already know: schools stink at making sure kids get physical activity. But the facts, at least according to the Public Advocate's office, are worse than I imagined. Only 4 percent of 3rd graders get gym daily as required by the state; just 31 percent of middle schools give kids enough P.E. time; and more than half of all middle schools have no sports teams at all. Given the scope of its own failure, it's no wonder the DOE wants to hand off responsibility for fitness to families!

Most elementary schools not meeting state gym requirements

Posted by Philissa at 9:06 AM

In the last few years, the city's schools have gotten better about identifying overweight students and suggesting more activity for them, but physical education still gets short shrift at most schools, according to the Gotham Gazette. The DOE's Office of Fitness and Physical Education implemented a fitness test, called the FitnessGRAM, to give students and their parents more information about their fitness level. But because of the pressure to focus on tested subjects and space and staffing constraints, most elementary schools continue to offer far less than the state-mandated 120 minutes per week of physical activity, instead suggesting to parents ways to help their kids be active and eat healthfully at home. I wonder how many families are able to respond to the FitnessGRAM results the way the DOE expects them to. And even if every parent of an overweight child changes his or her habits because of the test results, should we let schools pass off state-required health and fitness instruction to students' homes?

Teen pregnancy rates up; abstinence-only programs to blame?

Posted by Philissa at 4:48 PM

Looks like the state was wise to reject abstinence-only sex education funds. Teen birth rates have just gone up for the first time in decades, at a time when more money than ever has been sunk into abstinence-only programs. Most researchers think the rising teen pregnancy rate relates to the misinformation about safe sex practices that abstinence-only programs promulgate. Fans of abstinence-only sex ed call those claims "stupid," saying instead that young women who become pregnant understand contraception but want babies. If schools choose to adopt the sex ed program the DOE is now recommending -- which includes real information about contraception -- New York City could be a leader in reversing the disturbing trend.

(Though upsetting, this news does get me excited to see "Juno" this weekend. See you Monday!)

NYC schools built on toxic sites

Posted by Philissa at 2:16 PM

If you were paying attention to the news over the summer, you may have heard that Information Technology High School in Queens was constructed in an old warehouse on a toxic site. The DOE insisted that its tests showed the site is safe for students and teachers, but lawyers were seeking confirmation by independent scientists, and families were worried about their kids' safety.

Now Fox 5, which brought the InTech story to light, has put together a report about the "three most toxic school sites" in New York City. According to an independent environmental expert, Beacon High School on the Upper West Side, Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics in East Harlem, and PS 156 in the Bronx are all sitting on top of potentially dangerous levels of various industrial chemicals. The DOE says all three sites are safe. Public advocates are pushing for legislation that would require the city to submit leased sites to public review -- the law already requires this of sites the city owns -- but the Bloomberg administration opposes such a regulation.

Update: We've heard that a retraction from Fox may be in the works about the Beacon site. From our source: "Fox won't do a retraction until the investigation is complete ... but the brownfield site was 2 blocks away and ... the EPA or whatever already gave the okey dokey" to the site. Beacon families, you can relax. No word on whether this is the case for the other schools in the original report.

Update 11/7: No retraction thus far from Fox 5 itself, but the expert quoted on the segment has issued a letter that says Beacon is safe. "There is no indication that any contamination resulting at the [nearby toxic site] is threatening the Beacon School due to the rigorous 'source-removal' clean up that was undertaken," the expert writes. Phew.

DOE recommends "research-based," non-abstinence-only sex ed program for high schools

Posted by Philissa at 3:37 PM

After the state decided to forgo federal funds that would require schools to teach abstinence-only sex education, the DOE has announced that it is recommending a "research-based" high school sex ed program that Newsday says is "designed to encourage students to delay sexual activity while at the same time providing information about contraception and disease prevention." The program, called Reducing the Risk, does not offer the comprehensive sex ed that advocates have called for, but it at least recognizes that teenagers need to learn about contraception and protection. However, the state still doesn't require sex ed for high schoolers, so it's anyone's guess how many schools will choose to offer the program.

Gotham Gazette's featured education article right now is about the lack of -- and need for -- quality sex ed in the city's schools. One kid quoted in the piece works as a Teen Advocate for Planned Parenthood and describes some pretty incredible misinformation that she's heard from other young people. If you're a teen interested in improving the information kids get about sex issues, Planned Parenthood has three different programs you can join.

After a death, NYC schools on guard against staph infections

Posted by Philissa at 6:33 AM

Very sad news from IS 211 in Canarsie, where a student died earlier this month after contracting a particularly vicious form of drug-resistant staph infection that has been spreading in schools across the country. The bacteria is spread through the kind of contact that kids, especially athletes, routinely have, and while most people who are infected recover from the infection, it can kill those with depressed immune system. The state has just issued guidelines for schools to stanch the spread of the bacteria but the best advice is simple: wash your hands and tell your kids to wash theirs frequently, as well. This might be a good time to invest in some bottles of hand sanitizer.

Update: If your child has a wound that is not healing properly, seek medical attention -- the Post says the IS 211 student got the infection from a wound suffered while playing basketball and had what a classmate said were "red and yellow sores ... bad sores" before falling ill. And parents at IS 211 are wondering why it took so long for them to find out about the health issues at the school; the student died Oct. 14 but the school didn't send a letter home until this week.

Happy National School Lunch Week!

Posted by Philissa at 8:01 AM

This week is the national School Nutrition Association's National School Lunch Week. Parents, take a day off from making lunch this week and ask your kid to eat cafeteria food to support efforts by the DOE's Office of SchoolFood to make school lunches healthier, more local, and more appealing. Kids, you can vote for your favorite nutritious school lunch.

And for the Connecticut-based "Two Angry Moms," this week is also the National School Lunch-In. They want parents to "do lunch" with their kids this week to talk about nutrition and investigate the healthiness of school lunches. The two moms, a rabblerouser and a documentary filmmaker, have also made a movie about school lunches that they say "offers an inside look at what’s on the menu in many of the nation’s school cafeterias." The movie is currently being screened in house parties; you can sign up to host a viewing party in your home.

More good news for fans of public health

Posted by Philissa at 10:50 AM

On the heels of last week's news that New York State would stop accepting federal abstinence-only sex education funds comes singer Elton John's announcement that he will donate $300,000 to support HIV/AIDS education in the city's middle schools. The donation will allow the National Urban Technology Center to lead computer-based health classes in 60 middle schools, doubling the number of schools the organization is serving. John's donation comes at a time when HIV infection rates are rising, especially among minorities and the poor, and the time schools spend on health and sex education is falling. It's just too bad that kids in only 60 middle schools will get to benefit from improved AIDS education.

State rejects abstinence-only sex ed funds

Posted by Philissa at 11:56 AM

After yesterday's exhausting experiment in liveblogging, I'm going to take it a little easier today. But I do want to direct your attention to some important news: New York State has decided to turn down federal funding for abstinence-only sex education. Previously, the state received the second largest number of federal dollars for abstinence-only sex ed, which studies have shown to be ineffective. Many health advocates were pushing the state to abolish abstinence-only sex ed, even though it meant giving up federal funding. Because the state doesn't actually require sex ed, this change won't necessarily bring comprehensive sex ed to schools, but it does at least diminish the incentive for districts to misinform their students.

City kids want more mental health options

Posted by Philissa at 10:00 PM

"Many New York City students would like to have someone to whom they can turn," but their schools don't provide mental health services, writes a high school student in an article first published in New Youth Connections and reprinted by the Gotham Gazette. The author, April Daley, writes that kids might be more likely to seek out help if it's available at their schools, but many schools don't have on-campus health centers and even those that do don't always have staff members trained in mental health issues.

Daley also notes that City Council member Gale Brewer and others pressed this year for funding for school health centers and mental health professionals for every school. They were not successful but plan to try again next year.

Does your school have a counselor on staff? What can kids do if they feel, as Daley says is common, like they "need someone to talk to"?

Concerned about sex ed? Tell the mayor

Posted by Philissa at 7:38 AM

The Times has an interesting article today about the future of abstinence education, in which kids are taught that only abstinence can protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. Although a recent study suggests that teens nationwide are increasingly abstaining from sex and practicing safe sex, there is no evidence to show that the money poured into abstinence education, a favorite of the Bush administration, is to credit. Texas, for example, has received the most abstinence education funds but has seen the smallest drop in teen sex rates. Last month, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted against the White House's proposed increase in abstinence-only funds, signally that the initiative may be in danger.

In 2005, New York received $13 million in federal and state funds to support abstinence-only sex education, second only to Texas, and the state currently designates no money for comprehensive sex ed, which teaches about all forms of contraception and protection from disease. If you are concerned about the quality of sex education in New York's schools, the Sex Ed Alliance of New York City is organizing a campaign this week to ask the DOE to improve sex ed programs here in the city. The alliance is asking concerned citizens to call 311 this week or to send a letter to the mayor, which you can do online through the New York Civil Liberties Union website.