Decrypted DOE #1

Figuring out the NYC Public Schools system as a parent

Hello and welcome to Decrypting DOE, a newsletter written by and for parents of kids in NYC public schools. Like many others, I wasn’t born here, so I’m trying to figure out the system I’m sending my daughter through — and sharing what I find out. I’m also running for the District 30 Community Education Council.

WHAT DISTRICT 30 PARENTS THINK OF OUR SCHOOLS

If your kid goes to a public school, you should have received a survey from the Department of Education this past week that looks a bit like this (you have until Mar 31 to mail the survey back — or you can do it online).

One good thing about these surveys is that results are public, so I took a look at last year’s data for District 30, which covers a vast swath of northern Queens. Below, I summarized some of the most interest results with data for district and city, the most and least satisfied schools, and the result for my daughter’s school (PS 78).

Note that participation rates varied hugely across schools, from 100% of parents at PS 69 to 13% at Long Island City High School; this will affect the district average.

Parents are generally satisfied with school communications

I personally view this as a weak point of my daughter’s school, so I was not surprised to see it (slightly) underperform both the district and the city.

Sense of belonging is slightly above NYC average

This is one where it’d be great for the laggards to learn from the top performers, but the district overall does well, at 97%.

Trust in principals is a mixed bag

Asked about their principals, District 30 were markedly less satisfied than the city average. And in some schools, approval ratings are a full 20 points below the average.

School safety is a concern for many schools

19 schools report fewer than 90% of parents agreeing with the statement “At this school my child is safe,” which is a significant concern. The district does worse than the city average on this indicator.

Variety of programming is another pain point

While a few schools, most notably Q329, do very well here, the district overall does worse than the city. And parents of schools in my neighborhood appear particularly disappointed.

Overall satisfaction in the education provided is high

This is an encouraging stat. In a future newsletter, I will look at how this translates in test score results.

Overall satisfaction in teachers is also positive

These numbers are comparable to the overall satisfaction in education, which makes sense.

What parents want

When asked for one improvement they would like from their school, more than half chose one of stronger enrichment programs (after school, clubs, etc), more hands-on learning, and smaller class sizes.

ARTICLES THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION

Every newsletter, I’ll share some headlines about public schools that caught my attention.

• New York Education Department got one of worst completion rates for sexual harassment training course

• To boost enrollment, CUNY waives application fee for NYC high school seniors

• High Schoolers Made a Racist Deepfake of a Principal Threatening Black Students

• As 3-K expansion pauses, NYC hires consultant to study where to move seats

• Many kids are struggling in school. Do their parents know?

• How Public Money Goes to Support a Hasidic Village’s Private Schools

• Education groups call for review of how school aid is distributed in New York

• NYC Council to invest $3 million in arts programs at selected schools

• Conservative Activist Poured Millions Into Groups Seeking to Influence Supreme Court on Elections and Discrimination

THOUGHTS? CORRECTIONS?

Reach out! I’m @Mantzarlis on Twitter