Pandemic is worse for those in poverty

“[Poverty] knows no zip code in our nation,” said Lorna DeSantis, an Education & Learning Trust instructor who presented a session on Poverty and its Effect on Learning at the annual NYSUT conference for School-Related Professionals last weekend.

SRPs kick off leadership conference

Officers of NYSUT welcomed 109 participants to the opening session of the first-ever virtual SRP conference Friday night. The conference has drawn members from regions all over the state.

An unexpected group questions teacher ratings this year

With the pandemic upending every aspect of education, one of the pioneers of a nationally known teacher evaluation system suggests that this is not the year to be focusing on teacher ratings.

Student teachers can be a huge help

The State Education Department, in its reopening school guidance, strongly urged teachers and districts to continue to welcome student teachers into schools and classrooms, whether in-person or remote.

School bus safety week showcases role of bus drivers

School bus drivers have always been tasked with the vital job of getting students safely to and from school in risky weather, traffic snarls, through road construction and alongside errant drivers. Now, drivers are also charged with making sure students sit in assigned seats on buses, keep their masks on, and respect the new rules of the big yellow rig to keep the virus from spreading. They’re also responsible for sanitizing buses between runs.

Pinwheels, not cartwheels: Making Strides goes on

There may not have been any of the usual cheerleaders doing cartwheels at this year’s Making Strides Jones Beach fundraiser -— held as a drive-thru rather than a walk- — but there was a field of pinwheels with Sheila Goldberg’s photo in the middle.