Board of Regents call on school districts to acknowledge racism in America | The Daily Gazette
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ALBANY –The Board of Regents on Monday adopted a new statewide policy statement that calls on school districts to take up their own diversity and equity policies and consider acknowledging the role racism plays in American society.
The new Regents policy statement says all students benefit when schools focus on diversity, equity and inclusion and that those policies can “empower students from all backgrounds to visualize successful futures for themselves and provide them with a sense of belonging and self worth.”
Board members said it is important for districts across the state, regardless of their demographic makeup, to focus on ways their students are exposed to diverse groups of people and ideas and think about equity through lenses of physical ability, gender and socio-economic status.
Tens of thousands of students went without computers in the fall even as gap narrowed | The Daily Gazette
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Around 8 percent of public school students statewide did not have access to a computer device and 6 percent did not have adequate internet access this fall, according to a survey of schools the state Education Department conducted in the fall.
Over 200,000 across the state did not have access to a computer device when districts responded to the survey, even as the access gap narrowed from the spring, when schools overnight transitioned to remote learning.
The bulk of the students without device access, about 125,000 of them, live in New York City, but still around 90,000 students outside of the city did not have device access, according to the reports from schools compiled by the state. Over 99 percent of schools responded to the survey.
Calls are growing for the state to update and possibly reduce its six-foot distancing rule for students and staff in schools, which educators say would help districts bring students back five days a week, either this spring or in the fall.
The educational community also wants Albany to speed the full reopening of schools by providing immediate access to vaccinations for teachers and other staff and providing COVID-19 tests to schools to do regular, random testing. To get kids in school five days week, we need vaccines for teachers, surveillance testing and the right amount of space [between people] so that it s safe, said Frances Wills, who represents the Lower Hudson Valley on the state Board of Regents. The six-foot rule has caused a lot of confusion and needs to be clarified, given what we know.
Rosa, in brief remarks to conclude a Zoom meeting, called for an educational renaissance in New York. Our state, our nation and the world are at a crossroads, she said. We must rebuild in new ways and on many levels. I submit that investing in education is foundational to our recovery and the future of our state and nation.
Rosa is the first Latina commissioner, as she was the first Latina chancellor of the Board of Regents from 2016 until she stepped down to serve as interim commissioner. She had served on the Board of Regents, representing the Bronx, since 2008.
Last month, the Regents chose Lester Young, a former Brooklyn principal, as their new chancellor, essentially the chairperson – the first Black chancellor in state history.