NYC education panel rejects ‘gifted’ testing contract, upending mayor’s plans
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RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post
In an extraordinary rebuke to Mayor Bill de Blasio, a New York City education panel early Thursday morning rejected a testing contract halting, for now, the controversial practice of testing incoming kindergartners for admission to gifted programs.
With testing originally scheduled for this spring, it’s unclear how admissions to the city’s gifted and talented programs will move ahead.
The rejection was an unusual flex for a panel that has little formal authority, is mostly appointed by the mayor, and has acted largely as a rubber stamp for his education policies. Approval seemed like a forgone conclusion when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier this month that the entrance test would continue for one more year. But that required the Panel for Educational Policy to approve an extension of the city’s contract with the company that provides
New York City Pension Trustees Voted to Divest Estimated $4 Billion in Fossil Fuel Securities
Posted on 01/25/2021
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, along with trustees of two of the City’s pension funds, announced these funds have voted to divest their portfolios of an estimated US$ 4 billion from securities related to fossil fuel companies. The divestment, expected to be one of the largest in the world, will address the significant financial and environmental risks that these fossil fuel holdings pose to the funds. In 2018, New York City became the first major city in the nation to commit to divesting major public pension funds from fossil fuel reserve companies. Since the initial announcement hundreds of other institutions, governments, and entities have joined this commitment.
On the heels of big announcements for New York City schools and teachers, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza hopes the majority, if not all, teachers will be vaccinated by the spring.