Eastern States

Serving more than one million students each year, the New York City Department of Education is the largest school district in the country. This district faces serious challenges when it comes to ensuring all students in the city get at least one or two hot meals every day, regardless of their income level. With a wide variety of services provided by the School Food division of the New York City Department of Education, students throughout the city get the nutrition they need all through the school year and beyond.

About NYC School Food Services

According to the NYC School Food website, this department serves around 850,000 meals to more than 1.1 million students in New York City every day. The department offers a free breakfast program to all students in the city, based on the philosophy that students that start their day with a nutritious meal perform better academically. The department also serves lunch and 1,700 schools across the city, including free lunches for many students that qualify.

According to the Human Resources Administration of the New York City government, qualification for free or reduced-price lunch is based on family income level. A family of five qualifies for the free lunch program if their monthly income is $2,927 or below. That same family of five can also qualify for a reduced-price lunch, where the student only has to pay 25 cents per meal, if their monthly income is $4,165 or

The Renaissance School Initiative is continuing its efforts to transform some of the lowest-performing schools in Philadelphia by giving them over to charter organizations. This year, six more struggling schools are slated for charter school takeovers and the district is currently evaluating the applicants for the job. While this new process has been hailed by some as an effective way to raise the quality of education in one of the largest school districts in the country, others worry that there is simply not enough evidence to support the idea of allowing more public schools to be absorbed by charters this year.

About the Renaissance School Initiative

The Renaissance School Initiative was established by the School District of Philadelphia on January 27, 2010, according to the district’s website. The goal of the initiative is to bring dramatic student improvement through the transformation of some of the city’s lowest-performing schools. To accomplish this goal, the district solicits help from individuals and organizations with a positive track record of turning around struggling schools in Philadelphia. Schools are given over to public charters, so the necessary changes can take place internally to bring about the much-needed changes to student achievement.

The district has cited three important components required to meet their goals for all Philadelphia schools, which include:

• Identifying the lowest-performing schools that will require a transformative change to improve
• Identifying the entities (individuals or organizations) that are best equipped to make those transformations
• Empowering the local school community to

Students in New York public schools are enjoying an uptick in graduation rates in recent years. The largest school system in the country has hit an all-time high in graduation rates, with its 10^th consecutive year of gains in high school completion. While graduation rates have improved nationwide, New York City is particularly proud of its improvements that indicate the massive school system might be on the right track in the area of public education.

More NYC Students Graduating, Fewer Dropping Out

ABC Local News reports that the four-year graduation rate for NYC students in 2011 was 65 percent, which is an increase of 19 percentage points since 2005. In 2005, the city began to use a new methodology for calculating graduation and dropout rates. Since that new methodology was implemented, graduation rates have risen from just over 40 percent to 65 percent. At the same time, dropout rates have decreased from 22 percent in 2005 to 12 percent in 2011.

“More students are succeeding in our schools than ever before,” NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg told ABC Local. “Our students, teachers and school administrators should be proud, and while we still have more work to do, we are certainly on the right track.”

New York Follows National Trend

The upswing in New York City follows a national trend, according to My Fox NY. The news station reports that national graduation rates in 2010 were at their highest level since 1976 and down around three

The announcement of school closures is typically met with a high degree of emotion and concern. In Philadelphia, the proposal has also been met with plenty of protests, from the formation of zombie flash mobs to marches throughout the city. Many are opposed to the proposed school closures in one of the largest school districts in the country. However, district officials assert that closing schools is the only way to balance a school budget in dire straits.

Closing Philadelphia Schools

According to a report in the Philadelphia Public Schools Notebook, district superintendent William Hite has recommended the closure of 37 city schools. Hite has claimed that the closures are a necessary step toward saving the school district a significant amount of money. The district estimates the closures would result in savings of around $28 million annually. It would also be a positive move toward a more competitive school system since more resources could be poured into the remaining schools.

This video explains why the city council cannot stop school closings.

However, opponents to the closure plan say the savings to the district would be minimal since district officials were not currently factoring in the cost of transportation and transition expenses. Protesters also note that the closures could fuel additional charter school growth, which had already taken a significant bite out of the school district’s budget. Students and parents of the schools cited

For many months, the District of Columbia Public Schools has been weighing a reorganization plan that would include the closure of some historic schools in the district. Feedback was gathered from parents, students, community members, and other stakeholders in the closure plan. Local neighborhoods came together to save their schools, while school officials pushed for money-saving ideas to save the beleaguered district from more budget woes. As one of the largest school districts in the country, other districts have been watching the ongoing negotiations in D.C. with significant interest.

Strong Reaction to Original Plan

According to the District of Columbia Public Schools website, the original school closure plan announced in November was met with responses from numerous members of the D.C. community.

“The proposal we put out in early November evoked strong reactions from the community,” DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson stated on the district website. “We heard from people across the city that have never reached out or offered feedback before. People spoke up at meetings, they sent emails, they called, and we made sure to track everything they said.”

This video illustrates the strong community reaction to school closing.

Henderson added that she and her staff were “inspired and encouraged” by the feedback they received from parents, students, school staff, and community members. The district encouraged input by hosting four community meetings and meeting with education committees in three district wards.