NEW YORK — It’s the first day of school for New York City public schools and the nearly one million students in the nation’s largest school district.
Mayor Eric Adams and Education Chancellor David Banks welcome students back to PS 257 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
View NYC Public Schools full academic calendar for the year 2024-2025 hereincluding holidays and exams, plus information about meals and transportation.
New phonics-based curriculum, NYC Reads
Data from the Ministry of Education shows a 2.6 percent decline in reading proficiency last year among students in grades three through eight. But the chancellor of schools tells CBS News New York the decline has nothing to do with the new phonics based curriculum he pushes, called NYC Reads.
The literacy program was implemented in 15 community school districts last year and will be adopted by all districts this fall. Banks says that while he believes the new curriculum will help many, it may be too late for older students.
“We haven’t given up on those kids, and we do provide them with some support. It’s just that most of our focus is on younger kids because we’re trying to close the dam, if you want to call it that,” he said in an interview with Doug Williams of CBS News New York.
Cell Phone Rules in New York Classrooms
When it comes to ban cell phones in the classroomThe mayor and chancellor say they are still working on a plan and are looking at what other counties, like Los Angeles, have done before moving forward.
About 350 schools already have their own restrictions on cell phones.
“I don’t think cell phones really have a place in our schools,” Banks said.
The goal is to enforce bans once children enter school, rather than extending the long list of responsibilities for teachers.
See more from Chancellor Banks one-on-one interview with Doug Williams of CBS News New York here.
