Alex Zimmerman

Alex Zimmerman

Reporter, Chalkbeat New York

Alex Zimmerman joined the Chalkbeat team in 2016. Before that, he was a staff writer at the Pittsburgh City Paper and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Village Voice, Vice and Atlas Obscura. Alex can be reached at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org

The move to pull the contract came just one day after Comptroller Brad Lander raised objections to the AI tool, which listens to students as they read and offers feedback.

City officials want to spend $1.9 million on an AI tutor to help students learn to read. Comptroller Brad Lander says the city needs a clear policy on the technology first.

Principals worry the funding will eventually be pried out of their budgets and said hiring quality teachers could be a challenge.

Black or Latino students represented 51% of the top students in each school’s graduating class last year. But they made up just 36% of students who qualify for direct admission to SUNY.

NYC is trying to convince thousands of private school families to waive their legal rights. Here’s what legal advocates say they should consider before signing.

In a letter shared this week, city officials promised teachers would have greater flexibility in how they implement the city’s reading curriculum mandate.

Schools issued 27,724 suspensions during the 2023-24 school year, a 2.4% decline year over year. But superintendent suspensions, which last six days or longer, ticked up about 1%.

The shortage is causing students to miss out on behavior support, vocational training, and it's even preventing some students from getting to school.

Advocates had widely criticized the 60-day eviction notices and are still pushing the city to eliminate them.

The plan represents the latest effort to address two pressing problems: A growing number of unsustainably small schools and longstanding gaps in support for struggling readers.