Spotting Neonatal Cholestasis Early: A Q&A With Dr. Pamela Valentino

parenting programs :: Article Creator

NYC To Restore $500 Million To Save 3-K, Other Education Programs On The Chopping Block

Mayor Adams and the City Council are expected to restore $514 million in spending to save 3-K and other education programs previously funded by expiring pandemic aid, according to a City Hall source.

Close to $1 billion in federal stimulus is still propping up the public school system this year, including key Adams administration priorities such as dyslexia services, special education preschool programs and school safety partnerships with outside organizations.

Those initiatives and more — including at least some 3-K program slots — will receive additional funds in the executive budget to be released next week. With the aid expiring, the programs were at risk.

"This covers some, but not all" of the programs, said the source.

Adams, Speaker Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks are expected to announce the partial restorations at P.S. 34 Franklin D. Roosevelt in Alphabet City this afternoon.

The city's public schools have received $7 billion in temporary funding since the pandemic.

Parents who, in an increasingly unaffordable city, are wondering whether all families who want a free preschool seat will get one, have been rallying for the restoration of 3-K funding.

On Thursday, members of the Council with young kids formed a "New Parents Caucus" to push Adams to reverse the preschool cuts.

The Education Department's early childhood division faced two rounds of cutbacks for next school year that, combined with the looming fiscal cliff as federal pandemic aid expires, amounted to an almost $263-million funding gap.

District 65 Discusses Bilingual Two-Way Immersion Program Benefits With Parents

Seth Stern enrolled his son, a kindergartener, in the Two-Way Immersion program at Washington Elementary School for the 2023-24 school year. Now, Stern's son learns alongside native Spanish speakers and receives instruction in both English and Spanish so he can eventually become proficient in both languages.

Stern said his son is excited to go to school and has made a "diverse crew of friends."

"In addition to the educational component of TWI, the cultural component was important to us," he said.

Two families, including Stern's, shared their experiences and provided feedback on Evanston/Skokie School District 65's TWI program at the district's TWI Night event at Oakton Elementary School Thursday evening.

District 65 offers TWI classes in five elementary schools and at the K-8 Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies, which is set to close after the 2025-26 school year. The district is expanding its Dual Language program, which includes TWI, to sixth-grade students at Bessie Rhodes in 2024-25.

Pending sufficient enrollment numbers and demand, all middle schools are set to have Dual Language programs for all grades by the 2029-30 school year.

District 65 Compliance Coordinator Kim Kelly and retired Chicago educator Isabel Tellez, a friend of Multilingual Program Director Amy Correa, led the event.

Tellez showed parents a diagram showing that multilingual people have more gray brain matter, meaning their brains can process and store more information.

She said families and educators should evaluate students' learning progress through a "bilingual lens" by recognizing how they communicate across different languages. Assessment results in one language do not fully encapsulate a bilingual student's knowledge or abilities, Tellez added.

"(The tests are) comparing apples to oranges," Tellez said. "They're not the same."

Students can choose to take assessments in their preferred language, and the district is piloting Spanish proficiency assessments for teachers to use in classrooms, according to Kelly.

Tellez said students in monolingual classrooms may outperform students in TWI classrooms on English achievement tests. She added that English learners generally need five to seven years to become fluent in another language.

"It's great that you're starting so young, because by the time they get to seventh grade or eighth grade, they're all proficient," she said. "Then when they go to high school, they can start with (more advanced Spanish courses)."

Tellez said families can support their children by communicating with them in their native languages, maintaining positive mindsets about bilingualism and learning and playing language games together.

The district previously hosted two other TWI Night events in November and February.

The two families who attended Thursday's event said they received little advance communication about it.

According to Kelly, the district notified parents of the event through text messages, emails and announcements posted on the website and sent through teachers.

Kelly said parents can contact her and her colleagues with concerns about communication or the future of the Dual Language program.

"We want to get it right," she said.

Email: [email protected]

X: @edwardsimoncruz

Parents Left Behind By MACAA Head Start, Face More Financial Burdens To Find Other Childcare Programs

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- The shutdown of the Monticello Area Community Action Agency Head Start is taking a financial toll on parents who relied on the free governmental childcare program.

Two parents, whose kids were both enrolled in MACAA Head Start, say that the increasing cost of living and the lack of daycare availability in Central Virginia is another stressful situation that MACAA Head Start has put them through.

"You took a program, that's supposed to give kids a Head Start in life. You took that away from them and you didn't really care that this is something these kids depend on," single mom of four Jessica Thomas said.

"It's added financial stress," single mom of two Danielle Hafeez said.

They say that having all these extra costs is not feasible in today's economy.

"It's already a terrible economy anyway. And so, it takes like two jobs just to make ends meet," Hafeez said.

"I have four kids, I don't get SNAP benefits. So, at daycare I have to provide breakfast, lunch, three snacks, and that's a lot to do," Thomas said.

Thomas says that she didn't have to worry about this a month ago when her kids were in MACAA Head Start.

"What hurts me is the extra cost of me having to provide meals when I'm already struggling to do that as a parent," Thomas said.

"When they are in the Head Start program, I don't have to provide any of that stuff," Thomas said.

In a release sent out to parents on April 5, the Head Start center in Louisa County is permanently shut down, while the Hollymead, Greer and Park Street centers will open "as soon as they can recruit and hire qualified staff."

Without MACAA Head Start, families are left struggling to find ways to afford other childcare in Central Virginia that won't break the bank.

"Daycare is hard to get into. And it's a lot of waiting lists and it's very expensive. And even if you do get assistance, you're still paying a good chunk of it," Hafeez said.

And finding ones that aren't already full isn't easy.

"Childcare is also hard to find. My daughter was on the waiting list for one of the daycares for like two years. And I still haven't gotten her a response back if she made it to the top of the list or not," Hafeez said.

"So, if she didn't get that spot in the school, I would have no childcare. So like Jess said, I would be completely screwed," said Hafeez.

Hafeez and Thomas say that they're just trying to provide a better life for their kids. And they thought MACAA Head Start would help them with that.

"For me, I want my kids to have better than what I had. You know, I want them to have access to a better education. Unfortunately, I don't make a lot of money. I don't' have a lot of good resources. And I feel like when your children are in programs like this, it teaches them things that as a single parent, I'm not able to do. I need that support," Thomas said.

But, both women say that after this chaos, they won't send their kids back, regardless of the financial strain it puts on them.

"They took a real resource away from families," Thomas said.

Jaundice in Newborn