Miseducation

The nation’s largest school system is shrinking, and one way city officials are tackling the drop: ramping up school mergers. 

New York City schools enrolled 793,000 K-12 students this school year, down about 15% from the 2019-20 school year, according to Education Department data. The number of students who have left the system during this time is bigger than Philadelphia’s entire public school population. That has left the city’s school system with an increasing number of small schools that may be unable to provide their students with a full array of courses and resources. 

Solving the enrollment puzzle is top of mind for New York City officials, especially as the city confronts its own budget problems. But merging schools is not always easy. 

P.S. Weekly producers Rayleen Laloi, a junior at The Brooklyn Institute for Liberal Arts, also known as BILA, and Ermione Aleah Raymond, a senior at the Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice, both experienced school mergers firsthand. They explore what happens to students when two schools become one. 

Rayleen talks with Osei Alfred, who attended the School for Human Rights before it became part of BILA last year. The merger changed Osei’s high school experience, for better and worse. He shares insights for schools who might be facing the same situation. 

P.S. Weekly is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Reach us at [email protected].

P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell, made possible by generous support from The Pinkerton Foundation. 

P.S. Weekly episodes will also be featured in the Miseducation feed. 

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

The Bell’s student reporters recorded a special live episode of Miseducation at SXSW EDU in Austin, Texas on March 9, 2026. Moderated by Salma Baksh, the conversation explored how student journalists can ask hard questions, hold institutions accountable and drive change in their schools and communities.

Listen as Fredlove Deshommes, Jeremiah Dickerson and Aponi Kafele discuss their reporting on the student journalism gap in New York City schools, credit recovery and school composting, respectively, Together, they reflect on what empowers them as reporters, what adults can learn from listening to students and why expanding access to journalism education is essential.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

To many New York City students, Advanced Placement Calculus feels impractical, full of information they won’t use in their day-to-day lives — though it’s become a status symbol for some high achievers.

But reaching that status symbol has some significant consequences: AP Calculus has garnered a reputation for being a barrier to higher education. The class has become a gatekeeper, with many selective colleges requiring students to take the subject. Those who took it in high school are at an advantage, and schools with majority Black and Latino students tend to miss out. The number of such schools offering calculus has hovered under 40% over the past decade, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

P.S. Weekly producers Mateo Tang O’Reilly, a junior at Central Park East High School, and Jasper Mallorca, a senior at High School of Art and Design, ask: Does AP Calculus serve a purpose other than proving academic rigor to colleges? They explore the unseen value of calculus beyond the classroom. 

Mateo sits down with Dash Anderson, a Brooklyn high school math teacher who shares his experience teaching calculus in a way that brings the subject to life with real-world examples, from video games to “Moana.”

P.S. Weekly is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Reach us at [email protected].

P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell, made possible by generous support from The Pinkerton Foundation. 

P.S. Weekly episodes will also be featured in the Miseducation feed. 

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

With an acceptance rate below 10%, Hunter College High School is one of the most competitive public high schools in New York City. It’s also one of the least diverse. 

Hunter’s 15.3% student poverty rate was the lowest of any public high school in the city, according to public data from the 2024-25 school year. By comparison, Bronx Science and Stuyvesant, two of the city’s specialized high schools, each had about 50% of students from low-income households.

The lack of socioeconomic as well as racial diversity at Hunter — which is run by CUNY’s Hunter College — doesn’t get as much attention as the demographics at Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and other specialized high schools in the five boroughs. Like those coveted institutions, Hunter also bases admissions on a test. Except to even qualify for Hunter’s test, you have to be invited, based on state test scores. 

Now, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his administration backing efforts to bolster integration in public schools, some Hunter students are fighting for change from the inside.

Producers Roberto Bailey, a senior at Hunter, and Zoe George, a senior at Bard High School Early College Manhattan, know the landscape of competitive high school admissions well: They’ve experienced it. 

We also hear from Hunter student and activist Kassidy Khuu about the admissions process at the Upper East Side institution, what she and others are doing to try and change it, and the underlying question of who gets access to a “gifted” education.

P.S. Weekly is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Reach us at [email protected].

P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell, made possible by generous support from The Pinkerton Foundation. 

P.S. Weekly episodes will also be featured in the Miseducation feed. 

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

Welcome back to P.S. Weekly, a student podcast created in collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell!

In the first episode of Season 3, The Bell’s high school reporters landed an exclusive interview with schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels.

The new schools chief made his three priorities known: safety, academic rigor, and integration. But The Bell’s student reporters grilled him on the issues most important to them, including artificial intelligence, how he plans to approach racial integration, and whether he will fulfil Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s promise to make school buildings greener.

In this episode, you’ll hear Samuels’ answers — and the student reporters’ assessment of his responses.

You can watch the full, unedited video of this interview with the chancellor on YouTube.

P.S. Weekly is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Reach us at [email protected].

P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell, made possible by generous support from The Pinkerton Foundation. 

P.S. Weekly episodes will also be featured in the Miseducation feed. 

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

Thousands of New York City students rely on credit-recovery programs to earn course credit they need for the next grade or graduation. But do these second chances to pass give the system permission to fail?

A 2018 audit at a Brooklyn high school found that 96 percent of recovered credits were improperly awarded, exposing how uneven oversight and under qualified instruction can shortchange students.

In this episode, I share my own observations, along with my classmate Hawa’s firsthand experience navigating credit recovery. I also sit down with Shante Martin, a Williamsburg Charter High School administrator who sees the program’s promise, but also proposes changes such as limiting eligibility to seniors and raising the minimum grade requirement for a student to enter credit recovery. 

A genuine second chance shouldn’t mean cutting corners. If credit recovery remains part of our school system, then it must deliver on the education it promises.

With Jeremiah Dickerson.

This is a video-first episode. You can watch it now on Youtube.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

At my school, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance feels more like a social club than a space for activism. And I’m not alone in feeling that way.

In this episode, I look at how GSAs in New York City have drifted from their original purpose: organizing for change and uplifting queer voices. Once at the front lines of student activism, many GSAs now avoid political conversations and lack diversity, even as queer youth face mounting attacks across the United States.

It’s time for a GSA rebrand. To recenter activism and ensure every queer student feels seen and supported, GSAs must be spaces that are bold, inclusive, and purposeful. Queer youth have played a key role in leading social movements, and history shows that when we organize, we create change. It’s time for GSAs to reflect that legacy and reclaim their role.

With Mher Melikyan.

This is a video-first episode. You can watch it now on Youtube.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

America is in a financial literacy crisis. According to the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, U.S. adults correctly answer less than half of basic personal-finance questions. 

As a sophomore at Stuyvesant High School and a student reporter for Miseducation, I’ve seen firsthand how we’re set up to fail. New York City, the financial capital of the world, still doesn’t require a standalone personal-finance course for graduation. Students encounter only a single unit on it, tucked inside economics class, even though managing taxes, budgeting, and loans is essential to navigating today’s economy.

This episode explores the gap between those with access to money-management lessons and those left to learn on their own. You’ll hear from David Peng, one of my teachers at Stuy who created a personal-finance course and Ashley Leftwich of Rock The Street, Wall Street. They’ll explain why mandating a full-semester personal-finance requirement is the what we need. 

Ready to get involved? See the links below for easy ways to contact your local representatives and sign the petition to require a standalone financial-literacy course in New York State. Every student deserves to be confident in their financial future. Let’s make it happen in schools, right now.

With Noa Salas Adam.

Take action in three quick clicks — then share the episode with a friend:

1. Add your name to this statewide petition calling for a standalone financial-literacy requirement in NYC.
2. Find your representative so you know exactly who to email.
3. Use these writing tips to tell them why a full-semester personal-finance course matters.

This is a video-first episode. You can watch it now on Youtube.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

By Autumn Wynn

In New York City schools, restorative justice – or RJ – has been around for almost a decade. It’s a way to repair harm by bringing together the person who caused it, the person affected, and the community.

Restorative justice circles are designed to help students heal, take accountability, and build stronger communities, but too often they feel like just another routine. Most RJ schools rely on circles — structured conversations that serve three tiers: Tier 1 community-building before harm occurs; Tier 2 conflict resolution when harm happens; and Tier 3 reintegration after healing. At my Brooklyn high school, we sit in a circle twice a week, yet phones stay out and eyes glaze over. Far from the healing practice they’re meant to be, these sessions can become checkbox exercises.

As a peer mediator and RJ leader, I’ve seen both their promise and their pitfalls. Black students are suspended 3.4 times more than their white peers. Studies show that even minor suspensions can derail academic achievement for years. A 2022 citywide study found that some students “do not care, do not pay attention, or fall asleep during circle”. I see my peers doing the same. So I started asking: What would it actually take to make it work? And how should we reassess success — beyond suspension rates — to include trust, student voice, and genuine community healing?

Join me as I dig into the gap between adult-led and student-led circles, sit down with restorative justice facilitator Javon Lomax, and make the case that real healing demands students, not just staff, at the forefront.

This is a video-first episode. You can watch it now on Youtube.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.

What is happening with the youth vote during this year’s mayoral race? Are New York City’s young people tuning in? Are the candidates reaching out to young voters? And why hasn’t education been a centerpiece of the mayor’s race so far?

Producers Jojo Fofana, a senior at Fordham High School for the Arts, and Roberto Bailey, a junior at Hunter College High School, examine the 2025 mayoral race and the role of young people in the election. They dig into the candidates and their positions, what they have to say directly to students, and why only 18% of young voters actually cast ballots. 

You’ll hear from the candidates who sent one-minute videos to Chalkbeat with their direct appeal to young New Yorkers, and you’ll hear the producers share their candid reactions to these clips. And you’ll also hear what Jojo and Roberto wished the candidates would have tackled head on. In a conversation with Chalkbeat’s Amy Zimmer and Alex Zimmerman, you’ll learn more about the challenges of getting the candidates to focus on issues touching the Education Department — the city’s largest agency. 

Ultimately, P.S. Weekly’s final episode of the season is a call to action, offering tips on how young people can register to vote, research the candidates, and connect with youth-focused organizations. 

To find out more about how to register, visit Vote.org, and to learn more about how NYC high school students can get involved, check out YVote. 

If you want to find out more about the candidates views on important education issues, you can find the candidates’ responses to seven critical education questions Chalkbeat asked them or you can read a cheat sheet here. 

If you want to see which candidates best align with your views, check out the “Meet your mayor” quiz from our friends at THE CITY and Gothamist in which they asked the mayoral hopefuls where they stand on issues such as affordable housing and public safety.

P.S. Weekly is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Reach us at [email protected].

P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell, made possible by generous support from The Pinkerton Foundation. 

P.S. Weekly episodes will also be featured in the Miseducation feed. 

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.