Miseducation

Officials estimate that more than 36,000 migrant students have enrolled in New York City public schools over the past two years.

What challenges are these new students facing? And what are schools doing to support them? This student-reported episode explores these questions through conversations with students, educators, and a journalist who's been covering the issue.

Segment A
Chalkbeat Reporter Michael Elsen-Rooney breaks down the issue and how the broader media narratives don't necessarily reflect experiences on the ground. (6 min)

Segment B
Student reporter Jose Santana interviews a Claremont International High School student about her transition to the school system and how one program has made a big difference. (9 min)

Segment C
Student reporter Bernie Carmona talks to Sunisa Nuosy, a former international high school teacher about the joys and challenges of educating immigrant students. (7 min)

Additional reading:
• Read this story about students from NYC’s largest school for newcomer immigrants as they push for a change in the school name
• Read this first-person story from an educator advocating for more school social workers to support NYC migrant students

To stay up to date on New York City schools coverage throughout the week, sign up for Chalkbeat New York's daily newsletter at chalkbeat.org/newsletters.

Learn more about The Bell's student programs and podcasts at bellvoices.org.

Want to get in touch? Email us at [email protected].

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.

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 threat came in an e-mailed letter from the principal to the entire student body: Stop following the anonymous Instagram accounts, or face suspension.

When Principal David Marmor of Francis Lewis High School in Queens discovered two accounts — one which posted fight videos and the other which included vulgar content that in some cases targeted specific students — he didn’t hesitate to act. In addition to threatening suspension, he promised to cancel all “celebratory events” like pep rallies and prom until the accounts were deleted or lost all their followers — a dramatic step that raised questions about the line between students’ free speech online and punishable behavior. 

First reported by Chalkbeat New York, the case immediately caught our attention. Social media's impact on our lives as teens can't be overstated. Anonymous Instagram pages that share confessions, photos, and videos about school communities have become increasingly common. Sometimes the content is harmless. Other times, it feeds into vicious bullying. 

We called up Chalkbeat’s Alex Zimmerman to break down what happened at Francis Lewis and discuss the broader implications of Marmor’s actions. Should schools be allowed to regulate students’ social media use? If so, did this principal go too far?

Learn more about our work at https://bellvoices.org.

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This episode was hosted by Shoaa Khan and Jose Santana. It was produced by Sabrina DuQuesnay, Mia Lobel, Mira Gordon, and Taylor McGraw, and made in collaboration with Amy Zimmer and Alex Zimmerman from Chalkbeat New York.

Music from Blue Dot sessions.

This episode was made possible in part by the Summerfield Foundation, the Pinkerton Foundation, FJC, and Hindenburg Systems.

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.

It’s clear that disproportionate access to high school journalism is a consequence of broader education inequities. But, what about the news industry itself? In this episode, professional journalists shed light on the lack of diversity in the news industry, which is about 80% white, and less representative of the general population than other fields according to Pew Research. The lack of journalism opportunities for students of color feeds the diversity problem in the field.

Despite the odds, this has been a year of success for school newspapers, new and old. And they get their due recognition at an annual student journalism conference held at Baruch College. Great expectations, breath-holding moments of tension and unexpected triumphs all come to the fore in this fourth and final episode of Missing Voices. All eyes – and hopefully your ears – are on these high school journalists vying for glory in between the margins.

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The Missing Voices series was reported by Wesley Almanzar, Jadelyn Camey, Fredlove Deshommes, Edward Mui and Jayden Williams. Editing and production support from Sabrina DuQuesnay, Mira Gordon, Abē Levine and Taylor McGraw.

Scoring and sound mixing from Peter Leonard. Music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Made possible with support from the Education Writers Association and the Pinkerton Foundation.

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.

In the summer of 2022, Press Pass NYC launched a fellowship for aspiring high school student journalists. A cohort of students from around NYC began their journeys in a summer bootcamp, where they learned the basics of journalistic writing and reporting.

“It brings like a huge responsibility, knowing that you're going to take all this information and bring it back to the school,” said Ashley Conde Lopez, reporter for The Writer’s Weekly at the Academy for Young Writers in Brooklyn.

Our team followed these Press Pass Fellows from bootcamp through the school year to see the results of their training and preparation. Three schools are featured here: The Institute for Health Professions at Cambria Heights; The Academy for Young Writers; and Health, Education and Research Occupations (H.E.R.O.) High School. Can these three schools overcome the obstacles of an unequal education system to create successful student newspapers? Tune in to find out.

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The Missing Voices series was reported by Wesley Almanzar, Jadelyn Camey, Fredlove Deshommes, Edward Mui and Jayden Williams. Editing and production support from Sabrina DuQuesnay, Mira Gordon, Abē Levine and Taylor McGraw.

Scoring and sound mixing from Peter Leonard. Music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Made possible with support from the Education Writers Association and the Pinkerton Foundation.

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

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.

Seemingly every New York City high school used to have a student newspaper. That’s what we learned on our trip earlier this year to the Center for Brooklyn History’s archived high school newspaper collection. Today, few NYC high schools have student publications of any kind.

What happened? Where did all the school newspapers go? To find some answers, we sat down with Keith Hefner, founder of Youth Communication, a nonprofit that has been publishing high school students’ stories for more than 40 years.

Then, we meet the adult and students behind Press Pass NYC, an organization dedicated to bringing student newspapers back. It’s an ambitious mission. What will it take for them to succeed?

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

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.

New York City is the media capital of the world, but not for its youth. Just one in four public high schools has a student newspaper these days. And there are big disparities in access by race and class.

In this system of haves and have nots Townsend Harris High School in Queens is definitely among the haves. Its student newspaper, The Classic, has received national recognition for hard-hitting reporting in recent years.

Meanwhile, at Pace High School in Manhattan, dedicated students and a veteran English teacher are defying the odds by building The Pacer from scratch.

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

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.

When you think about New York City, what do you think of? Wall Street? Fancy business ventures? The place where dreams come true? That’s certainly how I thought of it when I moved here from the Philippines at age seven.

But there’s another side to the city.

In 2021, about 1 in 10 public school students experienced some type of homelessness. That’s around 100,000 children. Quite surprising for the financial capital of the world. 

In the city of billionaires and luxury brands, how could so many not have access to something as basic and foundational to life as stable housing?

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

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Donate to The Bell.

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.

In many schools across the country, high schoolers have the opportunity to take AP, or Advanced Placement, classes. These high-level courses are designed to introduce students to the rigor and expectations of higher education, and to help them get a leg up in the college application process. Some students look forward to the challenge, while others dread the stress and anxiety they bring.

In this episode, I dive into the reasons for inequitable AP access across New York City, how this reality affects students and what further actions are being taken to make change.

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Never miss an episode! Subscribe on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher

Donate to The Bell.

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 transition from middle school to high school can be socially bewildering for many young people, but for New York City public school students like me it can also mean adjusting to drastically different economic and racial demographics. I went from my neighborhood school in the Bronx to a predominantly white school in Midtown, Manhattan.

At my middle school, I took an art class that had no art teacher. At my new school, the basement has ten studios completely dedicated to music. There’s also a black box theater, a dance studio, an art studio, and a film lab. These are just some of the differences I noticed.

Seeing these drastic disparities in the opportunities given to students got me thinking: if all public school students deserve an arts education, then why has a complete music and arts program become a luxury and a privilege? What do students lose when they don’t have the opportunity to explore their extracurricular passions?

Join me and a few guests as we discuss the unspoken price of creativity in New York City public schools. 

To join the conversation, send us a message and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Never miss an episode! Subscribe on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Stitcher

Donate to The Bell.

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.