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Happy Friday! Alex here.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is taking aim at a $330 million deal struck under former Mayor Eric Adams to buy 350,000 internet-enabled Chromebooks and distribute them to public schools across the city.
Now, Mamdani is canceling the T-Mobile internet service included in the deal, which the Education Department contends “duplicated existing resources at an unnecessary cost.” The move comes amid growing skepticism of education technology among many families and as Mamdani has vowed to reform the school system’s contracting process.
Read more in today’s top story.
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Local News
Eric Adams inked a $200 million internet deal for student Chromebooks. Mamdani is canceling it.
T-Mobile service for 350,000 NYC student Chromebooks will end Aug. 31. Officials expect schools to purchase internet for students who need it for $10 per student per month.
Around Chalkbeat
Virtual school enrollment has doubled in recent years, following pandemic-era surge
About 1 in 80 public school students now attends a fully virtual school. Research has raised concerns about the academic quality of online learning.
Illinois education advocates grow more divided on Pritzker’s impending federal tax-credit program choice
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker will have to decide by the end of the year whether he will opt the state into Donald Trump’s federal tax-credit scholarship program.
Indianapolis Public Schools reverses no-zero grading policy
Indianapolis Public Schools implemented a no-zero grading policy in 2020. The district is reversing the policy but still giving students multiple opportunities on assignments.
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What We’re Reading
Funding Delays Threaten Rollout of Mamdani’s 2-K Program, New York Times
Runs on Home-Based Child Care. We Now Have an Opportunity to Ensure it Thrives. City Limits (Opinion)
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