Chalkbeat's journalism is made possible by our sponsors.
Interested in becoming one? Reach out here.

Happy Friday! Alex here.

Students in foster care are legally entitled to transportation so they can stay in school even if they move. Yet it can take weeks or longer for the Education Department to arrange school bus service. Now, advocates are urging the city to invest in alternate options to bring students to school so they won’t face significant disruptions to their education. Read more in today’s top story.

Also, as child vaccination rates in New York show signs of faltering, City Council proposed a flurry of legislation to make it easier for schools to share information about vaccines with families.

Finally, for this week’s episode of P.S. weekly, we’re featuring an episode of Miseducation, a podcast about inequities in New York City schools also produced by The Bell. Several student reporters recorded this live conversation at SXSW EDU last month exploring how student journalists can ask hard questions, hold institutions accountable, and drive change in their schools and communities.

Local News

Advocates call for $3 million fix for school transportation hurdles faced by students in foster care

Advocates are calling on Mayor Mamdani to add $3 million in this budget to transport NYC foster youth to school while they await school bus service.

New York City Council passes plan to step up education on vaccines

From left, New York City Council Members Shekar Krishnan, Lynn Schulman, and Eric Dinowitz speak to the media outside the Tweed Courthouse in Lower Manhattan on Thursday after holding a news conference on improving vaccine education.Trenton Daniel / Healthbeat

Around Chalkbeat

Philadelphia Board of Education approves 17 school closures

Board members voted to approve the plan remotely after a confrontational meeting where councilmembers demanded members’ resignations.

Something felt off about Newark Public Schools’ special education numbers, so officials asked Rutgers for help

In a city where more than a third of residents are born outside of the U.S., Newark educators feared students were being mislabeled as having speech or language disabilities.