Board of Regents elects first Black chancellor

This week's top stories

1. Regents make history: Young becomes first Black chancellor

Lester W. Young Jr., a former Brooklyn educator with more than 50 years' experience, became the first African American to lead the state Board of Regents since its founding in 1784. Young, 73, was elected Regents chancellor unanimously by the 17-member board. He noted that he takes over the state's education policy panel during a critical time — when the COVID-19 pandemic has "upended school systems around the world."

In coming months, the board will grapple with a wide range of controversies, including state testing and high school graduation standards. Roger Tilles of Manhasset, who represents Long Island on the Regents board, said Young has done "an amazing job" since his initial appointment to the board in 2008. Jolene DiBrango, executive vice president of the New York State United Teachers union, described the new chancellor as "the right choice" to deal not only with effects of the pandemic, but also with continuing inequities in the public education system.

Regents this week also are interviewing candidates for the permanent post of state education commissioner. The interim commissioner, Betty Rosa of the Bronx, commented that the selection of an African American as chancellor, or chairman, of the Regents board represents a win for race relations. "Another barrier broken, another step in the march toward equality," said Rosa, who preceded Young as chancellor and is widely considered a front-runner in the search for a permanent commissioner.

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2. Spotlight on 41 LI scholars in Regeneron science competition

Forty-one Long Island high school seniors from public and private schools were honored as Regeneron Science Talent Search scholars, lauded by educators for overcoming obstacles such as closed labs and schools due to the pandemic. Forced to adapt to remote learning, teachers mailed equipment so projects could be finished at home and spent hours on Zoom and other platforms to guide students. Some mentors even hand-delivered supplies to students.

• "The students had to immediately find new ways to complete their work when their laboratories closed, and they were dealing with social and political unrest and the fear that the pandemic was creeping into their families," said Serena McCalla, science research coordinator for the Jericho school district. "With most of them being remote, they were unable to have that one-to-one communication. … It has been an unprecedented year."
• Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Regeneron scholars typically spent weeks or months in university laboratories, working closely with faculty. Projects often take more than one year. Last year, there were 36 Long Island scholars.
• The scholars were selected from 1,760 applications received from 611 high schools across 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and 10 countries. They were chosen based on their research skills, academics, innovative thinking and promise as scientists, according to Regeneron. On Jan. 21, 40 of the 300 scholars nationwide will be named finalists.

Read the full story and meet the scholars.

3. In Capitol riot, educators see a teaching moment

District leaders across Long Island reached out to their teaching staff in the aftermath of the Capitol riot last week, encouraging them to discuss the historic events with students at all grade levels and provided them with resources and support. Educators said the most important factor was to "create a safe space" in the classroom to share differing viewpoints.

• "It’s crucial to teach about this right away," said Alan Singer, a professor of teaching at Hofstra University. "Kids are learning about American society and government firsthand, they’re nervous about the COVID vaccine, they’re anxious about online learning and dealing with the isolation — and in the midst of all this, they see a riot attacking the United States Capitol."
• "I think the thing that really is difficult for us to explain is the fact that the Black Lives Matter movement in the summer was met with such harsh responses from law enforcement authorities," said Malverne Superintendent Lorna Lewis. Her students "question why people who behaved the way they did at the Capitol were not met with that level of response."
• "I believe educators are able to create a safe space to engage in those conversations. To put our heads in the sand and not address them would be a significant disservice to our students," said Port Washington Superintendent Michael Hynes.

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4. LI educators dominate Empire Center list of highest paid

Long Island educators again dominated a list of the highest-paid school employees in the state outside of New York City, including a former Central Islip teacher who took home more than $500,000 last year.

• Some 61,500 members of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System were paid $100,000 or more during the 2019-20 school year, according to data collected by the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative think tank in Albany. More than half of them worked for schools or community colleges on Long Island, the data shows.
• The Central Islip district featured prominently in the list, as it has previously. Of the 100 top earners in the state last year, nine hailed from that district.
• The highest-paid educator in the state outside New York City last year was Kevin Donovan of the Central Islip district, who was paid $509,313, according to the data. Donovan’s business website states he is a retired science and physical education teacher with more than 30 years of service in the Retirement System. He did not respond to requests for comment.

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Resources for you

• YouTube Kids free mobile app delivers age-appropriate videos in three categories: kids 4 and younger, 5-7, and 8-12. There are no in-app purchases, but there are ads that Google says are reviewed for content. Visit youtube.com/kids.
• PBS Kids ScratchJr free mobile app for children ages 5-8 encourages them to create their own stories and games, using more than 150 characters from popular TV shows, while learning the basics of coding. There are no ads or in-app purchases. Visit pbskids.org/learn/scratchjr.
• ABC Kids — Tracing & Phonics free mobile app for preschoolers and kindergartners has learning activities focused on phonics as well as alphabet-learning games. The app has no ads or in-app purchases. Visit rvappstudios.com/abc-kids-41.html.

Round of applause

Tori Brown, a fifth-grader at Lenox Elementary School in Baldwin, launched a baking business recently to help local families in need amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She called it Tori's Cake Factory and baked about 25 cakes — chocolate, vanilla and red velvet — ultimately raising $100, she said.

The money was given to a school social worker who split it into four $25 gift cards for families hit hardest since the virus outbreak.

"I love to bake with my mom, and adding my own little secret toppings to my cakes," said Tori, 10. "I hope to continue to help others in any way that I can think of in the future."

She also used savings from a household coin jar to donate another $100 last month to a holiday toy drive at her school.

"She has a big heart and she is always giving, always sharing," said Tori's mother, Chamaine.

Your questions answered

Have questions? Send them to ednews@newsday.com. Newsday’s education reporting team will pick one to answer in this space each week.

Back from winter break, how is school going amid a second wave of COVID-19?

Educators from Deer Park, Hauppauge and Syosset school districts discussed last week the challenges of keeping students safe amid the second wave as they returned to school after winter break. They emphasized the importance of students' mental well-being while keeping them safe from the virus.

Thomas Rogers, superintendent of the Syosset Central School District, said remote learning is something that should be driven by the recommendation of health officials, because the benefits of in-person learning can’t be denied.

"What we see is that the in-person environment still lends itself better than the virtual environment to student learning and to student socialization, which is a really important developmental process and to their feeling of security and well-being," Rogers said during the "School & COVID-19: Back to School" webinar, part of Newsday's ongoing series. "The more surreal we make school, the more we contribute to the sense that their world is upside down."

School vacations mixed with remote learning for about a week and half before the break has made the return to school this month a bit difficult, said Amina Kennedy, secondary English teacher at the Robert Frost Middle School in Deer Park.

Kennedy said she is seeing an increasing number of students opting to go all virtual, which can impact student participation and blunt students from getting into a schedule — a challenge especially when it comes to independent study.

Dennis P. O’Hara, superintendent for the Hauppauge school district, stressed the importance of keeping schools open.

"What we’ve learned through this pandemic is how essential schools are for distributing meals, for offering health services to children and attending to their emotional and social well-being," O’Hara said. "I would submit that if we can’t keep our schools open we lose the opportunity to serve children in many, many important ways."

— Find the latest education news at newsday.com/long-island/education. Catherine Carrera can be reached at catherine.carrera@newsday.com or on Twitter @CattCarrera.