PODCAST · society
Miseducation
by The Bell
New York City is home to the nation’s most segregated school system, a fact that surprises those who think of the Big Apple as a progressive beacon. Deep inequities exist at every level of the NYC school system. We think more people should know about them and push to fix them. That's why, each semester, we bring together a team of high school interns from across the school system to tell important stories from the perspective of the real experts: students. Miseducation is a program of The Bell. For more, visit bellvoices.org/podcast and follow us on Instagram @bell.voices.
Episodes
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P.S. Weekly Live: Student Reporters Reflect on Covering NYC Schools
It’s a wrap on P.S. Weekly’s third season, and to cap it off, we have a special live-recorded episode from Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Branch. This season, P.S. Weekly student reporters investigated some of the biggest issues shaping New York City schools, from school mergers to sports...
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P.S. Weekly: Inside the Diversity Program at One Selective NYC High School
A decade after NYC launched its Diversity in Admissions program, demographics have shifted at competitive campuses such as Bard High School Early College Manhattan. Bard now sets aside half of its seats for students from low-income households. But changing admissions is only the first step toward...
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Live: NYC’s Segregated Schools with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Others
More than 70 years after Brown v. Board of Education, New York City schools remain deeply segregated. What has changed since then, and what has not? In this special episode, we share a live recording from “Separate: NYC Public Schools 72 Years After Brown v. Board, An Intergenerational…
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P.S. Weekly: When the School Bus Doesn’t Come — One Family’s Saga
Constant delays. No-shows. Missed class. Roughly 145,000 New York City students, 43% of whom have disabilities, rely on yellow bus service to get to school each day. It’s a sprawling system with 9,000 routes operated by more than 50 different companies at a cost of more than $2 billion a year.…
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P.S. Weekly: Inside One Push to Diversify NYC's Teacher Workforce
New York City’s teachers don’t reflect the students they serve, but one recent public school grad is trying to do his part to shrink that gap. Students of color make up the vast majority of the nation’s largest school system, yet white educators are more than half of the teaching workforce.…
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P.S. Weekly: Away Game — Students Who Play Sports for Other Schools
What if your high school doesn’t offer your favorite sport? Today’s disparities in access to sports teams stem from a policy pushed by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg to replace large high schools with smaller ones. These new schools, largely serving Black and Latino students, didn't have the...
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P.S. Weekly: What's the Price of Success (Academy)? Former Students Open Up
Success Academy reshaped what free education for low-income students could look like. The network boasts above average scores on state tests and impressive college admissions statistics. Some alumni, however, wonder if the academic pressure and strict behavioral standards are worth it. Its…
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P.S. Weekly: When Two Schools Become One
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...
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Live from SXSW EDU: How Our Reporting is Making a Difference
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...
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P.S. Weekly: Is AP Calculus Pointless? A Teacher Defends His Subject
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...
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P.S. Weekly: The Invite-Only School Admissions Test You Don’t Know About
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…
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P.S. Weekly: Exclusive Interview with Chancellor Kamar Samuels
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:...
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Credit Recovery: A Second Chance to Pass or Fail?
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...
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Power in Pride: Reclaiming Queer Activism in NYC Schools
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...
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We Can’t Afford to Skip Financial Literacy
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...
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How to Improve Restorative Justice in NYC Schools
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...
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P.S. Weekly: What Do NYC Teens Think of the Mayoral Candidates?
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…
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P.S. Weekly: Are NYC Schools Preparing Future Voters?
Why do so many young people lack the fundamentals of civics knowledge? Is the education system adequately preparing future generations for active participation in democracy? Do New York City teens know there’s a big mayoral race coming up — and can they name any of the candidates? Producers…
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P.S. Weekly: One Student’s Struggle with “School Refusal” After COVID
It’s been five years since COVID shut down New York City schools. How are kids faring with the aftermath? How do they talk about the pandemic – or not? The fallout is often framed around “learning loss” or dips in test scores, but what about some of the social impacts, like the quiet shifts in...
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P.S. Weekly: How Students Are Fighting Climate Change
What is the state of youth climate activism in New York City? The momentum of the climate protests at the start of the 2019-20 school year may have slowed since the pandemic, and many students remain apathetic, but climate anxiety continues to fuel some students into action. Producers Sanaa…
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P.S. Weekly: Why Schools Are Restricting Bathroom Access
Cutting class. Fights. Vaping. School bathrooms have long been notorious for all sorts of illicit behavior. And in response, many schools now significantly restrict access to bathrooms or are adding surveillance tools, including vape detectors. Producers Isabella Mason, from Midwood High School,...
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P.S. Weekly: Can Writing Teachers Fend Off AI?
P.S. Weekly airs on Thursdays this spring. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts. Episodes republish Mondays in the Miseducation feed. There’s no way to ignore the rise of AI in schools. Students are embracing it. Educators are battling it. Policymakers are trying to get ahead of it. There's no...
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P.S. Weekly: Why Do Teachers Leave? We Investigate
P.S. Weekly airs on Thursdays this spring. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts. Episodes republish Mondays in the Miseducation feed. When schools have high rates of teacher turnover, students lose connections to trusted educators, and new teachers who fill the openings are often less experienced....
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P.S. Weekly: When Filling Out the FAFSA Feels Dangerous
P.S. Weekly airs on Thursdays this spring. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts. Episodes republish Mondays in the Miseducation feed. Applying to college is stressful enough. Navigating the financial aid process adds a whole new layer. And for children of immigrants, including those with...
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P.S. Weekly: Are NYC Schools Teaching Sex Ed? It's a Touchy Subject
P.S. Weekly airs on Thursdays this spring. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts. Episodes republish Mondays in the Miseducation feed. Are New York City students getting the sex education they need? P.S. Weekly’s episode 2 explores the systemic shortcomings and urgent need for comprehensive — and...
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P.S. Weekly: The Fight for Ethnic Studies in NYC Schools
P.S. Weekly airs on Thursdays this spring. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts. Episodes republish Mondays in the Miseducation feed. Episode 1 dives into the state of ethnic studies in New York City schools and how the Trump administration could threaten the recent expansion of Black studies…
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P.S. Weekly at SXSW EDU: Teen Journalists on NYC Admissions, Resources, and Real Change
We recorded this bonus episode live at the annual SXSW EDU conference, hosted earlier this month in Austin, Texas. P.S. Weekly’s student reporters spoke on a panel at the event, diving into the pressing inequities of New York City’s school system. Listen to what it’s really like to navigate the...
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Chronically Present: How One High School Transformed Attendance
By Bernie Carmona, Katelyn Melville and Kelsi Bowen In the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, students across the country have missed school far more regularly than before it. In New York City, the chronic absenteeism rate (percentage of students who miss at least 10% of total school days)…
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Special: Students and Parents on the Future of High School Admissions
Miseducation interns Kelsi, Katelyn, and Bernie join parent advocates in a live panel marking 20 years of NYC's high school admissions process, sharing personal stories and bold ideas for a more equitable future. Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school...
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Special: Journalism for All
Sabrina is joined by two student leaders to share a special announcement about a new citywide initiative called Journalism for All. The initiative will provide curriculum, training, funding, and other forms of support to 30 NYC public high schools that want to start journalism programs. The...
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P.S. Weekly: Student Protests, Free Speech, and NYC Public Schools
While protests over the Israel-Hamas war have gripped New York City college campuses, we look at how high schoolers have reacted — and the student freedom of speech issues being raised. P.S. Weekly reporter Dorothy Ha speaks to Orlena Fella, whose high school was uniquely impacted by recent...
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P.S. Weekly: Teens Want Therapy — Are They Getting It?
What happens when a teen wants therapy but their parents are unsure? Is NYC’s bold initiative to offer free virtual therapy to teens working? Tune in to find out. News Bulletin — Chalkbeat's Amy Zimmer breaks down top education stories from the past week. (2 min) Segment A — Salma Baksh…
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P.S. Weekly: Cafeteria Chronicles with the Critics Who Matter
In P.S. Weekly’s food episode, fourth graders visit NYC schools’ test kitchen, high schoolers rate grilled cheese sandwiches, and students dish on having microwave access. News Bulletin — Chalkbeat reporter Julian Shen-Berro breaks down top education stories from the past week. (2 min) Segment A…
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P.S. Weekly: An Exclusive Interview with Chancellor David Banks
In this special episode, student reporters Shoaa Khan and Jose Santana speak to Chancellor David Banks about a range of important issues that affect students. Hear what the leader of the NYC public school system had to say about a new "Hidden Voices" history curriculum, school start times, the...
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P.S. Weekly: A High Schooler Working at Bloomberg — Plus “Shotgunning” College Applications
In the first segment, student producer Christian Rojas Linares explores a new apprenticeship program through the eyes of Heidy Torres, a high school junior who works 16 hours a week for Bloomberg, the finance giant and media company. The second segment, produced by Marcellino Melika and Tanvir...
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P.S. Weekly: Students Speak Out About Special Education
More than 200,000 New York City students have a disability classification that entitles them to specific learning accommodations — but do they always get them? Students share their experiences. RSVP for "Inside P.S. Weekly" Zoom event on April 17: https://ckbe.at/psweekly Want to get in touch?...
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P.S. Weekly: A New York Chapter on the Banned Books Controversy
The national wave of book bans has been coming ashore in surprising ways in New York City. News Bulletin – Chalkbeat reporter Alex Zimmerman breaks down top education stories from the past week. (1 min) Segment A – Student reporter Salma Baksh interviews her former librarian Lindsay Klemas, who...
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P.S. Weekly: Migrant Students Navigate a New Reality
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...
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(Re)introducing P.S. Weekly
Welcome to the the sound of the New York City school system. P.S. Weekly explores pressing issues facing students and teachers in the Big Apple. The Bell's team of high school student producers work alongside Chalkbeat's seasoned education reporters to bring you stories, perspectives, and...
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Instagram, Cyberbullying and Free Speech at a Queens School
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...
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Missing Voices: Part 4 – Where Do We Go from Here?
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...
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Missing Voices: Part 3 – Trials and Triumphs
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,...
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Missing Voices: Part 2 — The Quest to Revive High School Journalism
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...
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Missing Voices: Part 1 — Tale of Two School Newspapers
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…
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Student Homelessness in a City of Riches
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...
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The AP Course Divide
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...
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The Price of Creativity
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...
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Food Fight — The Battle for Better School Lunches
In 1946, President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act. It aimed to “provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day.” More than 60 years later, Michelle Obama championed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which required schools to provide…
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Locked Up Phones
When I was in seventh grade, something changed in my school. The administration at the Bronx Academy of Letters was implementing a strange new policy called “Yondr.” Haven’t heard of it? Neither had I. Yondr is a company that makes lockable pouches for smartphones to create “phone-free spaces for...
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Responding to Racism in Schools
At my high school, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens, almost two thirds of the student body identify as people of color. When students witnessed a teacher make a racially insensitive comment during class, they knew something had to be done. The administration stepped in and facilitated a...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
New York City is home to the nation’s most segregated school system, a fact that surprises those who think of the Big Apple as a progressive beacon. Deep inequities exist at every level of the NYC school system. We think more people should know about them and push to fix them.
That's why, each semester, we bring together a team of high school interns from across the school system to tell important stories from the perspective of the real experts: students.
Miseducation is a program of The Bell. For more, visit bellvoices.org/podcast and follow us on Instagram @bell.voices.
HOSTED BY
The Bell
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Miseducation have?
Miseducation currently has 121 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Miseducation about?
New York City is home to the nation’s most segregated school system, a fact that surprises those who think of the Big Apple as a progressive beacon. Deep inequities exist at every level of the NYC school system. We think more people should know about them and push to fix them. That's why, each...
How often does Miseducation release new episodes?
Miseducation publishes regularly with 121 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Miseducation?
You can listen to Miseducation on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Miseducation?
Miseducation is created and hosted by The Bell.
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