Profiles

New leader chosen for nation's largest school district

Kamar Samuels has been appointed as chancellor of the New York City public schools.

Chalkbeat New York reports that newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani chose Samuels to lead the nation's largest public school system because “this moment demands a new generation of leadership” that “understands our schools” and has a “transformative vision” on how to lead them.

Samuels has served as superintendent of Manhattan’s District 3 and  Brooklyn’s District 13. He started out as a teacher and principal in the Bronx.

Samuels’ work overseeing the school district's literacy curriculum mandate, NYC Reads, led to an increase in test scores, Mamdani said. Samuels also secured more than $10 million in grants to advance integration efforts through admissions policies, mergers, and rezonings.

The new chancellor replaces Melissa Aviles-Ramos, who had held the job since October 2024.

2 Oregon universities announce merger

Two universities in Oregon say they plan to merge and become the state’s largest private higher education institution.

The Salem Reporter says that Willamette University and Pacific University have announced plans to create what will be called the University of the Northwest. Willamette has campuses in Salem and Portland, and Pacific has campuses in Forest Grove and Hillsboro.

The result would “combine the flexibility and nimbleness of a small school with the breadth and resources of a larger institution,” according to a joint statement from the universities.

Together, the schools have a combined enrollment of about 6,000 students. Those include undergraduates and graduate students in Willamette’s law, business and art and Pacific’s health sciences, optometry and teacher programs. 

The universities will keep their campuses and maintain their own admissions processes.

Landline phones on the way out of New York City schools

The New York City school system wants to phase out the thousands of telephone landlines at its 1,800 schools and is set to seek bids from companies to install a strictly online system.

The New York Post reports that the nation's largest school system is looking to “transition from aging digital PBX [Private Branch Exchange] systems to a unified, resilient, and cost-effective VOI [Voice over Internet Protocol] ecosystem.”

“As our schools, city, and world evolve, we are in the infancy stages of evaluating telecommunications alternatives that would significantly reduce our reliance on traditional landlines,” a schools spokesman says.

The district has sent out an information request to potential bidders, a precursor for an official bid for a new telecommunications system. The new system must have the capacity to support 150,000 staffers in 1,800 schools serving more than 900,000 students.

Bus driver shortages persist, but some improvement is seen

The nationwide school bus driver shortage has improved slightly in the last year, but the number of drivers is still 9.5% lower than it was in 2019, the Economic Policy Institute says.

The institute's report notes that many financially strapped school districts have curtailed bus service or eliminated routes.

"These types of cuts can eliminate a student’s only way to attend school, including for students with disabilities who rely on buses to attend schools with enhanced special education services," the institute says. "Inconsistent bus schedules and routes can also contribute to absenteeism and missed school meals."

The report found that 21,200 fewer bus drivers were employed in the United States in August 2025 compared with August 2019.

In the last year, the bus driver figures are more positive. Employment has increased by about 2,300 jobs--1.1%. The institute says the improvement appears to be driven by rising wages for drivers.

"Hourly wages have grown steadily over the last year," the report says. "In August 2025, the median hourly wage for school bus drivers was $22.45, 4.2% greater than last year (when accounting for inflation)."