Public schools moved to a distance learning format this Tuesday, and all school programs that have arisen from this change, adult education and Young Adult Borough Centers programs are canceled for the day, the city Department of Education said.
Teachers and parents across the city are unable to log in to distance learning this morning, due to what the city says is a login authentication issue for everyone.
The Chancellor of Education, David Bank, stated in a press conference that they have worked hard to prepare and having this day was not a waste of a school day, but it was frustrating.
He and the mayor spoke the night before, to notify teachers, unions, among others, about the decision to put students in remote learning.
Before 8 in the morning they began to receive news that parents and students were still having problems logging into the system.
He blamed IBM for not being ready for ‘rush hour’, even though they are the ones who have to authenticate everyone who tries to get online.
Several teachers and parents told NY1 they couldn’t access services like Zoom, Google Classroom, their Department of Education emails or services that allow them to take attendance.
On social media, the city’s Department of Education account acknowledged the problem: “We are currently experiencing issues with services that require IBM authentication to log in. We are actively working with IBM to resolve this. We will provide an update as soon as possible “.We are currently experiencing issues with services that require IBM authentication to login. ⁰⁰We are actively working with IBM to resolve. We will provide an update as soon as possible.
— NYC Public Schools (@NYCSchools) February 13, 2024
The issue comes after the mayor and schools chancellor said Monday they were ready to move to online learning, despite calls from some to give students an old-fashioned snow day.
Some parents said: “Google classroom works, but the DOE app that manages logins doesn’t. So kids with devices that logged in last night are in class meetings, but kids who are trying to log in This morning they are not able to enter.”
The chancellor added that they notified IBM but when the time came for almost a million students to connect online, they said they were overloaded.
He said he shares the frustration of student parents after their experience this morning.
“It wasn’t a wasted day, but it was a frustrating day for a lot of parents, and that’s unacceptable to me. I want to apologize to all the parents and families in the city.”
“As I said, this was a test. I don’t think we have passed this test, he added. “And that’s why we will do a complete analysis of what has happened here, because we do not expect this to be the last remote day that we have, and we will work harder to do better next time.
