News from New York City:
- The city is paying DOE tech consultants $1,000 a day even though less costly options exist. (Daily News)
- Parents are laboring to get to a new gifted school in Brooklyn, but not more than the principal did. (Times)
- The city’s 66 new schools have mature themes like video games and environmental awareness. (Post)
- With more than 4,700 students this year, Francis Lewis HS must run five sessions over 11 hours. (Post)
- The “temporary” trailers used as classrooms are also overcrowded at many city schools. (Daily News)
- The DOE gave out $33 million in performance bonuses. (GothamSchools, Daily News, Post, Times)
- The nurse who IDed swine flu in NYC students is lobbying for paid sick leave for parents. (Daily News)
- The Bronx’s 18 new schools include a number of replicas of other popular schools. (Daily News)
- A change in the girl’s soccer schedule could cause 50 high school teams to fold. (Daily News, Post)
- Queens schools are better than ever this year, at least according to the state’s metrics. (Daily News)
- A school that closed this summer apparently dumped old student records onto the street. (Daily News)
And beyond:
- President Obama’s education speech today is mostly a collection of commonsense advice. (Times)
- Ed Sec Arne Duncan said the flap over the speech from the president’s detractors is “just silly.” (Times)
- Even after federal stimulus aid, many school districts are still making deep budget cuts. (Times)
- Former NYC chancellor Cortines, now in L.A., says his district’s troubles have a silver lining. (L.A. Times)
- A think tank is launching a PR and lobbying campaign against schools’ overuse of testing. (USA Today)
- Schools are putting more information online and sending less home in students’ backpacks. (Times)
- Companies that usually manage properties for businesses are getting into the charter school game. (AP)
- Leading conservative pundit Jonah Goldberg says teacher tenure should be abolished. (L.A. Times)
- A private test maker is trying to break into the English-as-a-Foreign -Language exam market. (Times)
- School districts are dealing with more homeless students than ever before. (Times)
- Many Windy City schools are dispatching with gym classes that the city requires. (Chicago Tribune)
- Teachers describe the arbitrary intricacies of state certification requirements. (Washington Post)
- D.C. schools with suspiciously large test score jumps were not investigated fully. (Washington Post)
- Boston’s principals are growing younger (but not as young as New York City’s). (Boston Globe)