Rise & Shine, welcome back edition: Monday, 12/5

FROM NEW YORK CITY:

  • Caroline Kennedy was not required to disclose her finances when she was a DOE employee. (Times)
  • The fate of mayoral control is still undecided. (Queens Chronicle)
  • Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he will vote to renew mayoral control if it’s “tweaked.” (Post)
  • Both the Post and the Daily News line up in favor of mayoral control, without tweaks.
  • The city’s teaching force has grown more experienced in recent years. (Post)
  • Because of a quirk in the city’s funding formula, closing schools have lots of extra money. (Post)
  • The expansion of middle school choice has created middle school admissions panic. (Times)
  • At Queens cram schools, kids spend vacations prepping for high school admissions tests. (Times)
  • Most Muslim students feel safe in school. (Daily News)
  • Kids are still dealing with the cell phone ban in underhanded ways. (Riverdale Press)
  • Nat Hentoff adds another column to his chronicle of police abuse in the city schools. (Village Voice)

AND BEYOND:

  • 2008 was no banner year for the country’s public schools. (USA Today)
  • All those education plans of Obama’s will probably have to wait. (NPR)
  • Schools in Chicago were home to innovations under Arne Duncan. (Washington Post)
  • Passed over for ed secretary, Denver’s superintendent is becoming a senator. (Times, Denver Post)
  • The country is still short on math and science teachers. (Christian Science Monitor)
  • The New Teacher Project says new teachers do better than experienced ones. (Times-Picayune)
  • Michelle Rhee plans to fire more teachers and improve those who remain. (Washington Post)
  • Nationally, homeschooling is on the rise. (USA Today)
  • PTAs are covering the costs of some budget-cut casualties. (Wall Street Journal)
  • Some school districts are letting students lead parent-teacher conferences. (Times)
  • Jay Mathews tries to unpack the vague phrase “21st-century skills.” (Washington Post)
  • Bill Ayers calls Arne Duncan “the smart choice” for education secretary. (Huffington Post)