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)