GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

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)