GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

• A British religious studies exam asked students to explain prejudice against Jews. (Jewish Chronicle)
• And a test question in Chicago was scrapped amid criticism that it was pro-charter school. (Sun-Times)
• A teacher’s open letter to State Education Chief John King starts, “Testing is not natural.” (Jose Vilson)
• The New York Times’ new national education reporter has two children in city public schools. (Russo)
• A teacher celebrates achieving the difficult task of earning tenure — and plans his next move. (BNiche)
• A union veteran speculates that “turnaround” arbitration could settle other open issues. (Ed in the Apple)
• A homeless victim of a high-profile violent attack in Florida went to Stuyvesant High School. (HuffPo)
• Student arrests ticked upwards in the first quarter of the year, when there are few days off. (SchoolBook)
• Following “Concept Cards,” a coach offers tips for maximizing note-taking. (Coach G’s Teaching Tips)
• A photographer has helped students at M.S. 571 document their school’s phaseout. (SchoolBook)
• Romney’s education plan would buck a trend of dividing city and suburban students. (Campaign Stops)
• Andy Rotherham thinks Romney’s rhetoric that suggests integration is just that — rhetoric. (Eduwonk)
• A survey of this week’s NCLB waivers shows a continued emphasis on testing. (Curriculum Matters)

Dozens of schools will get new access to mental health services for their students under a $30 million initiative that Chancellor Dennis Walcott unveiled today.

Walcott introduced the new initiative during a City Council hearing about the Department of Education’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.

Chancellor Dennis Walcott testifies at City Council's budget hearing today.

The Department of Education’s proposed budget is $19.7 billion, 1.5 percent higher than this year. The increase, which comes after three years of budget cuts, is allowing the city to add teachers rather than cut them this year.

But Walcott cautioned that the city would still have to lay off 225 school workers who are represented by the District Council 37 union. Principals cut the workers loose last year but the department has been covering their costs, according to Walcott, who called the arrangement “unsustainable.”

“I don’t want to see any layoffs, I know DC 37 doesn’t want to either, and most of all, neither do the men and women affected by the prospective loss of employment,” said Walcott. “If we can work with the union to identify savings and concessions to offset these costs, layoffs are avoidable, and I’m hopeful this can be accomplished.”

The department laid off around 700 school aides in October after negotiations to save their jobs failed. A DC-37 official declined to comment immediately on the threatened layoffs, saying that the union was surprised by Walcott’s comments before the council. (more…)

Sabrina Tan, a lawyer for Advocates for Justice, describes the firm's suit over Cobble Hill Success Academy at a press conference in February.

A judge has tossed out a parent lawsuit against a charter school set to open in Cobble Hill this fall, even as he agreed that the school could have done more to solicit community feedback.

In March, the parents filed suit against the city and Eva Moskowitz, CEO of the Success Charter Academies network, charging that they circumvented state education laws when they abruptly changed plans for the school late last year. Brooklyn Success Academy 3 — now renamed Cobble Hill Success Academy — was originally approved for either District 13 or District 14, but the city revised its proposal in late October and announced the school would instead move into a District 15 building.

The parents also argued that the charter network had not sufficiently consulted the local community before the school’s charter was approved. Their suit presented the network’s consultation efforts, which included gathering signatures of support and holding a handful of public meetings, as “feeble, bordering on a sham,” according to today’s ruling.

The State Supreme Court justice, Peter Moulton, ruled that the school’s move from District 13 to District 15 had not violated state law. And he rejected the claims that the Success network had not fulfilled the state’s community consultation requirement — a requirement that he said is “weak” because it does not identify who should be consulted, suggest a strategy for soliciting opinion, or bar schools that register fierce opposition from receiving charters.

“Petitioners are correct that Success Academy could have engaged in a more thorough-going canvas of the relevant neighborhoods in Brooklyn to surface concerns and opposition to BSA 3,” Moulton ruled. “However, the statute does not require that charter applicants conduct such an exhaustive survey of support and opposition.” (more…)

• P.S. 94 in Sunset Park is under investigation for giving perks to teachers who cheated. (Daily News)
• Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch’s name is still being kicked around as a mayoral candidate. (WSJ)
• Authorities are devising a way to let charter schools take “over-the-counter” students. (GothamSchools)
• The city seeks a right to fire teachers in sex cases. (GothamSchools, Times, NY1, Post, Daily News, WSJ)
• The Daily News says the city’s proposed change to state law is “still woefully weak” on sex abuse.
• New York was among eight states to get NCLB waivers Tuesday. (GothamSchools, NY1, Times, WSJ)
• A teacher at Manhattan Theatre Lab HS seems to be caught on film kissing a 18-year-old student. (Post)
• Several city schools are nationally ranked for preparing students in math and science. (Daily News)
• Former city schools head Rudy Crew has been tapped to be Oregon’s first schools chief. (Oregonian)
• The Common Core means elementary students can’t take advanced math in N.C. (News & Observer)
• The arrival of Common Core standards in 45 states is likely to be a boon to textbook publishers. (WSJ)
• Children in poor families have growing access to digital devices, but use them for education less. (Times)