STORIES ABOUT OUR QUESTIONS


NYC SCHOOLS, BUDGET CUTS and MANAGEMENT
Will Mayor Bloomberg cut 15,000 teaching jobs in NYC? New York state's money from the President's stimulus hasn't been handed out.
...full article...

SHOULD NYC BUILD MORE SCHOOLS?
The Mayor proposes building 60,000 seats over next 5 years. Advocates say we need at least 150,000 new seats to relieve overcrowding.
...Read more of this story
...Read latest story from the NY Times-'Class Size Makes Biggest Jump of Bloomberg Tenure'


TOO MUCH TESTING?
Critics say the federal NCLB law demands too much testing; that the tests are biased and misleading; and that the testing regime of NCLB just doesn't work as intended. Should NCLB be reformed?
...full article...
(And, you can also read a related story on NYC DOE's "Interim Diagnostic Testing")

More on Budget CutsThe Federal Sitmulus Package is now law. It provides a significant amount of funds (over $20 Billion) to New York State.

But it is not clear how much of this funding, if any, will be allocated to NYC Schools. Here you can see Mayor Bloomberg's woest-case estimate of cutting 15,000 NYC DOE jobs (12%)in this article from Gotham Schools.

Additionally Mayor Bloomberg has announced other cuts on education spending, claiming they would have no effect on education process - while at least one city principal disagrees:
New York Times article here

Some advocates and public officials say the NYC DOE can take some steps to rein in costs by implementing a hiring freeze on staff jobs, and reducing ineffective testing practices.You can read suggestions from advocates and parents here.

Finally MAYORAL CONTROL is one more management topic for discussion. The mayor says he should keep full control over NYC schools. Some parents, advocates, and other observers and disagree...
...full article...