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Two City Council members are demanding changes in the city's new admissions policy for gifted and talented programs in its public schools, following news that the change did not bring more students in, or make the programs more ethnically and racially diverse.

Councilman Lew Fidler says seven city school districts had ...

Education advocates are telling the Bloomberg administration, "I told you so." They say they warned education officials that mandating one standardized test across the city would lead to lower minority enrollment in the gifted and talented programs.

Leonie Haimson, of the group "Class Size Matters," says the city needs to go ...

More than 5,000 seats are still available in the city's pre-kindergarten classes and City Council members are trying to spread the word.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn and other Councilmembers are distributing flyers across the city to encourage parents to sign up their four-year-olds by Friday.

Although October 31st is not the last ...

Poor school districts fare far worse than more affluent ones. The Center for New York City Affairs authored the report and held a panel discussion on the issue.

Principal Luis Torres from PS 55 in the Bronx participated on the panel. He says students miss school for a lot of reasons, ...

The presidential candidates held their last debate last night in Long Island and neither one had many surprises for the viewing public. One group of mostly second generation Dominicans and Puerto Rican 20-somethings gathered around the TV on the northwestern edge of the Bronx, hoping to learn something new. But ...

The military will now get student contact information directly from the Department of Education, instead of going through each high school individually.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer says even colleges and employers don't get that kind of access.

STRINGER: This is a list exclusive for the military. If IBM wants to recruit ...

The city still has 6,000 of its 58,000 seats available in its pre-K programs, and wants parents to sign their kids up by the October 31 deadline. The seats are open to children who turn four by year's end. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein says pre-K education is critical to later ...

Autumn in New York brings cooler days and a new school year. But it also brings angry parents who say the city's public schools suffer from chronic overcrowding.

The city council's education committee held a hearing about crowded schools today. Parent Irene Kaufman says that's why she switched her children from ...

Wall Street's slide has prompted the Bloomberg Administration's call for hundreds of millions of dollars in mid-year spending cuts. So far the City Council is most concerned about the impact cuts would have on the Police Department and public schools. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: Council member Peter Vallone of ...

A local doctor who studies ways to slow and reverse the spread of infectious diseases, such as AIDS and tuberculosis, has received a genius grant from the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation — one of 25 recipients of the prestigious award this year. Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr works in ...

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg rolled out the second round of progress reports on the city’s public elementary and middle schools. Overall, the grades improved greatly from last year. But the reports’ complicated formula – and the emphasis on standardized test scores – have drawn much criticism.

Joining us to discuss the reports ...

The city's elementary and middle schools have received their second annual progress report cards from the Department of Education. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more. REPORTER: The progress reports suggest that the city's schools are doing far better this year, with half as many F's and a big spike in the ...

The foundation in charge of raising money for the Sept. 11 memorial has launched a program to help teachers instruct students on the terrorist attacks.

The lesson plans include a video of survivors and witnesses recounting their memories of that day.

Joe Daniel, President of The National September 11th Memorial and Museum, ...

The city's taking a swing at bullies in schools, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Council Speaker Christine Quinn announcing a set of initiatives they hope will curb mean girls and rough boys.

Schools will be required to track and monitor all bias incidents and investigate them promptly. ...

Allies of Mayor Michael Bloomberg are hoping to renew a 2002 state law that gave the mayor control of the city's public schools. The law is set to expire next June.

The New York Times reports that the mayor's supporters have founded a group to raise money for television advertisements, lobbying ...

New York City has 18 new charter schools, each with a distinct personality. But only one has a story that spans almost 3,000 miles, from Sacramento, Calif., to 134th Street in Harlem. This charter school's story includes sports, politics, the historic Boys Choir of Harlem, even a federal investigation and ...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg pushed back against criticism of the city's plan to test its youngest students. The Department of Education is encouraging principals to administer standardized tests to children in kindergarten through second grade. The mayor says the tests are essential to learning a child's strengths and weaknesses.

BLOOMBERG: It's not ...

Carrying signs calling for "Graduation Not Incarceration," over 100 High School Students joined City Council members on the steps of city hall to rally in support of the "Student Safety Act," a bill aimed at reducing altercations between school safety officers and students.

WNYC's Ilya Marritz was there...

REPORTER: Advocates aren’t actually ...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is lauding some new success in high school graduation rates which have reached a new 52.2 percent on average, that number goes up some if you count August graduates, too.

Education advocates, including the teachers union, agreed that the modest increases are promising.

United Federation of Teachers President, Randi ...