Elaine Rivera

New York, NY —

More than 20 council members say they will oppose the Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed budget if he does not restore more than $400 million in school cuts.

At yet another large rally at City Hall, elected officials came together with education activists and parents to protest ...

New York, NY —

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein was grilled over proposed school budget cuts at a fractious City Council hearing, where at one point dozens of audience members were escorted out for interrupting the meeting.

Many of the council members criticized Klein for lobbying Albany to change the law ...

New York, NY —

How state education funding should be spent has pitted state officials and education advocates against the Bloomberg administration. WNYC's Elaine Rivera reports.

REPORTER: A brawl has broken out over the $620 million that the state is due to give the city this year as part of ...

New York, NY —

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein says he's going to ask Albany to change the law that restricts how state education money is distributed in New York. He wants to equally implement a 1.4% cut to all schools in stead of providing mandated money to lower performing ...

New York, NY —

At a Midtown breakfast, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was grilled about the discretionary fund scandal and whether it would hurt any future mayoral bid on her part.

Quinn sidestepped any questions whether she will seek to run for mayor saying she's focusing on being speaker ...

New York, NY —

Though he's a longtime friend of labor, Gov. David Paterson says he cannot accommodate the unions' requests to increase their pensions and ensure benefits.

The governor says unions have to face the reality of a looming $21 billion deficit.

PATERSON: I understand that there are entities ...

New York, NY —

City officials had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new playground at the Bronx's P.S. 138. It's part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's goal to ensure that all New Yorkers live within a ten-minute walk to a park or a playground.

The city plans to invest $111 million ...

New York, NY —

Educational activists are calling on Schools Chancellor Joel Klein to target $360 million in state funding for specific programs.

Representatives for six educational groups contend that money was won in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit last year. It dictates that the money should go for ...

WNYC reporter Elaine Rivera unpacks what's in store for 2009 on the educational front.

New York, NY —

A group of education activists, parents and elected officials rallied at City Hall to say they will fight the the city's plan to cut $500 million from school funding.

REPORTER: Helen Rosenthal, chairwoman of Manhattan's Community Board 7, says groups around the city are organizing to ...

New York, NY —

The city is spending more than $80 million dollars over two years on unassigned teachers. A new report by an educational group is recommending new rules for those teachers who've lost jobs to school closings but remain on the payroll.

REPORTER: The union contract now assigns ...

New York, NY —

The group says a study commissioned by the teachers union backs their claim. City Comptroller Bill Thompson says he'll review how the Education Department spent state funds.

WNYC's Elaine Rivera reports.

Of the 390 public schools that received funding to reduce class size, less than half managed ...

New York, NY —

Sixty thousand communion wafers will be dispensed at the Pope's Mass at Yankee Stadium Sunday. The wafers are a donation from the Corpus Christi Monastery in the South Bronx. WNYC's Elaine Rivera reports:

REPORTER: A magnolia tree is in full bloom in front of the 119-year-old ...

New York, NY —

As the housing boom explodes in Manhattan, parents, educators and elected officials say the city is not doing enough to build more public schools in the borough.

A report released by the Manhattan borough president's office shows that elementary and middle schools already face a shortage ...

New York, NY —

Randi Weingarten, the head of the city's United Federation of Teachers, is blasting the Bloomberg administration for what she calls scurrilous attacks on the union.

REPORTER: Speaking at the New York State United Teachers' annual conference in midtown Friday, she said the mayor and Schools Chancellor ...

New York, NY —

The city wants to shutdown what it says are under-utilized daycare centers, but parents, daycare workers and elected officials gathered at City Hall yesterday to say they're going to fight the plan.

City officials say they are wasting $40 million on 3,000 vacant slots at ...

New York, NY —

The city's public schools and teachers were big winners in the budget, approved by New York's legislature yesterday.

Gov. David Paterson and the legislature restored $644 million in additional school funding. The city now has a record $8.3 billion education budget.

Geri Palast, of the Campaign ...

New York, NY —

Gov. David Paterson says the state is facing tough economic times ahead and officials need to act now. WNYC's Elaine Rivera reports:

In one of his first major speeches as governor, Paterson told a crowd of business and civic leaders during a Midtown breakfast that legislators ...

New York, NY —

In the next four years, 10,000 armed service members who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are expected to come back to the New York region.

There is a growing understanding that returning veterans are going to need special attention.

WNYC’s Elaine Rivera has been following a ...

New York, NY —

Half of New York City students will get into their first choice high school next year.

According to the Department of Education's admission process report, 86 percent of students were admitted to one of their top five choices.

A DOE spokesman says the number of students ...