Beth Fertig, WNYC's education reporter and contributor to SchoolBook, and Yasmeen Khan, WNYC associate news producer covering education and politics, update us on the apparent failure of negotiations between the teachers' union and the DOE, resulting in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in state aid.

Many New York City school bus routes were shuttered today as drivers went on strike. Schoolbook reporters Beth Fertig and Yasmeen Khan update the latest. Then, Nicole Gelinas, contributing editor of the Manhattan Institute's City Journal, discusses how the city should approach negotiations with the union and the bus companies.

WNYC's Yasmeen Khan caught up with Glenn Schicker, whose first grade daughter attends Sandy Hook Elementary. Her best friend and fellow first-grader was killed in the shooting.

Newtown, Connecticut, is a small town nestled in Fairfield County. It is home to roughly 27,000. Its main street, Churchill Road, winds through the town center past restaurants and shops and Colonial style homes draped in Christmas decorations.

Reporters, experts and listeners provide news and information from around the region as the region continues to clean up and recover.

New York City students likely will return to school on Monday, making it at least a full week off of school because of damage and clean-up efforts from superstorm Sandy.

An NAACP lawsuit contends that the path to entry in NYC's elite public high schools is discriminatory. Yasmeen Khan, WNYC associate news producer covering education and politics, discusses the case. 

Beth Fertig, WNYC's education reporter and contributor to SchoolBook, and Yasmeen Khan, WNYC associate news producer covering education and politics, talk about some of the issues facing New York City's public schools as they get ready for teachers and students next week.

About 30,000 young New Yorkers are working their summer jobs through the city's youth employment program. But, due to budget cuts, that's the lowest number of job-placements in more than five years, and the future outlook for summer job prospects isn’t much better. The city is already projecting a scaled-down program next summer.

Some major eating was underway in Coney Island thanks to the annual hot dog eating contest, where the two reigning champions ate their way to victory.

As the Hudson River dazzles under the light of 50,000 pounds of fireworks Wednesday evening, the East River — and the people who live along it — may wonder when that waterway will get another turn to shine.

The City Council wraps up hearings this week on Mayor Bloomberg's executive budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2013. The public is invited to weigh in on Wednesday afternoon, the final day of hearings.

After months of citywide debate, amended bills and two lengthy legislative hearings, city council members officially passed the so-called living wage bill by a 45 to 5 vote. But not before one final bit of drama.

As expected, Mayor Bloomberg vetoed the "prevailing wage" bill passed by the City Council last month. And he declared his intent to veto the so-called living wage bill that will likely pass the City Council next week. The City Council, meanwhile, says it will override the mayor's vetoes on both counts.

Supporters of a bill to raise New York’s minimum wage made their case to state lawmakers on Monday in Harlem, at a hearing called by Assemblyman Keith Wright. He and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver are sponsoring legislation that would raise the minimum wage in New York to $8.50 an hour, up from $7.25.

More than 350 colleges and universities and 12,000 students are expected to attend the New York City National College Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Sunday, an annual event organized by the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

New York City investigators say a job-placement agency falsified its records for nearly 1,400 people over two years.

It’s match week for New York City’s Eighth graders applying to high schools. But for those students who did not get a match or who did not like their choice, there is a second chance.

Principals in New York state are banding together in growing numbers to raise objections to the state's use of student test scores in a new evaluation system for principals and teachers. They are meeting this week at C.W. Post on Long Island to discuss the issue.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is proposing making kindergarten mandatory for the city's 5-year olds and instituting a loan program to help middle-income families pay for child care. Read full prepared remarks here.