There was a subdued mood in Newtown, Conn. Friday, six months after six educators and 20 children were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Will the next Mark Zuckerberg graduate from a New York City public school? Just ask the students at the Academy for Software Engineering in Manhattan. They start coding as freshmen and are learning the skills to be web developers and internet entrepreneurs. As summer nears for the first freshman class, New Tech City checks in with students about what they've learned so far. "I built a data center in my bedroom," said Gio Rascigno.

Here's the good news: Nationally, there are more high-achieving students from low-income families than previously thought. The bad news is that they are not applying to selective colleges at the same rates as their more affluent peers.

New York and New Jersey stand to lose millions in education funds if sequester cuts go into effect on March 1, and already-strapped school districts will be left to trim their budgets for the 2013-2014 school year.

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.