Rise & Shine: In tight budget year, new scrutiny on staff retreats | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: In tight budget year, new scrutiny on staff retreats | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: In tight budget year, new scrutiny on staff retreats

by Philissa Cramer

• The city is planning to spend nearly $1 million on computerized school clocks. (Post)
• More than 300 school system employees make more than $150,000, up 25 percent since last year. (Post)
• Faculty from Progress High School went on an expensive, taxpayer-funded retreat. (Daily News)
• So did faculty from another school in the same building, and teachers aren’t happy about it. (Daily News)
• The city is not collecting rent from private schools that use Randall’s Island’s new public ballfields. (Times)
• The city is trying to escape some special education requirements to save money. (NY1)
• More than 1,000 students from 23 schools took part in Friday’s anti-Metrocard-cuts walkout. (Post, NY1)
• A columnist says this year’s summer school numbers suggests social promotion in the past. (Post)
• Most city valedictorians are women who do not speak English at home. (GothamSchools, Daily News)
• Many public pre-K programs accepted only a tiny percentage of applicants. (Post, Daily News)
• Hundreds of middle school students took part in a citywide science fair this weekend. (Daily News)
• In-Tech Academy is under investigation for making students to clean toilets as punishment. (Daily News)
• D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee says NYC can learn from D.C.’s new teachers contract. (Daily News)
• Chicago teachers elected a new union chief who opposes the mayor’s policies. (Chicago Sun-Times)
• California is weighing a bill to require kindergartners to turn 5 before enrolling. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• More and more schools are teaching engineering to students as young as in kindergarten. (Times)
• The Post praises Democrats for Education Reform for undermining teachers unions.