Rise & Shine: City has opened 21 school survey investigations

It’s testing time:

  • Last-minute prep is underway for the new Common Core-aligned state tests. (TimesDaily News)
  • Both prosecutors and extra state monitors will look into Glen Cove’s possible cheating. (TimesWSJ)
  • The “opt out” movement seems to be growing in steam, but how many will sit the tests out is unclear. (AP)
  • The Daily News says the tougher tests are a difficult but necessary step on the path to better schools.
  • Michael Goodwin: The Common Core standards could work, if we don’t worry about kids’ feelings. (Post)

In other news:

  • The city is investigating 21 cases of possible misconduct on the annual school surveys. (Daily News)
  • A South Bronx charter school with strong political ties got city permission to sell tax-exempt bonds. (Post)
  • The city must pay teachers at least $2.6 million in overtime for using a slow special ed data system. (Post)
  • Anthony Weiner didn’t fare well in an informal poll of some UFT members, sources said. (Post)
  • The UFT is one of several major labor unions that so far has not picked a candidate to endorse. (Post)
  • More than 2,300 kindergarteners are on wait lists at their zoned schools. (GothamSchoolsPostNY1)
  • The DOE has a new chief operating officer — and he’s just 27 years old. (GothamSchools, Post)
  • With JetBlue’s help, Aviation High School students flew to Florida for an aviation industry expo. (NY1)
  • A teacher fired for a student affair also had sex with students at school, city investigators found. (Post)
  • The Daily News calls on the city to look into the gender imbalance at its most elite high schools.
  • The upstate teacher who assigned an essay asking students to think like Nazis was suspended. (AP)
  • A Missouri school that’s training its teachers to carry guns to school has parents’ approval. (Times)
  • Jal Mehta: Improving schools requires overhauling the teaching profession, not tinkering with it. (Times)