Rise & Shine: State tests that start today are harder, officials say

  • Many districts want to switch to performance-based layoffs, which could still cost young teachers. (Times)
  • The business practices of the country’s largest for-profit charter school company raise red flags. (Times)
  • A profile of Harlem Success CEO Eva Moskowitz explains why she wants to mobilize parents. (NY Mag)
  • State education officials say fewer students will pass this year’s state tests, which start today. (Post)
  • Test prep helps Brooklyn’s PS 172 post high test scores despite having lots of needy students. (Times)
  • Race to the Top’s second round has brought a new round of union-state skirmishes. (Wall Street Journal)
  • State Sen. John Sampson wants charter schools to have a certain number of special ed students. (Post)
  • Three up-and-coming Harlem politicians are weighing runs against State Sen. Bill Perkins this fall. (Post)
  • Mayor Bloomberg criticized Perkins for opposing charter schools when he benefited from choice. (Post)
  • The Post says it can’t wait for someone to officially throw his hat in the ring to unseat Perkins. 
  • Families at University Heights High School in the Bronx continue to protest the school’s move. (Times)
  • Global Tech Prep, a new school in Harlem, is using technology to engage its students. (Gotham Gazette)
  • KIPP AMP Charter School wants out of the teachers union after joining last year. (GothamSchools, Post)
  • The city’s plan to close the rubber rooms by December has some big logical flaws. (GothamSchools)
  • The state and city teachers unions spent nearly $5 million lobbying in 2009, down from $6.6 million. (Post)
  • More students from Queens’ PS 15 say a recently arrested teacher molested them, too. (Daily News)
  • The Daily News says ed schools teach only “gobbeldegooky theory” by people such as “Thomas Dewey.”
  • A tradition at Stuyvesant High School holds that students plan over-the-top prom proposals. (Post)
  • Students who attended the high school fair for unplaced students faced only limited choices. (NY1)
  • A math prodigy at Stuyvesant has been accepted to elite colleges — and he’s only in tenth grade. (Post)
  • A student at Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx died suddenly during gym class. (NY1)
  • A recent fight at a Bronx high school building dominated a speakout for Bronx teenagers last week. (NY1)
  • Students enjoy competing in Double Dutch jumprope, the city schools’ newest varsity sport. (WNYC)