Rise & Shine: Some families say they're ditching school's first day

News from New York City:

  • Some parents and students say they are boycotting the first day of school tomorrow. (Post)
  • One of those boycotting families say they’re heading to the Finger Lakes. (Post)
  • Family advocates in half of city school districts didn’t answer their phones last week. (Post)
  • Mayor Bloomberg said that’s because parents with school questions should just call 311. (Post)
  • Teachers accused of wrongdoing don’t have to report for duty until next week. (Post)
  • Staten Island families whose bus service was cut don’t know how they’ll get to school. (NY1)
  • Half of city residents think Bloomberg has improved schools, according to a new poll. (Daily News)
  • The superintendent of District 26 in Queens held a student back despite her teacher’s advice. (Post)
  • Residents of a Harlem housing project are trying to stop a charter school from opening. (Daily News)
  • A long-under-scrutiny principal of a high school in the Lafayette building was removed. (Post)
  • The Ghetto Film School supports the Cinema School high school and turns teens into directors. (Times)
  • New York City’s public schools are increasingly generating football stars. (Post)
  • Chancellor Klein says “Waiting for Superman” is more powerful than “An Inconvenient Truth.” (NY Mag)
  • Merrick Academy Charter School has rehired three of the 11 teachers it fired by FedEx. (Daily News)
  • Brooklyn’s PS 261 threw some books and electronic equipment away. (Daily News)
  • A Queens mom says her disabled son was sexually assaulted by fellow kindergartners. (Daily News)
  • A new film focuses on what students in New York City schools are being fed for lunch. (WSJ)

And beyond:

  • Across the country, schools are opening this year having changed major education policies. (WSJ)
  • Newark is the latest city to see teachers, not administrators, head up schools. (Times)
  • A retirement incentive contributed to a jump in teacher retirements statewide. (PressConnects.com)
  • New York school districts are still trying to figure out what higher test standards mean. (Times Union)
  • Albany’s charter schools are virtually all black and Hispanic. (Times Union)
  • The $600 million spent on the school at the site of RFK’s assassination has raised questions. (Times)
  • California is moving toward requiring children to be 5 before starting kindergarten. (L.A. Times)
  • A look at D.C.’s schools if chief Michelle Rhee chooses to move on post-primary. (Washington Post)