Rise & Shine: Teachers union digging in for a big budget fight

Budget news:

  • At a conference Saturday, union officials and members vowed to fight layoffs. (Daily NewsNY1Post)
  • The 4,000+ layoffs are part of Mayor Bloomberg’s budget plan. (Times, GS, Daily News, NY1, WSJ, Post)
  • Bloomberg’s budget fight with the City Council is likely to focus on a $2 billion rainy-day fund. (Post)
  • If the layoffs go through, they are likely to imperil what’s left of Bloomberg’s education legacy. (Times)
  • Bloomberg’s accompanied his budget announcement with a renewed call to change layoff rules. (Post)
  • Teachers and parents are terrified that layoffs could mean chaos and larger classes. (Daily News)
  • Also in the city budget: A plan to cut library funding by nearly a third. (Post)
  • The Post says cutting school spending seems like a reasonable move given increases in the last decade.

In other news:

  • Williamsburg Charter High School fired staffers midyear and is in serious financial trouble. (Post)
  • Changes to the city’s gifted program meant to add diversity actually yielded fewer black students. (Post)
  • A school aide at IS 98 in the Bronx was arrested for trying to force a student to sell drugs. (Post, NY1)
  • The city’s high school admissions process is daunting, and many students are shut out. (Times)
  • The chairman of Publicolor’s board regularly spends his weekends painting school buildings. (WSJ)
  • Private schools in the city and area are increasingly offering haute cafeteria food. (Times)

Elsewhere:

  • No one can agree on how to count per-pupil spending in New Jersey’s urban districts. (WSJ)
  • Outgoing DOE deputy Cami Anderson expounds on her plans for Newark’s schools. (Star-Ledger)
  • Federal officials reminded districts that they cannot ask about students’ immigration status. (Times)
  • A new study that looked in part at New York City finds performance benefits to arts education. (AP)
  • The Los Angeles Times is releasing new value-added ratings for twice as many teachers. (L.A. Times)
  • Readers, including a city principal, weigh in on the way that the country values teachers. (Times)
  • A program that curbed violence and boosted attendance in Chicago schools is out of money. (Times)