​Public Advocate Bill de Blasio took the mayor and his administration to task on Sunday afternoon for failing to come to an agreement with the United Federation of Teachers over a proposed teachers evaluation program. In a press conference outside of the city's Department of Education, de Blasio said:

"Mayor Bloomberg has not set the right tone because of his attacks on teachers in his State of the City speech and because of his threat to cut 50% of the teachers in 33 schools."

In order to receive nearly $60 million in federal education funding, Bloomberg and the UFT need to agree on a plan to re-evaluate instructors at 33 failing NYC public schools. The two sides have already failed to meet a January 1 deadline, and if they can't come to an understanding within the next four days, Governor Andrew Cuomo has vowed to step in and take control of the situation.

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Sam Levin

City Councilmen Jumaane Williams and Ydanis Rodriguez disagree with the NYCLU's push to ban churches from using public school space.

​The fight to block churches from using public school space got support today from the New York Civil Liberties Union, which says the policy is a threat to religious freedom.

The Civil Liberties Union is arguing in testimony today that these kinds of arrangements between religious organizations and the Dept. of Education turn schools into churches every Sunday, violating the principle of separation of church and state. This latest move pits them against a group of loud protestors made up of electeds and religious leaders, who have been rallying to keep worship services inside school buildings.

In this case, the NYCLU is going up against a handful of pols whose views are typically aligned with those of the civil rights group.

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Another school, another spelling mistake.

​Attenshun, streat crossang gards adn teechers and stoo-dents, and, peeple who paynte street sines. Spelling is still very important! Not doing it properly, or at least double-checking your work before it goes down semi-permanently in the asphalt, makes you look stooooopid. Hence, the mockery that has been heaped upon the Lower East Side's own Marta Valle High School, which features, on nearby Stanton Street, the designation "SHCOOL X-NG." It has been there for months, reports the New York Post. Monfs!

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For 37 years, Columbia University historian Ken Jackson has taught a session of his class, "The History of the City of New York," in an unforgettable fashion -- namely, on an all-night bike ride, which comes with the special added benefit of ensuring that none of the students fall asleep while being taught history. Columbia has released the video above of Jackson and some of his students talking about the ride, which starts at about 11 p.m. from Columbia and goes through Central Park, Times Square, Madison Square, Gramercy Park, Greenwich Village, Battery Park, Wall Street, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Brooklyn Heights, with a "history of New York City's people and places" taught during stops via megaphone.

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​When the investigation into an SAT cheating ring led to the arrests of a bunch of Long Island high schoolers (and one college student, the test taker, Sam Eshaghoff, who was at Emory before all this happened), we were, perhaps wrongfully, somewhat enamored of the idea of an SAT cheating ring. After all, standardized tests only do so much in showing off one's talents, and we thought, organizing a cheating ring is almost akin to an extracurricular activity, requiring leadership and skills, no? Also, it's such a good movie! But alas. The kids in the cheating ring had lowly goals, apparently. The New York Post reports that two of the four Great Neck North High School students caught only wanted to go to Arizona State and the University of Boulder!

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Sam Eshaghoff

​Sam Eshaghoff, a 19-year-old student at Emory University, has been busted as the alleged kingpin in an SAT cheating ring after apparently taking the test for at least six students from Great Neck North High School in Mineola, Long Island, making between $1,500 and $2,500 a pop. Which sounds sort of...smart? No, this is awful!

As Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice put it, "Colleges look for the best and brightest students, yet these six defendants tried to cheat the system and may have kept honest and qualified students from getting into their dream school. These arrests should serve as a warning to those taking the SAT this Saturday that if you cheat, you can face serious criminal consequences."

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​Over 500 colleges will have to submit reports to the government explaining tuition hikes, CNN reports. The Department of Education published a list this morning of schools that had the highest tuition increases over the last three years. Both private and public institutions are included and will have to tell Washington how they plan on handling these exorbitant costs. "College is expensive" will not be an acceptable excuse.

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​A new class-action lawsuit representing New York City parents was filed today in civil court against Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his highly controversial -- and ultimately unsuccessful -- appointment of magazine executive Cathie Black to the role of NYC schools chancellor. The suit demands $100 million from Bloomberg personally -- "or approximately $1 million for each day of Ms. Black's nearly 100-day tenure" -- to be set aside in a fund for training teachers, plus "a public apology." This thing will be thrown out faster than Ms. Black, but it makes for a pretty fun, admirably indignant press release. [via NYO]

​Kim DePrima, a special education teacher, was convicted of manslaughter when her pit bulls killed a 90-year-old neighbor. Later, she was arrested again when she hung out with an ex-con while he shot at her ex-boyfriend's house. (A full 9mm round was found in DePrima's car.) She was fined three-months' pay, but is still allowed to teach in New York City's schools system. According to the first in a four-part investigative series by the New York Post -- something they've touched on before -- the amount of NYC teachers convicted of crimes (500 in five years) and the kinds of crimes they've committed are equally outrageous.

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​The Department of Education recently returned 474 local teachers to the classroom in an attempt to rid New York City of the infamous "rubber room" sitters, in which educators accused of misconduct sit around and do nothing while collecting a full paycheck. The New York Post reports today that 159 disciplined teachers paid fines -- some as high as $15,000 -- to get back to work. Some were still ordered to training or to be tested for alcohol and drugs, but many just handled something "like a parking ticket," with the average charge coming to $7,500.

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