Your independent guide to NYC public schools

It’s the end of teacher appreciation week: the DOE's number two guy, Shael Suransky, taught a class, Chancellor Walcott has been visiting schools, Mayor Bloomberg and countless others shared some #thankateacher love on Twitter, and maybe a few students brought apples to their teachers. We wonder, how can we best show our teachers appreciation all year round?

There are several politically charged answers to the that question that have been highlighted in the news lately. But, what about better pay? It’s no secret that teachers aren’t in it for the money. Teaching can be a highly rewarding job but it is not a career path paved with financial gold. A public school teacher in New York City with a BA can expect to earn $45,530 his first year, according to the UFT’s salary schedule.

Still, that’s almost 10K more than the national average: $36,502, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s most recent survey of education from around the world. But the high cost of living in the Big Apple, eats up much, if not all, of the difference.

After three decades on the job NYC teachers with a Master's degree can make over $100,000. Of course if you luck out and get a job at TEP, The Equity Project Charter School, you'll make $125,000 your first year there. But that's the exception.

Average starting pay for teachers in Finland, Diane Ravitch’s favorite place to learn, is actually lower, $32,692 (of course, the Socialist country has much better government benefits, but that’s a blogpost for another day). Teachers in Japan make $27,995 starting out and $30,522 is first-year pay for teachers in Korea. In Poland, on the other hand, starting salary is $9,186 on average. Luxemborg is one of the best places to teach if you’re after some green, starting teachers there make $51,799. (All these numbers are from OECD.) 

With that perspective, maybe New York’s not so bad! Then again, teachers are some of the most valuable members of society, should we pay them more? What do you think is a fair starting salary? Take our poll!

This year's NYC School Surveys were turned in to schools, or online, on April 5. In this annual ritual, the Education Department asks parents, teachers and students to anonymously answer dozens of questions, rating their school's atmosphere and relationships with teachers and the principal. 

The survey is a rare chance for educators and families to give feedback about their schools to Tweed. When combined with a school's annual rate of attendance, the survey is worth 15% of its Progress Report grade. And, of course, poor Progress Report grades can mean the difference between life or death for a school -- any school that receives grades of C, or below, for three years in a row is fair game for closure, according to the city's rules.

This year, the DOE will "turn around" or phase out 42 schools, in part because of poor grades. In the past, principals have been known to use the possible negative consequences of the survey as a ploy to encourage good results. The Daily News reported in 2010 that the principal of the High School for Youth and Community Development, in the Erasmus complex, told her staff: "If you give us low grades and that attacks our progress report grade, the school's going to close." (Her strategy may not be working, the school got C's the past three years in a row and 39 percent of her teachers rated the principal ineffective on last year's survey).

What do you think -- does the pressure to get good grades on the Progress Report discourage you from telling the truth on the surveys? We want to know, in this high stakes era, are you completely honest when you fill out your school survey? 

The City will open 54 new schools in the fall, including 24 charters, Mayor Bloomberg and Education Chancellor Walcott announced in a press conference on Tuesday. Bloomberg is now just 50 schools away from his goal: 1800 New York City public schools before he leaves office in 2013. 

Way back in 2002, when we launched Insideschools and Bloomberg was known for being a business tycoon rather than the education mayor, there were only about 1100 schools.

Since then the large neighborhood schools have been headed for extinction faster than chalk and blackboards, making way for small themed schools with long fancy names. Case in point: Washington Irving High School, where the mayor held his press conference. One of Manhattan's few large, all-purpose high schools, it will graduate its last class in 2014. Three new schools already co-exist in the building -- Gramercy Arts, International High School at Union Square and the High School for Language and Diplomacy; two new ones will join them in the fall -- Union Square Academy for Health Sciences and the Academy for Software Engineering. 

People continue to debate whether or not Bloomberg's slash and burn strategy is effective. Some protest the closures of large schools, others point to higher graduation rates at the new small ones. Regardless of what you think about the strategy, we're wondering: What's in a name? Is it a good idea for new schools to be based on a theme?

Kindergarten applications are due March 2, and any child born in 2007 may enroll in public school kindergarten. That means that some kids will still be only four years old when school starts. That cut-off date differs from many private schools and some city charter schools which expect children to turn five by Sept. 1, before the school year begins. 

In the last two decades, the practice of "redshirting" has become more common. (Redshirting is a term borrowed from sports, where it means holding an athlete back a year to develop more skills). Parents may want to give their children, especially their boys, an extra year of informal education for a leg up when they finally do start kindergarten. Many private school children don't start kindergarten until age six but in public schools, 6-year-olds must go into 1st grade.

On the other hand, a child reading by the age of four may seem ready for the big league. Spots in full-day pre-K are rare, and most New York City parents can't afford the extra year or two of daycare. 

What do you think? Should the age at which New York City kids enter public kindergarten be changed to ensure that all children are five years old before starting school? Take our poll and let us know!

A research study released last week found that teens at new small high schools in New York City are more likely to graduate than their peers at other, larger schools.  Under the Mayor's watch, the Department of Education has shuttered many large schools and continues to push for small schools as a better alternative.

Large high schools offer a variety of courses, AP classes and special programs in addition to an array of after-school activities and sports that many small schools can't support. Small schools offer more individual attention, usually have smaller class sizes, including special advisory classes.

Do the benefits of a small school outweigh the options offered at a large school? What's the ideal high school size? Take our poll and tell us in the comments!

After decades of focusing on Regents exams and graduation rates, in 2011 for the first time the Education Department evaluated each high school on "college readiness" - that is, how many of its graduates were actually prepared to do college work. The score on each school's Progress Report didn't carry any weight this year but the numbers are depressing: fewer than half of the 2011 public high school graduates reported that they planned to enter college in the fall. And only one in four 2011 grads were deemed "college ready" — not in need of remedial college courses after four years of high school. The numbers are even lower for black and Latino students.

The City Council is pressing DOE officials to explain what they are doing to improve college-readiness. In turn, the DOE will hold school's accountable: high schools will be docked points for poor college readiness scores on the 2012 Progress Reports.

High schools already struggle to meet other accountability requirements. Some schools, like It Takes A Village Academy in East Flatbush, have a high Regents pass rate (90% graduate in 4 years) and an abysmal college readiness rate (9%).

Should high schools take more initiative to guide students through test prep, college vists and the application process? Whose responsibility is it to prepare kids for college? Take our poll and share your ideas!

Teachers, women's groups and elected officials will rally Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 10) to demand that the Education Department remove a Bronx principal who made lewd remarks to staff members.

Just in time for Christmas, the Department of Education today released 2011 summer school information.

More than 6,000 3rd-8th graders were unnecessarily required to attend summer school in 2011. State tests, given in May, were not scored until later in the summer so schools had to estimate which students might be held back for poor test scores. This year they over-estimated. In 2010, the DOE had the opposite problem: more than 8,500 3rd-8th graders didn’t find out they were required to take summer school until the end of July, when it was too late to attend.

Of the nearly 28,000 3rd-8th graders who actually needed to attend summer school because they scored a 1 or 2 on state reading or math tests, 67 percent were promoted to the next grade. More than a third did not pass and had to repeat a grade.

Parents are skeptical that parent involvement will improve with the reorganized Division of Family and Community Engagement (FACE), headed by Bronx parent Jesse Mojica. It's the third time that the office has been reorganized since 2007.

At a packed City Council hearing Thursday morning, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and Mojica fielded complaints and suggestions to improve parent involvement from council members, union representatives and parents.

"What will you do to give parents real power?" Brooklyn Council Member Charles Barron asked Walcott and Mojica, getting to the heart of most concerns raised at the hearing.

Walcott said he wants to work with the council more, and echoed points he made in a speech in October, when he promised to improve parent engagement. When asked how much influence parent committees have in DOE decisions, like school closing, Walcott responded, "the Community Education Councils do have a powerful role shaping what takes place in their particular district."

Lynn Sanchez, a representative for Community Education Council 4 in East Harlem, disagreed, saying CEC meetings are one-sided. "It's just space to sit and talk and talk and hear the DOE give fabulous presentations that are meaningless. They present to us and we ask questions that get no response."

Other concerns included recent parent coordinator lay-offs, the planned Parent Academy, and questions about  how the new structure will better support parent coordinators and engage parents.

Walcott left the meeting after council members finished asking questions, but Mojica stayed to listen to parents give their testimony. A parent told us she asked Walcott why he was leaving before parents’ had their turn at the mike. She said Walcott told her: "I have a $24 billion company to run."

We live-tweeted the first two hours of the hearing. Check out the feed on our twitter page @insideschools.