Your independent guide to NYC public schools

If you're one of the 7,391 8th graders who didn't get assigned to a high school--or who was assigned to a school you don't want to attend--there are still some good schools with space available. We've updated the list below since our visit to the weekend high school fair at Martin Luther King Jr. complex. And, we've added a list of schools that MAY have slots for incoming 10th graders. Some are highly sought-after schools that may have very limited seats.

If you want to apply to these schools, fill out an application by March 15. Contact your guidance counselor for details. You'll get the Round Two results by the end of April.

Some of the schools listed on the list for incoming 9th graders only have available seats for students who receive special education services. That's because of a new Department of Education policy that sets aside a certain number of seats at every school for special ed pupils, either those entitled to classes with two teachers (called collaborative team teaching or integrated co-teaching) or to special small classes (called self-contained.)

Ninth-graders applying for 10th grade have a different list of schools to choose from and, according to the DOE, all programs listed are open to general and special education students. NOTE: There are many popular and selective schools on the list but it is unclear how many seats -- if any -- are available. Our advice: apply anyway, if it's on the list, you've at least got a shot.

Picks for incoming 10th graders

Manhattan: Art and Design High School, Beacon High School, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franck McCourt, Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, N.Y.C. Lab School for Collaborative Studies, NEST +M, NYCiSchool, Talent Unlimited, Fashion Industries and Young Women's Leadership School,

Queens: Aviation Career & Technical Education High School, Bard High School Early College II; Cardozo High School (dance and zoned program); Forest Hill High School zoned program; Frank Sinatra; John Bowne (agriculture and selective science research); Long Island City (culinary Insitute, Opera Institute & various others); Scholars' Academy and William Bryant (math/science enrichment).

Bronx: Bronx Early College Academy for Teaching & Learning (BECA); Celia Cruz High School of Music (concert band, chorus, strings; Holcombe L. Rucker School of Community Research; Marble Hill High School for INternational Studies, The Cinema School and WINGS Academy (dance).

Brooklyn: Murrow (bilingual programs and fine and visual arts); Fort Hamilton (honors academy, instrumental and vocal music); Westinghouse Career and Technical Education (information technology and design systems); Medgar Evers College Prep; STAR Academy at Erasmus and Transit Tech (various programs).

Staten Island: Curtis, New Dorp and Port Richmond all have openings in zoned and selective programs.

Picks for incoming 9th graders

Manhattan

Academy for Software Engineering is a new school that's scheduled to open in the fall at Washington Irving High School. It doesn't have a track record, but it has a formidable group of high-tech partners.

Harvest Collegiate is a new school opening in the Legacy building 14th Street that promises lots of class discussions, hands-on activities and trips around the city.. It has a well-developed website, a clear vision and an experienced principal.

New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math High School on the Lower East Side has a demanding curriculum and a high graduation rate. Students who have already tested need not test again. New applicants will be given the opportunity to take the test.

School of the Future, a popular 6-12 school, has spaces for both general education and special education students.

Talent Unlimited is an audition school with seats in musical theatre, drama and instrumental music. two other arts schools, Fashion Industries and Art and Design, also have some seats and were at the fair.

Some very selective and popular schools have seats for special education students, including Bard Early High School Early College, Baruch College Campus High School, Beacon High School, Columbia Secondary School, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Frank McCourt High School, High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies, Millennium High School and NYCiSchool. Students who receive special education services and who also meet the other admissions criteria for these schools are eligible to apply.

Brooklyn

Fort Hamilton High School has seats in its honors, music and vocal programs.

Midwood High School has seats in its Liberal Arts and Science Institute, the school's zoned program. The selective academies there only have slots for special education students.

Millennium Brooklyn is new but promising and has seats for both general and special education students.

Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, a popular school that takes kids from all over District 15, is expanding to add a high school. They anticipate having 25-35 openings for 9th grade and will have representatives at the Round 2 fair.

Benjamin Banneker has seats in its pre-engineering program.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School has seats. (Note: the school may replace half its staff if the mayor goes through with his plan to reorganize it.)

Transit Tech teaches students to be subway mechanics.

Some very selective and popular schools have seats for special education students, including Murrow, Medgar Evers and the screened programs at Midwood. Students who receive special education services and who also meet the other admissions criteria may apply.

Queens

Some popular (and overcrowded) zoned schools have seats: Benjamin Cardozo, Forest Hills and Francis Lewis high schools. Zoned students have preference, but other students may apply as well.

Bayside has seats only in the music program.

Francis Lewis also has seats in its highly selective math and science program.

[Although Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, an audition school, appears on the DOE's list, as having seats in its film, fine arts and drama programs, the school says it does not have openings.]

John Bowne is opening an additional section of its highly-regarded selective science program (not on the Round 2 list). There may also be a few seats in the popular agricultural program for kids who really want to learn about animal husbandry and farming.

Some selective schools have seats for special education students who meet the admissions criteria: Baccalaureate Schoool for Global Education, Bard High School Early College II and the DaVinci program at Cardozo. 

Bronx

Bronx Career and College Prep High School has high expectations.

Millennium Art Academy in the Stevenson building has strong leadership.

Holcombe Rucker has a welcoming atmosphere.

Westchester Academy is founded by a former assistant principal at Brooklyn Latin, one of the specialized high schools. She plans to bring many ideas from that school to a broader range of students at Westchester Academy.

Another new school, the High School for Energy and Technology, will be a good bet for students who like to work with their hands and are attracted to the engineering field.

The Macy Honors program at Dewitt Clinton has some strong students and is the most successful program in a large school.

The following schools have seats for special education students who meet the other admissions criteria: Marble Hill High School for International Studies, the Cinema School and Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy.

Staten Island

All of the zoned school on Staten Island still have seats.

[Updated March 13, 2012]

"Special needs children need not apply."

There was no sign hanging on the main office at PS 289 in Bedford-Stuyvesant last week, but there may as well have been.

Essence Louis says she was told Friday that she couldn't register her son Michael for kindergarten because next year the school won't have the kind of class he needs.

"I'm already dealing with a special needs child," said the distraught mom of two. "I love this child, but then to go to a school that's supposed to be helping you and to get there and get turned away, it makes you upset."

Michael's problem was not supposed to happen this year.

It's not just elite high schools that are being told to increase the number of special education students. The Education Department is also directing selective middle schools to take more students with special needs.

At a meeting on Tuesday, staffers from several top-performing middle schools in southern Brooklyn were told to prepare for a significant increase in next year's sixth grade class. The schools must enroll a similar number of special education students as other schools in their districts.

Among the schools that need to make a dramatic shift is the Christa McAuliffe School in Bensonhurst, where 3% of the students have special needs compared with an average of 13% at all middle schools in the district. Also included are Bay Academy in Sheepshead Bay and Mark Twain in Coney Island, where fewer than 4% of the students have special needs, compared with 16% at middle schools districtwide.

If you missed our forum on "How to apply to public elementary school," you can watch it below. (Please bear with us for the 30 second ad before the video starts).

If you'd like to see more events like this, please email our co-sponsor, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

If you prefer words to video, here's a summary of my talk from the event:

Starting kindergarten is an exciting time for you and your child. But it can be a scary time as well. We're here to try to help you relax. There are a lot of lovely kindergartens out there and we'll help you find one for your child. We'll tell you about different kinds of schools available to you. But first, let's look at a video that will give you an idea of what to look for in a school:

Now I'm going to tell you about the different kinds of schools.

You can apply to as many schools as you like, your zoned neighborhood school, or another neighborhood school that might have space, or a special program such as a dual language program or a charter school.

One thing I want to make clear: Your child is entitled to a seat in kindergarten the year he turns 5. You are not required to send him until he is 6, but he is entitled to a spot in kindergarten if you want it. If you wait too long—if you just show up in August—your neighborhood school may not have any room and your child will be sent to another school. But they have to find a place for your child someplace.

Neighborhood schools:

Most kids in the city go to their zoned neighborhood schools. The advantages: it's close to home. It can build a sense of community. Kids get tired travelling. If you are considering a good school close to home or a great school miles away, I'd choose the good school close to home. Tours are going on now. Not all schools offer them. If you can't go on a tour, go to a PTA meeting or talk to parents at drop off in the morning.

No school is perfect. Think about "What can you fix, and what's impossible to fix?" My kids' school only had phys ed once a week, but we signed them up for West Side Soccer League on the weekends. Other things are harder to fix: if the principal is really unfriendly to parents, for example.

Most neighborhood schools have room for all their zoned kids. There are pockets of overcrowding: PS 41, PS 234 in Manhattan, District 24 (Elmhurst, Maspeth) in Queens and possibly District 20 (Sunset Park and Bay Ridge).

It used to be that parents just registered their children at their neighborhood school, but now there is a 2-step process. You "apply" between now and March 2. Don't bring your child, just your documents. Then you hear where you child has been "accepted" and you "register" –bring your child—sometime after March 26.

Now is the time to consider other options as well.

Unzoned schools:

Some schools are open to children from across a whole district or even across the city. These schools don't require an exam. Some of these were set up as alternatives to traditional neighborhood schools. Some are progressive schools, where children learn by doing, with lots of blocks, no text books, and fun-to-read picture books. Your child may call teachers by first name. Here are some unzoned schools: Ella Baker, Central Park East and the Neighborhood School in Manhattan, Bronx New School, Brooklyn New School.

The deadline to apply to these schools is March 2.

Dual language programs:

Dual language immersion programs have classes in which half the students are native speakers of English, and half speak another language (Spanish, Chinese or French, for example). Classes are taught in each language on alternative days or weeks, and the children are expected to become fluent in both. These programs shouldn't be confused with bilingual or English as a Second Language classes, designed to teach English to non-English speakers. Some dual language programs are PS 75, PS 87, PS 20, and PS 84 in Manhattan and PS 84 in Brooklyn.

The deadline to apply to these schools is March 2.

Magnet programs:

Magnet programs are designed to foster racial integration. They receive federal or state funding for special programs (such as art, drama or law) to make the school attractive to children of different races who might not otherwise attend, and they admit children from outside their immediate neighborhood. PS 145 on the Upper West Side and PS 201 in Queens are two magnet schools.

The deadline to apply to these schools is April 20. Lainie Leber from will tell us more about magnet programs on the Upper West Side and Queens. 

Charter schools:

Charter schools are public schools, but they are not run by the Department of Education. Admission is by lottery. Each school has its own deadline, but all are by April 1.

They are mostly in low-income neighborhoods where parents were fed up with their other options. Now there are a few in middle class neighborhoods as well. Honestly, charter schools are a mixed bag. Some are great, some are a mess. It used to be they had to find their own space, now Mayor Bloomberg gives them space in ordinary public schools. There's a lot of resentment over shared space.

There are two kinds of charter schools, what we call "mom and pops," versus the networks. The "mom and pops" are individual schools, mostly organized by community groups. For example, the Hellenic Charter School in Park Slope teaches Greek. The networks are a group of charters all managed by the same organization and all with the same philosophy. For example, Harlem Success Academy has a number of schools in the Bronx and Manhattan and they are opening some in Brooklyn as well.

Charter schools can have very different approaches to education. Some are very traditional, like the Achievement First schools, with lots of rules, uniforms, teachers who are given very precise instruction about how and what to teach. Others are more progressive, like Renaissance Charter School in Queens or Community Roots in Brooklyn.

There are 30 new charter schools opening next fall, if they are approved and can find space.

Later, we'll be hearing from Sonya Hooks from the City's charter school office. 

Gifted programs:

The deadline for gifted programs for fall 2012 has already passed. I'm going to let Robin Aronow talk to you more about gifted programs. But let me give you my thoughts. In most cases, I don't think gifted programs are necessary for very young children. A lot of what you need to learn in elementary school is social rather than cognitive. What you want is a teacher who can challenge different abilities in one class: If you see one child is reading an easy book like "Frog and Toad", while another is reading a chapter book like "Charlotte's Web", that's a good sign. By middle school (or even the upper elementary grades), it is very hard to teach different levels in same class: gifted programs make sense here. Also, gifted programs make sense if your neighborhood school is really not very good.

Special education:

We are lucky to have Randi Levine from Advocates for Children here to answer your questions about special education. But let me give you some general outlines and tips. I advise everyone to look at special education services in a school, whether or not you think your child needs them. That's because it will give you a clue about how the school will treat your child if he ever hits a bump—if he has trouble learning to read, or if there's a family crisis and he needs counseling. You want a school that includes special needs children in the regular activities of the school, not one that segregates them in the basement.

About 17,000 kindergartners will be getting special education services this fall, everything from speech therapy, to counseling, to a placement in an extra-small class with a specially trained teacher. If your child is one of them, you are entitled to apply to schools just like anyone else, and you'll find out what school he is assigned to just like everyone else.

In the past, some schools offered particular services--like help for deaf kids-- and some did not, and if your child needed the services he had to go to another school. Now, the Department of Education wants to make sure that every school can serve every child. This is one of those ideas that is good in theory but is causing lots of problems in practice.

If your child needs a small class (self-contained) or a class with two teachers (CTT or ICT), you used to apply through a central office and now you are applying at your neighborhood school. Some of the schools are prepared for this, some aren't. Basically, you are expected to apply for school before you know what your child needs and before you know what the school offers.

The Department of Education is holding workshops at the end of the month. If your child has special needs, it's a good idea to go.

Parents of kids with lopsided abilities despair of finding the right educational fit: for the math whiz who has dyslexia; the child with a photographic memory who can’t sit still; the ace test-taker who struggles to get along with her peers. These kids are Twice Exceptional, often abbreviated as 2e. They’re super smart, but profoundly challenged. Most have Individualed Education Programs (IEP), specifying special education services. They just don’t fit into the public school system.

Now the Education Department is telling schools they must admit and meet the needs of these students within the context of their school as part of the special education reform rolled out last year. On January 13, Chancellor Dennis Walcott sent a letter to principals saying: “choice, non-zoned and screened schools will be asked to admit and serve a percentage of students with disabilities equivalent to the percentage of students with disabilities in their district or borough.” said Lauren Katzman, director of special education at the DOE. “There have been targets [enrollment numbers] all along. The change is we’re saying you have to meet your targets.”

On January 19, dozens of parents turned out for a meeting hosted by the Citywide Council on Special Education (CCSE) featuring a panel of educators and Education Department officials including Katzman. They were not surprised to learn that there are no programs designed specifically for 2e kids, moreover the Department of Education does not have “clean data” showing how many 2e’s there are in the system: “Gifted and Talented is not tracked by disability yet but the number is extremely low,” said Katzman.

There is an inherent irony in this artistic mecca we call New York City when it comes to the Education Department's arts education policies. Insideschool's own Judy Baum reported that although there is no lack of good arts education programs, "46% of elementary schools do not meet the state standards in the arts."  Insideschools alum and Gotham Schools writer Philissa Cramer highlighted that "about 20 percent of schools do not employ a single arts teacher, even for a part-time position."

Not surprisingly, the arts become the first casualties as both local and national educational trends focus more and more on standardized testing. And when you factor in shrinking budgets and classroom space, the situation gets even worse.

I find these developements especially disturbing since I was brought up in a household that viewed the arts as a basic human need, right up there with food, shelter, and clothing.

Insideschools aims to provide up-to-date data on New York City public schools. We rely on official statistics and information from the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED), which monitor most public schools. Charter school data not included in city statistics was provided by The Charter School Center.

Below is a list of our "go-to" data sources, along with the key information each dataset provides. These sources were also used to create Insidestats, a new feature of Insideschools, which seeks to provide useful statistics on New York City’s high schools. See Insidestats section below to get specific information on how we collect and analyze the numbers for Insidestats.

About our data: General information

School name, Address, Telephone Number, Principal name – From the DOE Office of Organizational Data LCGMS Database (updated continually)

Attendance and Data on K-12 Tests, Graduation and College Readiness – From the DOE Progress Report Database (2011-12)

Survey Information from Students, Teachers and Parents – From the DOE Learning Environment Survey (2011-12)

Student Demographics and Enrollment (including free and reduced lunch, percent of English language learners, percent of students receiving special education services, ethnicity) – From the DOE School Demographics and Accountability Snapshot

ELA and Math Achievement Test Scores Grades 3-8 – From the DOE Achievement Test Database (2011-12)

Attendance and Enrollment for New Schools – From the DOE Period Attendance Reporting Database (updated continually)

Average Class Sizes (updated twice a year; if link is broken try searching "DOE class size report") – From DOE Class Size Report Database (2011-12)

Elementary School Special Programs (gifted and talented, dual language, and magnet programs ) – From the DOE Elementary School Directory (2013-14)

Elementary and Middle School Zone Maps - From NYC Open Data School Files School Zones (2011-12)

School Overcrowding and Utilization – From the School Construction Authority Enrollment, Capacity & Utilization Report (2011-12)

Data Notes: Transfer high school average graduation rates for 2011 were calculated in house - because transfer schools graduate students on a different timetable than other high schools, we calculated a weighted 6-year graduation rate of 51% using total enrollment as the weight. All other data was provided by the Department of Education by special request.

About our data: Insidestats

Insidestats is a new tool on Insideschools giving families one easy place to review and compare high school quality and outcomes. The numbers on Insidestats were collected from datasets published annually by the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED). Some numbers were provided by special request.

See the list below for the sources and dates of each piece of information on Insidestats. We have also provided links to the original datasets, if available, for those who wish to delve deeper into the numbers.

A note about citywide averages and the color of our apples on Insidestats

Insidestats uses color-coded apples to show how well a school is doing compared to other New York City high schools. Schools that are better than the citywide average on a given indicator get a green apple. Schools that are worse than the citywide average get a red apple. Those that are around the citywide average get a neutral blue apple.

We used a common statistical calculation to determine whether a given school is below average, near the average, or better than average on each data point. This calculation is called a "standard deviation." It allows us to easily see if a number is near the citywide average or substantially better or worse than the citywide average. We used the following curve to assign the apple colors. For each measure, one-third of schools are above average, one-third are below and one-third are in the middle. (The blue section is taller because many more schools tend to be near the average. The blue section is one-half of a standard deviation from the average in each direction.)

Figure 1: A statistical illustration of how our apples were color-coded:

In some cases, the citywide average was provided by the DOE or NYSED. When the citywide average was not available, we calculated our own citywide averages using the data we had collected. It is important to note that the averages we calculated include only general education high schools and secondary schools in Districts 1-32. We do not include data from charter schools, transfer schools or schools that primarily serve students with special needs (though we do hope to include these schools in the future). Averages have been calculated as “weighted averages,” meaning that we adjusted the averages to account for schools that are much larger or smaller than other schools.

The following table lists each measure on Insidestats, its source, and how the average was calculated. We have included links to the original dataset when it is available. If you have any questions about the numbers, datasets or our calculations, please email Kim Nauer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Also let us know if you see errors or miscalculations in your school's numbers. We will correct any problems as soon as possible.

Insidestats: Sources and links

Click the linked text in blue to explore the original dataset, when available. In addition, much of this information is available on your school’s DOE website. Click “View More DOE Statistics and Info” on the bottom of each page on Insidestats to see more.

AT A GLANCE

Shared Campus - From the DOE Office of Organizational Data (2011-12)

Students Enrolled - From the DOE School Demographics and Accountability Snapshot (2011-12)

Average Daily Attendance Rate - From the DOE High School Progress Report Database (2011-12)

Uniform Policy - From the DOE High School Directory (2011-2012)

Metal Detectors - Site surveys from Insideschools and New York Civil Liberties Union (ongoing)

Student Demographics - DOE School Demographics and Accountability Snapshot (2011-12)

Free Lunch and ELL Students - DOE School Demographics and Accountability Snapshot (2011-12)

8th Grade Math/ELA Test Scores of High School’s Students - DOE High School Progress Report Database (2011-12)

Citywide Average: Calculated by taking the average of schools in the Insidestats database.

Middle School Test Scores on ELA and Math exams (for high schools that include grades 6-8) - DOE ELA and Math Data Files by Grade (2006-2012)

Citywide Average: Calculated by taking the sum of students scoring 3 or 4 over the sum of students taking the exam.

SAFETY AND VIBE

Number of Students in an Average English Class - From the DOE Class Size Database (2011-2012)

Citywide Average: Calculated by taking an average of schools in the Insidestats database.

Student and Teacher Survey Questions - DOE Learning Environment Survey Database (2011-2012)

Note: Percentages were calculated by combining the percentage of students or teachers in the survey that answered "strongly agree" or "somewhat agree."

Citywide Average: Calculated by taking an average of schools in the Insidestats database.

Percent of Chronically Absent Students – Student attendance data provided by the DOE (2011-12)

Note: Percentage calculated from the number of students missing more than 20 or more days of school year.

Citywide Average: Calculated the number of chronically absent students in each school and added up the number citywide dividing by the total number of students in those schools.

WHO GRADUATES

Class of 2012 Four-Year Graduation Rate - DOE High School Progress Report Database (2011-12)

Class of 2012 Six-Year Graduation Rate - DOE High School Progress Report Database (2011-12)

Note: The Progress Report provides preliminary graduation rate numbers. These numbers may change when the official graduation rate numbers are released in mid-2013.

Class of 2011 Four-Year Graduation Rate - NYSED Graduation Rate Database (June 2012)

Class of 2011 Six-Year Graduation Rate - NYSED Graduation Rate Database (June 2012)

Class of 2011 Advanced Regents Diploma Rate - NYSED Graduation Rate Database (June 2012)

Class of 2011 High School Dropout Rate - NYSED Graduation Rate Database (June 2012)

Citywide Averages Class of 2011: Provided in the NYSED School Level Graduation Database (2010-11)

COLLEGE PREP

School College Prep Course Offerings and Outcomes

DOE High School Progress Report Database (2011-12). Dataset includes:

Students taking at least one advanced placement class getting a 3 or better

Students taking at least one college course getting a C or better

Students passing a Regents exam for Algebra 2, MathB, Physics or Chemistry

Students entering CUNY without needing remedial help

Students graduating on time and entering college within 18 months

Citywide Average: DOE High School Progress Report Database (2011-12) when available

SAT Reading and Math Scores - DOE SAT Database (2011-12)

Citywide and Nationwide Average: DOE SAT Summary Report (2011-12)

Student Survey on Quality of College and Career Counseling

DOE Learning Environment Survey Database (2011-2012)

Note: Percentages were calculated by combining the percentage of students or teachers in the survey that answered "strongly agree" or "somewhat agree."

Citywide Average: Calculated by taking an average of schools in the Insidestats database.

SPECIAL ED AND ELL

Class of 2011 Special Ed Four-Year Graduation Rate - NYSED Graduation Rate Database (June 2012)

Class of 2011 Special Ed Six-Year Graduation Rate - NYSED Graduation Rate Database (June 2012)

Class of 2011 ELL Four-Year Graduation Rate - NYSED Graduation Rate Database (June 2012)

Class of 2011 ELL Six-Year Graduation Rate - NYSED Graduation Rate Database (June 2012)

Citywide Averages Class of 2011: Provided in the NYSED Graduation Database (June 2012)

Team Teaching/Self-Contained Classes - School Demographics and Accountability Snapshot (2011-12)

Citywide Average: Calculated by taking the average of schools in the Insidestats database

Students Spending Day with Non-Disabled Peers - Special Education Service Delivery Report (2011-2012)

Note: While there is no public database for this report, it is available on each school’s website.

Citywide Average: Calculated by taking the average of schools in the Insidestats database

Dear Judy,

How does the DOE decide to start a dual language program? Are they proposed by interested parents?

ELL Mom.

Dear ELL Mom,

Parents do have a big role in establishing dual language programs: the Department of Education is obligated to start one if at least 12 parents of English language learners who speak the same home language request one.

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.

Nothing bad happened to us this fall.

Except that one day when I took Brooks down to his little yellow school bus and then got to work, I got a breaking news message on my phone that there was a fire in midtown. And because I am too neurotic  to ignore these digital intrusions, a quick search on Twitter confirmed the story. It was near Macy's and there were flame-filled pictures (thank you, Twitter). Apparently, what was on fire was a school bus. A little one, just like the one Brooks rides.

Even the initial reports said there were no injuries and that the bus was empty, but that didn't stop my  heart rate from quickening. His school was too close and so was the timing.