After a flood of parent complaints about the Department of Education's crackdown on parent associations independently paying for teaching aides in crowded classrooms, the DOE is  reconsidering its decision and may allow the practice to go forward this year after all. The New York Times, Gothamschools, and the Daily News report that, yesterday, Chancellor Klein proposed an arrangement  in which the assistants would be called "substitute aides" and paid $12.30 per hour. He made his proposal at a meeting at Tweed with parents from a dozen Manhattan schools and City Councilmembers who put together the meeting.

The arrangement is subject to the approval of the District Council 37, the union representing non-instructional school staff.<!--more-->

In a letter yesterday to parents at the Lower Lab School, where parents reportedly spend $250,000 per year on teaching aides, the PTA co-presidents said the plan, if finalized, "is a win-win situation for all (especially our children)."

The capitulation on the part of the DOE is bound to spark more controversy: Parents have been actively debating this issue here on the InsideSCOOP, arguing fiercely for and against the practice of parent-paid teaching aides.