Beth Fertig

To move kids away from computer screens, a new wave of learning programs is emphasizing hands-on activities. Like building stuff.

A new salvo has been fired in the fight over teacher tenure. A group led by former TV anchor Campbell Brown filed a complaint in New York state court, arguing that tenure laws are preventing the state from providing every child with the "sound, basic education" its constitution guarantees.

A federal program to extend free lunch to all kids has the city worried it could lose federal dollars to pay for other things.

An apprenticeship program in New York City helps lower-income and minority students break into advanced sciences. For one, the love of the stars was motivation to tackle the tough field of astronomy.

Ten years ago, a tree on a power line in Ohio touched off the largest outage in U.S. history. In New York City, many people were so relieved it wasn't another terrorism attack that in some places, a carnival atmosphere prevailed.

This spring, the city's Department of Education issued its first guidelines about how teachers should navigate social media. The rules make it explicit: Teachers cannot friend or follow their students on Facebook or Twitter, but they can have professional accounts and pages for students to follow.

The Obama administration is making some federal funds contingent on schools using student test scores and classroom observations to evaluate teachers. New York City recently sparked a controversy when it rated thousands of teachers with test scores alone — and then released those ratings to the public.