Disappointing News Day for Department of Education

There's not one, not two, but FOUR relatively negative stories about the Department of Education today. The Daily News reports that more than a third of public school students are in overcrowded classrooms; a report says 167,000 new seats are needed, but the city is only planning on 63,000 more. The News' Juan Gonzalez also finds that the DOE spends $5 million on couriers--double what was spent in 2002--mostly due to the couriering of tests. The NY Times finds that even the DOE tried to make gifted programs more accessible, a new policy resulted in half as many gifted students--"with 28 schools lacking enough students to open planned gifted classes, and 13 others proceeding with fewer than a dozen children." Finally, the Columbia Spectator wonders where promised arts programs for schools are. Remember--reforming the public school system is a major part of Mayor Bloomberg's platform. Photo: soopahgrover