With the NYC 2010-2011 school year's arrival yesterday, students got to experience the Department of Education's decision to cut busing for 7th and 8th graders firsthand. Most of the affected student live on Staten Island, where it was a real mess. One mother of a student at Totten Intermediate School told the Staten Island Advance, "We got there an hour before classes started because we knew it was going to be a nightmare. We were trying to beat out the traffic because we knew all the parents would be driving their kids." Indeed: When she left, the "line of cars waiting to drop off students was backed up farther than she could see." more ›

After announcing it would cut free school lunches for the majority of public school students, the Department of Education revealed it would cut busing for seventh and eight graders, thanks to state budget cuts. NY1 reports, "The DOE says the state only requires that students be bused through sixth grade...a total of 70 schools and about 4,600 students will be affected," with nearly 3,000 of those students on Staten Island. One student predicted, "It's going to be mad different, probably going to be waking up early. It's not going to feel right." The kids will be eligible for free student Metrocards, which the MTA proposed to eliminate next year, so it sounds like business as usual. more ›

About a dozen current and former Starbucks employees protested outside the Union Square Starbucks last night, demanding that management reinstate fired barista Sharon Bell. Managers say they terminated Bell last week because of tardiness and attendance issues, but she says its actually retaliation for her involvement in the Starbucks Workers Union. Two other fellow union members were also fired recently, though one was reinstated. In December, a National Labor Relations Board judge found the company guilty of union busting and ordered several employees reinstated with back wages. According to the Seattle PI, the court documents read "like a reality-TV script, revealing Starbucks baristas and managers yelling at each other, mishandling blenders and cursing." One incident at the East 9th Street Starbucks almost came to blows, with a barista telling a manager, "You can go f*** yourself, if you want to f*** me up, go ahead, I'm here." more ›