Mayor Bloomberg came out strongly against a proposed 8% hotel tax, saying that tourism was NYC's proverbial golden goose and that taxing it to death would be the wrong move. The additional tourist tax was proposed in the City Council by members who are trying to figure out how to avoid slashing $450 million from the Dept. of Education's budget next year.
Bloomberg on Hotel Tax: Golden Goose Killer
Higher Test Scores Begin at the Top
The principal of a charter school located within the building that also houses the Dept. of Education has stepped down amid accusations that she was doctoring standardized test scores.
Obama Runs Afoul of School Regs with Fundraiser Film
Barack Obama's campaign organization is in hot water with Joel Klein, the NYC School's Chancellor, after it produced a short film (it runs about 13 minutes) starring Bronx public high school students and teachers discussing race issues and Obama's campaign. The video was distributed online to generate revenue for the candidate's campaign and the page where the video is located features a prominent "DONATE NOW" button.
Court Upholds Dismissal of City Web Surfer
A Manhattan court upheld the firing of city employee Toquir Choudhri for doing too much Web browsing on the City's time. Choudri, who was an education analyst for the Department of Education's Human Resources department, was fired in 2006 for spending far too much time online. He had been formally warned to knock of his Web-wandering ways, but an internal audit showed that despite the warning, Choudri visited more than 300 sites in six days, or more than 50 different sites a day.

