A Brooklyn public school has repeatedly been vandalized with graffiti saying "Jump White People" on the building, teachers' cars and playground. An 11-year-old student explained "It stands for 'beat up the white people.' It's bad for everyone because it's not fair to beat up other people." Even though four students, aged 8 to 11, have been disciplined, the graffiti continues to appear (see some pictures here). According to WCBS 2, school employees are "forbidden" to......

Erstwhile principal and school founder Debbie Almontaser made the front page of The New York Times today. The article is about how a woman who attempted to found a school based on cultural and religious understanding was forced from her position as the principal thanks to the resistance of spirited opponents. Almontaser founded the Khalil Gibran International Academy, which she envisioned as a dual language --English and Arabic--school that emphasized the cultural accomplishments of Middle......

The total annual cost (including room and board) of NYU has gone up 65% in the past decade and next year it will reach an all-time high of $50,182 – a 5.9% increase from last year. The Washington Square News notes that the university is cash poor, drawing 60 percent of its resources from tuition. In an attempt to soften the blow, NYU plans to increase need-based aid to "more than $150 million" total. This......

After a 12-year-old Brooklyn girl killed herself, her mother is speaking out against her peers and her school. Last week, Mercedes Herrera found her daughter Maria near death in her bedroom closet. Maria, who had tied a belt around her neck, died shortly thereafter at Brookdale Hospital. Initial reports of Herrera's death noted that she was upset that her stepfather wouldn't let her visit a friend, but her mother detailed her classmates' cruel behavior. Mercedes......

As of yesterday, sideshow school was in session by the seashore. Lasting only one week, Sideshow 101 introduces the student to "Fire Eating, Snake Charming, The Human Blockhead, Sword Swallowing, Magic and More," according to the school's website. The Daily News checked in with some of the students, who ran away from their own lives to join the circus for the week -- some from as far away as Oklahoma City.They started by jamming nails......

A number of staffers at Queens Intermediate School 73 became upset when they discovered "new or slightly used books tossed into a Dumpster" outside. The Daily News has a photo of the books, which include "Little Women," "Sarah, Plain and Tall," and "Treasure Island," and one staffer said, "Those books, you open them up, they still crack, they're so new. Why not give them away or hold a book drive at least?" It's unclear why......

Image: The Bay Ridge Rover. Last week a group of concerned Bay Ridge parents and local officials held a rally and picket line outside a neighborhood Verizon Wireless retailer. The group was demanding the company remove the cell phone receivers installed on a rooftop near P.S. 185; they say the receivers emit dangerously high radiofrequency (RF) emissions and should not be placed near schools. They are also calling for legislation limiting where the receivers can......

The principal of a renowned Catholic boys’ high school in the Bronx resigned recently after pornographic images were found on his office computer. Christopher Keogan, the principal of Cardinal Hayes High School, says the allegations are “absolutely, positively 100% false." Officials have confirmed that Keogan’s hard drive was storing pictures of nude men and that since there were no minors depicted, Keogan does not face any criminal charges, though of course his career is destroyed.......

Last month, a Queens kindergartener was handcuffed after a temper tantrum at PS 81, prompting his parents to threaten a lawsuit. Now a lawyer representing Dennis Rivera and his parents reveals they are filing a notice of claim against the city for $15 million. According to the notice, Rivera, who the Daily News reports as suffering from "speech problems, attention deficit disorder and asthma," suffered injuries to his wrists as well as psychological and emotional......

The fight over the right for school children to bear cell phones in schools moved to the Appellate Court, where lawyers for NYC and public school students' parents appeared before a five-judge panel. This comes after the City Council passed a bill allowing cell phones in schools, which the Mayor vetoed. Many parents believe cell phones are critical for keeping in touch with their children, in case of an emergency or just to check in......

Two members of a three-judge federal appellate court panel took the city to task yesterday for removing the principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy. Debbie Almontaser, who helped found the dual-language school with an emphasis on Arab culture, stepped down before the school opened last fall, after controversy over remarks she made in the NY Post. Last summer, Almontaser had commented on t-shirts with "intifada" printed on them, made by a youth group she......

A mother is upset that last week her five-year-old son was allegedly handcuffed to a chair after throwing a temper tantrum in his Queens kindergarten class. The incident occurred last week at PS 81 and Jasmina Vasquez said her son Dennis Rivera was terrified. Rivera, who is quite large for a five-year-old at 68 pounds, reportedly was having a fit and knocking things off desks, when a school safety agent cuffed his hands behind him......

There's a great NY Times article about the overcrowding at Richmond High School in Queens. The building was meant for 1,800 students, but 3,600 students attend the school. How is that possible? Well, there are 22 trailers "encased within chain-link fencing, occupy the school’s former yard, evoking the ambience of the Port Elizabeth container-ship terminal." Ha! Given that Mayor Bloomberg keeps touting his success with the school system, it's interesting to hear about Richmond Hill.......

The Trinity School, a private school on the Upper West Side that charges annual tuition of $30,000 a year, is prepared to cash in on the rise in property values by opting out of the Mitchell-Lama housing program. That program was designed to reserve housing for middle-class tenants in New York through government subsidized loans and tax breaks. The disparity in below-market rents required by Mitchell-Lama and the value of the building that houses the......