Beth Fertig

The Broadway hit tells the story of the American Revolution with a multi-racial cast and hip-hop music. The point is to make American history a lot more exciting than how it's often taught in school.

John King Jr. is Arne Duncan's deputy and was New York's education commissioner before heading to Washington. Like the man he's replacing, he's no stranger to controversy.

Mott Haven Academy Charter School in the Bronx specializes in working with homeless students, students living in foster care, and those who've experienced trauma.

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.

Why are so many low-income and minority kids getting second-class educations in the U.S.? That question is at the center of the heated debate about tenure protections and who gets them.

Most of New York City's one million public school students went back to class on Monday, a week after Hurricane Sandy struck. But dozens were flooded, damaged or without power and had to relocate to other schools.

The budget of a proposed World Trade Center memorial has surged to almost $1 billion. Beth Fertig of member station WNYC visits an aircraft hangar at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City where wreckage and artifacts from the fallen Twin Towers are being housed until the memorial plans are finalized.

Beth Fertig of member station WNYC discusses the Transport Workers Union, its pugnacious leader, Roger Toussaint, and the various pension, pay and health care issues that are at the center of the New York City transit labor dispute.

New York City's transit union called a strike Tuesday after failing to reach a deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The strike left more than 7 million people in and around the city looking for alternative ways to get around. Beth Fertig of member station WNYC reports.

Boats and helicopters are being used to search for people stranded by floodwaters in southwestern Louisiana. Sunday in low-lying areas of Vermilion Parish, less than 100 miles from the Texas border, rescue workers are hoping to remove the last of those who stayed behind. Beth Fertig of member station KRVS reports.