[neverdem]

The city’s Department of Education budget now tops $17 billion, or about $15,000 per pupil. This spending growth has allowed Mayor Bloomberg to raise teacher’s salaries by 33 percent. The top public school salary of $93,000 is now double that of the highest paid Catholic schoolteacher.

That's incredible!

[lesser_satan]

Bloomberg is the king of the RINOs. What a worthless POS.

[2banana]

The teacher's unions are happy - increased salaries, no increases in the learning of public school children and finally decreased competition...

[John Jorsett]

No Democrat (and that's what Bloomberg is, deep in his soul) will ever do anything that would be seen as assisting religious-based education.

[RichInOC]

It's time to get the band back together.

[misterrob]

Consider cost of living up there and it's really not that much money for someone at the top of the pay scale.

[iluvlucy]

Nonstop lawsuits are the only thing corrupt politicians respect.

Closing Catholic schools is his goal. Keep the city tied up in class action suits.

[mmercier]

Faithful Catholics, or for the issue, anyone of any faith whatsoever, should abandon all Northeastern urban areas.

Pagans rule here, your boys will aspire to be pimps and your daughters will end up as wanabe bitches or whoes when the schools are done with them.

Unless they teach them to be queers or junkies first..

[FormerLib]

And the Catholic high school graduation rate is nearly double that of the public high schools. Moreover, Catholic schools deliver these stellar results with per-pupil expenditures remaining about a fourth of the costs of the public schools.

There's the entire reason: the Catholic schools' success is an embarrassment to the supporters of government education monopolies.

[Right Wing Assault]

They can lease the schools to the muzzles.

[Fruit of the Spirit]

"Many of the predominantly minority children in those closed schools will now have to attend failing public schools."

aka Dumbing Down of Americans

[Clintonfatigued]

Is this arelevant topic for your ping list? If so, ping away!

[Tax-chick]

The city’s Department of Education budget now tops $17 billion, or about $15,000 per pupil.

That is obscene. That would pay for a year of high school (lower grades are cheaper) at the most expensive private school in the greater Charlotte area.

Are New York's public school students getting an education comparable to Charlotte Latin School? I don't think so!

[Cacique]

This article appears to me to be full of it. At the same time that catholic schools are closing there is an upswing in the number of Madrassas, Yeshivas and other types of relgious schools. A new Yeshiva will be opening a block from where I live next september. And a couple of new muslim schools have opened in the area in the last year or so. The fact is that the catholic population of the city is dwindling (save for illegal mexicans). Where there was once no serious alternative to catholic private schools. other denominations are now opening up theirs. Why send you kid to catholic school if you're a muslim when you can send him to a saudi financed madrassa?

[neverdem]

Big-city mayors to meet at Bloomberg's gun summit

Mayor Overrules 2 Aides Seeking Food Stamp Shift (Bloomberg does something right for a change.)

Dozens stuck on Roosevelt Island Trams Rescue cable car is in the process of removing passengers now on ABC TV.

FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.

[The Mayor]

$15,000 a student, good lord. and we're giving them another 5.6 billion?

[Clemenza]

A bunch of BS. Just another way for the Catholic Church to get money from Uncle Sugar, but of course, without following the rules.

Remember, that government money always comes with "strings attached" ie adopting gay non-discrimination, etc. The Catholic Church, as always, wants to take MY taxpayer money without any strings attached.

The Catholic Church = Big government wannabes in many cases.

F--k school choice. PRIVATIZE EDUCATION!

[Clemenza]

My paternal grandparents went to a Catholic school in Newark, NJ where they were taught in Polish.

Just because your local parochial school teaches in English, doesn't mean that many will not adopt "bilingual education."

Muslims will choose madrassas, Jews will choose Yeshivas, the secular rich will choose nonsectarian private schools like Dalton and Fieldston.

The Catholic Church has just lost their semi-monopoly on private education in the outer boroughs. The lower middle to middle class Catholics who supported such schools left the city decades ago.

[metmom]

And I got paid nothing (in cash) for homeschooling my kids. I don't think we paid half of that for homeschooling three kids for their curriculum for 12 years of school.

[Hong Kong Expat]

Of Course, Priests molesting children has nothing to do with it.