Free Republic

Mayor de Blasio and new Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza on Thursday approved a controversial plan to scrap admissions standards in one of the city’s top districts as part of their crusade to diversify student bodies. Effective immediately, the 11 middle schools in Brooklyn’s District 15 — which spans Park Slope into Sunset Park — must ditch education-based entrance criteria for a weighted lottery system that reserves roughly half of their seats for kids who are low income, homeless or learning English.

Brooklyn’s District 15 isn’t just barring middle schools from selecting students based on their grades — the area’s lone performing-arts middle school is now forbidden from holding auditions. Entry into New Voices School of Academic & Creative Arts in Sunset Park will now be determined solely by lottery — with no pirouettes or piano-playing required.

Explanation: What's that over Paris? Cirrus. Typically, cirrus clouds appear white or gray when reflecting sunlight, can appear dark at sunset (or sunrise) against a better lit sky. Cirrus are among the highest types of clouds and are usually thin enough to see stars through. Cirrus clouds may form from moisture released above storm clouds and so may herald the arrival of a significant change in weather. Conversely, cirrus clouds have also been seen on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Titan, Uranus, and Neptune. The featured image was taken two days ago from a window in District 15, Paris, France, Earth. The...