Beth Fertig

A federal program to extend free lunch to all kids has the city worried it could lose federal dollars to pay for other things.

An apprenticeship program in New York City helps lower-income and minority students break into advanced sciences. For one, the love of the stars was motivation to tackle the tough field of astronomy.

Ten years ago, a tree on a power line in Ohio touched off the largest outage in U.S. history. In New York City, many people were so relieved it wasn't another terrorism attack that in some places, a carnival atmosphere prevailed.

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.

This spring, the city's Department of Education issued its first guidelines about how teachers should navigate social media. The rules make it explicit: Teachers cannot friend or follow their students on Facebook or Twitter, but they can have professional accounts and pages for students to follow.

The Obama administration is making some federal funds contingent on schools using student test scores and classroom observations to evaluate teachers. New York City recently sparked a controversy when it rated thousands of teachers with test scores alone — and then released those ratings to the public.

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.