About 87 schools in New York City are caught in a squeeze where more than half of their students — but fewer than 60 percent — are considered poor, putting them just shy of qualification for federal Title 1 money. Like P.S. 9 in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, 32 other schools in the next two years will be scrambling to deal with a loss of Title 1 money for services like teachers, aides, literacy programs and basic supplies.

There is no centralized accounting of how many New Yorkers owe their livelihood to public school PTAs. But parent association Web sites — which often include lists of the activities parent dollars are now responsible for — suggest that if you are an actress with an appetite for history, an entrepreneurial bongo drummer, a yoga instructor O.K. with teaching downward dog to 6-year-olds, even a skateboard champion looking to earn some extra cash, currying favor with the city’s better-off PTAs is just good business.

Adrian Allannic, a third grader, has learned the lessons of healthy eating at home, but at his school, Public School 11 William T. Harris, he gets to live his healthy habits all day. A growing number of more affluent parents and a motivated principal have brought a new emphasis on fresh foods to the school of almost 700 students in Chelsea, Manhattan. Many schools in New York City have taken steps to provide healthier foods for students in their cafeterias, but P.S. 11 has gone further than most. Elbert Chu’s multimedia report shows another way in which New York City’s parents are Paying for Public School.

The principal and parents at the Hamilton Heights School on Amsterdam Avenue chose to offer Arabic to second through fifth graders partly to help the school earn an International Baccalaureate designation.

Hundreds of readers responded to a New York Times article on Sunday about a charter school in Brooklyn that is representative of the many de facto segregated public schools in New York City. They raised issues of class, condemned a climate that is hostile to achievement and questioned whether more black teachers at the school would resolve the problems.

When the space shuttle Enterprise touched down in New York City on Friday, 20 New York City high school students in crisp black military uniforms with red trim and gold buttons presented the national flag during “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It had to be the ultimate thrill for students who work on aircraft everyday.

As schools prepare to put an anti-bullying curriculum in place to comply with the Dignity for All Students Act, legislation has been proposed in New York that would criminalize cyberbullying. Many experts say educational programs work best to teach children to respect each other, but one legislator says stricter penalties are necessary as more youths communicate through texts and the Internet.

Critics of high stakes standardized tests have started an Internet campaign to petition for an overhaul of mandated testing.

Because of its innovative and challenging math curriculum, Baruch College Campus High School was selected as one of 18 national finalists of the annual Intel Schools of Distinction competition.

The mock trial team from Grace Dodge Career & Technical High School gave it their best, but they lost to Hunter College High School in a citywide competition. It was a disappointing loss, considering the school is scheduled for phase out, and neither students nor their coach know whether the mock trial team will continue as the school shrinks every year until closing.