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. Read More »

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. Read More »

After five years of cuts to public school budgets, parents say they are being pressed for more supplies, support and dollars than ever, and many are spending hundreds of dollars, and in some cases, thousands, a year on school-related items. This is the first in a series of posts planned by SchoolBook on the rising cost of public school, originating with our readers' responses. Read More »

There have always been fathers involved in school PTAs, fund raising and education governance and politics. But as Kyle Spencer reported in The New York Times last week, these days there are not just more Dads involved in city school PTAs. The Dads are also putting their own stamp on the schools. Read about what is going on at Public School 11 William T. Harris in Chelsea, P.S. 110 Florence Nightingale on the Lower East Side, P.S. 75 Emily Dickinson on West End Avenue, P.S. 3 Charrette School in the West Village, P.S. 295 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, P.S. 261 Philip Livingston in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, and in the Staten Island schools. Read More »