Not everyone was pleased to hear that the public schools’ February break would be cut short to make up days lost to Sandy but most people acknowledged the D.O.E. didn’t have many other options.

The city’s chief academic officer says school support networks have improved dramatically in the last few years while saving the city money. Ahead of this week’s City Council hearing on the topic, he says the networks let principals choose their peer groups and give them one place to go for answers on a variety of topics.

Two women whose children attend a middle school in the Bronx say they’d like more information about their children’s progress and more access to school officials.

The SchoolBook team has added and updated helpful guides explaining the intricacies of the nation’s largest school system, which has grown to a total of 1,750 schools this fall. Check them out for the latest on deadlines, rules and a road map to the Department of Education.

In the country’s largest school system, which serves nearly 900,000 meals a day, keeping the cafeterias stocked with food is a complex business. The investigative news website City Limits examines the city’s contracts for getting food to schools, and how these delivery methods can affect what students eat.

After a mixed review of the “School of One” math instruction at several middle schools, some media outlets pounced on the findings as negative, and declared the program a failure. In this opinion piece, one of the researchers cautions against hasty assessments of educational experiments, arguing that real innovation takes time.

One teacher is weary – and wary – of the annual presentation of new ideas.

UPDATED | An arbitrator on Friday halted a central element of the Bloomberg administration’s plans for closing and reopening 24 schools, saying its method for overhauling the staff at those institutions violated labor contracts.

A citywide special education plan that aims to put New York City more in step with other school districts around the country by including those students in general education classrooms is causing commotion here, with a growing chorus of parents, teachers and elected officials insisting it is being too hastily implemented with too little information.

The city is seeking to change state law to give the schools chancellor final authority to fire a teacher accused of sexual misconduct.