A local Corona native leads the middle school I.S. 61 with a focus on strong relationships and continuity for his students. SchoolBook interviews Joseph Lisa in our latest Principals Office.

City lawyers have been arguing for years that letting religious groups rent space in public schools for Sunday worship violates the separation of church and state and could confuse students about the schools’ secular identity. At the same time, the city has increasingly been turning to the religious establishments to rent classroom space – to relieve school overcrowding – a policy that WNYC reports is troubling people on both sides of the church-state divide.

Parents of public school students in the city are responding to a SchoolBook survey by reporting expenses of up to thousands of dollars to support their child’s school or school-related activities. But that apparently is nothing compared to what is being asked of parents of private school students.

It wasn’t the first day of school, but it was certainly a new beginning for Hyde Leadership Charter School, in the first new education facility in Hunts Point in more than 30 years. Tuesday was the school’s official opening, with speeches, tours, a ribbon-cutting and a dance performance by students.

A new study raises fresh questions about a familiar issue: Are we giving top students short shrift? Yes, it is the old debate over tracking, and in light of the study’s finding that top students “struggle to maintain their elite performance over the years,” Room for Debate asks six experts their opinions. Surprisingly, given the ferocity and length of the educational battle, most of them favor some differentiated learning, but with caveats and twists.

The teachers union says about 7,000 city classrooms this year have more students than the contractual limit. On top of that, many students are having to learn in aging buildings. On WNYC’s “Brian Lehrer Show,” WNYC Senior Reporter Beth Fertig discussed the issues surrounding New York’s school buildings with guest host Mike Pesca. Hear the full discussion.

The results are mixed for New York’s students on the SAT this year, while an audit gives the Department of Education bad grades for the way it collects data that helps it make decisions about school and classroom needs.