Beth Fertig

A lawsuit over the way public schools are financed in the state became so dramatic that it inspired some New York City high school students to write a play about it.

November is national novel writing month and some schools are participating by having students write long-form fiction.

A new salvo has been fired in the fight over teacher tenure. A group led by former TV anchor Campbell Brown filed a complaint in New York state court, arguing that tenure laws are preventing the state from providing every child with the "sound, basic education" its constitution guarantees.

Why are so many low-income and minority kids getting second-class educations in the U.S.? That question is at the center of the heated debate about tenure protections and who gets them.

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.

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.

The New York Fire Department releases dispatch tapes from the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, along with transcripts of firefighters' oral histories recorded after the event. From member station WNYC, Beth Fertig reports.