Beth Fertig

The Obama administration is making some federal funds contingent on schools using student test scores and classroom observations to evaluate teachers. New York City recently sparked a controversy when it rated thousands of teachers with test scores alone — and then released those ratings to the public.

Natuzzi Brothers has been selling ice since 1959, but it's having trouble expanding because three big companies now control almost half of the wholesale ice market.

New York City could soon lay off 4,100 public school teachers, and the first to go would be those with less than four years' experience. A school in Chinatown could lose four of its 55 full-time teachers, including Juhyung Harold Lee, who is wrapping up his third year.

The nation's largest school district is getting a new leader. Mayor Michael Bloomberg chose Hearst Magazines chairwoman Cathie Black to lead New York City's public schools following weeks of controversy over her qualifications. She has a long career in publishing but has never worked in education.

The budget of a proposed World Trade Center memorial has surged to almost $1 billion. Beth Fertig of member station WNYC visits an aircraft hangar at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City where wreckage and artifacts from the fallen Twin Towers are being housed until the memorial plans are finalized.

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.