April 2, 1997

The Justice Department agreed last night to allow New York City to proceed with the most sweeping overhaul of its public school system in nearly three decades, strengthening the hand of Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew at the expense of the city's 32 community school boards. The department's civil rights division had been reviewing the new state law that imposed the school changes to determine whether it violated the rights of minority voters by diluting the power of the elected boards.

New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman signs bill that will require convicted sex offenders to pay for their own DNA tests (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Truck driver hauling portable low-level radioactive waste processor from South Carolina to Connecticut reports that valve was missing when he stopped off Interstate 295 in Gloucester County, NJ (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

READING BETWEEN LINES -- A fifth of the $70 million earmarked for books in New York City public schools will go to private ones. B3. PLAYMATES SPREAD DISEASE -- A fatal meningitis outbreak in Paterson, N.J., spread from one child to another when their baby sitters let them play together. B2. ASSEMBLY'S TURN. -- The New York Assembly adopted a budget, one that would spend up to $4 billion more than Governor Pataki's. B2. PRIME DINING SPOT -- A site on 57th Street in midtown Manhattan is in demand by theme restaurants. Metro Business. B5.

Dow Jones industrial average, which fell more than 297 points, or 4.3 percent, in previous two sessions, gains 27.57 points to close at 6,611.05; Standard & Poor's 500-stock index also gains, rising 2.52 points, to 759.64, and New York Stock Exchange composite index rises 1.25 points, to 399.80; Nasdaq composite index, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, loses 4.77 points, falling to 1,216.93; graphs (L)