Numbers: Apr. 3, 2000

$508 million Amount for settlement of sex-discrimination suit brought 23 years ago by 1,100 women against the U.S. Information Agency and Voice of America, a record

$160 million Annual operating budget of Voice of America 7 Rank of the book Our Dumb Century on the list of the most purchased books by the USIA from Amazon.com

$15 million Amount donated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a vaccine for leishmania, a parasitic disease spread by sand flies

15 million Number of new cases of leishmania diagnosed each year

$84,566 Average annual salary of a publicist in New York City, an 8.5% increase since last year

$47,000 Average annual salary for a New York City schoolteacher, a 5.6% increase over the same period

43.9% New York City public school children performing at or above grade level in reading by the third grade

Sources: PRWEEK; UFT; New York Times; New York Board of Education; News and Observer; PR Newswire