More charter schools are poised to open in the City of Rochester. The Rochester school board held a public hearing recently for Exploration Elementary Charter School for Science and Technology. And the State Education Department is reviewing an application for Rochester Charter School for Applied Technology. Locations for both haven’t been selected yet. Exploration Elementary […]
Tim Louis Macaluso
I was born and raised in the Rochester area, but I lived in California and Florida before returning home about 12 years ago. I'm a vegetarian and live with my husband and our three pugs. I cover education, health care, and local politics for City.
Posted inNews & Opinion
The dirty fight for farmland in Latin America
Even though much of the world’s food supply still comes from small farmers, those same farmers from Honduras to the Philippines increasingly cannot feed their own families, and they’re fighting for survival. A wave of “land-grabbing” has swept across continents over the last 30 years — a phenomenon cited in a 2014 report by the […]
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Can Cuomo’s task force rescue Common Core?
Governor Andrew Cuomo has committed to forming a task force to re-evaluate the controversial Common Core curriculum. But did he have a choice? The Common Core was a thorny subject even before it rolled out in 2013 — which was a colossal mess by almost any standard. Opposition to the core has grown steadily since. […]
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Rochester to hold summit on race
Racism is often described as one of the most difficult subjects to talk about, but the only way for it to get easier is if we do talk about it, says Naimah Sierra, deputy director of youth and community services for Action for a Better Community. “There are historical structures that have been put in […]
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Millennials’ money worries
Peter Scheutzow began investing when he was a child. While many young people his age spent their allowances on video games and gadgetry, he put his money in the stock market. Scheutzow says that he was curious about money matters and had an uncle who is a certified financial planner who encouraged him and showed […]
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Latin music station coming to Rochester
Ibero-American Action League will launch the first 24-hour Latino-operated radio station in Upstate New York. WEPL 97.1 FM will make its first Spanish language broadcast sometime in November, says Gladys Pedraza Burgos, Ibero’s COO. WEPL’s format will lean heavily on Latin Tropical – salsa, merengue, bachata — and Latin pop to reflect the listening interests […]
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To improve schools, de Blasio goes after parents
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio may have borrowed from Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s playbook. The mayor, who controls the nation’s largest school district, recently organized a door-knocking campaign. But unlike Vargas, who has organized routine searches for chronically absent students, de Blasio’s is aimed at parents who are not engaged with their […]
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Latinos’ growing influence
Learning how to turn growing Latino consumer and political power into action is the main goal of the annual “Upstate Latino Summit,” which is being held in Rochester this year on Wednesday, September 16. The one-day event of workshops and panel discussions is expected to draw Latino leaders from around the state to the Rochester […]
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Report: City school district needs anti-racism training
This article has been corrected. Mandatory and ongoing anti-racism training for all school personnel tops a list of recommendations from the Rochester Community Task Force. The training should begin with district leaders, the report says, and the task force should help pick who does the training. The task force, which is made up of about […]
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Anti-testing movement is only the beginning
New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia is trying to clarify her position on testing. After some tough words directed at the anti-testing movement a few weeks ago, Elia now says that parents can choose not to have their children tested, but that she hopes to persuade them otherwise. The softer tone is certainly better […]
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Pressure is on for UR to fix East
When the State Education Department released the results of the English language arts and math tests for grades 3-8 a couple of weeks ago, many of us looked for some sign that Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s strategies – implementing universal prekindergarten, expanding learning time, and reducing summer learning loss — are working. But Rochester’s students showed […]
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A cautious Vargas says that the district is improving
Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas said in a presentation last night that the district is beginning to show signs of improvement. Though much of his presentation was familiar – some of it intentionally designed to serve as a benchmark from when he first took office – the district has made progress in some key areas. […]
