The Rochester Teachers Association will hold a community forum on education at 4:30 p.m. today. The forum is one of several that the RTA has organized in the Upstate region in opposition to Governor Cuomo’s education reform agenda, which stresses tougher teacher evaluations based on the results of student tests. Cuomo also wants to increase […]
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
Vargas-school board feud blows up
The on-and-off tension between Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas and members of the school board has erupted in a most unsavory way. Vargas has taken the first steps to sue his bosses.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Urban-Suburban: expansion and challenges
Adalis Santiago says that she’s happy to soon be graduating from West Irondequoit High School. But when the tall, poised teen first arrived at the school six years ago, she says it was a complete culture shock. “I was so scared,” Santiago says. “It was really hard at first.” Santiago, a Latina, came from a […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Cuomo digs in on education reform
Governor Andrew Cuomo continues his offensive on the state’s education system. Two days ago, Jim Malatras, director of state operations, sent a letter to Elizabeth Berlin, acting state commissioner of education. The letter requests a statewide investigation into teacher evaluations, with a particular focus on the school districts in Long Island where the accuracy of […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Fate uncertain for workers
If President Obama’s executive action regarding immigration is permanently blocked, large numbers of people, including many in the Rochester and Finger Lakes region, will face deportation, says Wally Ruehle, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society who has worked with many immigrants to stop deportation efforts. Members of Congress should get to know the people […]
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Living with HIV
Alberta Willingham will be 43 in a few months, but she’s lucky to be alive. A normal T-cell count in a healthy person is somewhere between 500 and 1,500. Several years ago, Willingham’s was down to 5. T-cells are the white blood cells that mount the fight against fungi, bacteria, and viruses that invade the […]
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The gospel according to Serena Young
When Serena Young competed last year in the seventh season of Black Entertainment Television’s popular gospel show “Sunday Best,” the judges used words like “conviction” and “grace” to describe her performances. Young says it was heady praise coming from the gospel greats, including Yolanda Adams and Donnie McClurkin. “Out of maybe 20,000 contestants, I made […]
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Cuomo eyes Massachusetts for school fixes
Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch to look at what Massachusetts is doing to improve that state’s failing schools. Massachusetts passed a law in 2010 that gives state officials the ability to place chronically low-performing schools in a receivership. Supervision of several Massachusetts schools and one entire district has been […]
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Public Market tokens help SNAP users
The frigid weather didn’t deter a determined stream of customers at the Rochester Public Market from finding Margaret O’Neill for Market Tokens on a recent Thursday. O’Neill is the program director for the Friends of the Rochester Public Market and she manages the token program, which she says is a main access to nutritional foods […]
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Profits or passing grades?
One of the most common complaints that many teachers and principals make against education reformers is what they commonly refer to as the privatization of public education. It’s a phrase that can take on many different meanings and is often dismissed as little more than a conspiracy theory. But federal and state governments spend billions […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
United for Rochester’s sake
A letter from George Eastman to the treasurer of the Rochester Patriotic and Community Fund hangs in the lobby of the United Way of Greater Rochester on College Avenue. Typewritten on stately-looking Eastman Kodak stationery and dated June 29, 1918, the letter refers to checks that Eastman enclosed for $500,000 and $75,000. Eastman is the […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Finger-pointing won’t solve youth fights
Here we go again. A video surfaced earlier this week showing young people fighting downtown near the newly opened transit center. This latest incident follows a stabbing of a young male at the center in December, and now the finger-pointing has begun. This seems like a typical case of passing the buck. More security is […]
