Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas says he wants to continue offering All City High as an alternative for students who need it. The school primarily serves overage students who don’t have enough credits to graduate. “What do you do with students who are entering ninth grade when they are 15, 16, 17, and 18, and […]
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
Supposed reform of Newark’s schools is a cautionary tale
A friend brought New Yorker reporter Dale Russakoff’s article “Schooled” to my attention. Newark, New Jersey’s school reform efforts involving Governor Chris Christie, Senator Cory Booker, and social media’s boy-billionaire Mark Zuckerberg is a must read. Russakoff chronicles Booker’s rise from a sharp, post-civil-rights-era law scholar and community activist to Democratic mayor of Newark, and eventually to a […]
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New Orleans goes all charter
It’s finally happened. The US is about to have its first all-charter school system. New Orleans will close its last remaining traditional public schools and beginning this fall, all of the city’s students will have to enroll in a charter school through a computerized lottery system. Some in the education community see this as the […]
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FBI investigating schools modernization project
Mayor Lovely Warren confirmed today that the FBI is conducting an investigation into activities involving the first phase of the $325 million Rochester schools modernization project. The nature of the investigation is unclear, as is the impact it may have on the second phase of the $1.2 billion project. “About a month ago, my corporate […]
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Possible rating system sends chills through higher ed
It’s hard to know what to think about President Obama’s plan to rate higher education institutions. The rating system would inject the federal government into an accountability role for about 7,000 colleges and universities. The feds would evaluate tuition costs and graduation rates, among other factors. On one hand, the federal government and ultimately taxpayers […]
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Building support for gun safety
Signs opposing the SAFE Act appear along roadsides and front lawns in Monroe and surrounding counties like patches of clover. And chances are you’ve driven behind vehicles with bumper stickers calling for the law’s repeal. But signs supporting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature gun-control legislation are harder to find. That doesn’t mean the controversial law, approved […]
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Regional schools
A group of Rochester educators and community leaders say that Rochester school district officials have repeatedly taken the wrong approach to improving city schools. An integrated school is needed, they say. And now more than ever.
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Trans health coverage
The City of Rochester will add transgender health care benefits for employees and their families starting on January 1, 2015. The new coverage means that services related to gender reassignment procedures such as medical and psychological counseling, hormone therapy, and reconstructive surgeries will be covered by insurance. To receive the benefits, employees will have to […]
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Hillzilla hysteria sweeps America
Godzilla, the monster mutation that radiation created, opens in theater today. But another monster drama, Hillzilla, started weeks ago in Washington. Now that Republicans have run out of Obamacare catastrophes to talk about, they’ve shifted their focus to Hillary Clinton. House Speaker John Boehner whipped together another committee to investigate Benghazi. And Karl Rove’s assertion […]
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Union could run Syracuse school
The Syracuse school district is seriously considering one of the least-used options the State Education Department offers school officials to fix failing schools: charter conversion, according to an article on Syracuse.com. And the Syracuse teachers union would run the school, which is even more unusual. The SED gives school districts a limited set of options when it […]
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Rochester school board prepares backup plan for East High
Rochester school board President Van White has asked Superintendent Bolgen Vargas to be prepared to submit his plan to improve East High School on Thursday, May 15.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Rochester school board chooses UR proposal for East High
As expected, the Rochester school board has decided to work with the University of Rochester to improve East High School. The board made its decision at a meeting last night. The UR proposal was chosen over that of a nonprofit and Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s own plan. Vargas wanted to convert East into three smaller schools […]
