When a school is failing as badly as East High, the surrounding community seems to go through many of the same emotional transitions as a person dealing with a life-threatening illness. Many of those raw emotions were evident at a meeting at East last week, where about 100 students, parents, staff, and residents reacted to […]
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
Queer careers
Riley Folds is the founder of a nonprofit
organization that prepares LGBTQ college students for life in the work force.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Dozens speak out about East High’s problems
When a school is failing as badly as East High, the surrounding community seems to go through many of the same emotional transitions as a person dealing with a life-threatening illness. There’s the initial shock, followed by denial and anger. Many of those raw emotions were evident at a meeting at East last night, where […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
LIVING: Getting settled
Up until the 1960’s, Rochester’s economy was dynamic and growing, and the area’s major employers of the day often needed to build their management teams with outside talent. Eastman Kodak, Xerox, Bausch and Lomb, and several other firms were industrial giants, and some offered prospective executives handsome relocation packages. But Rochester’s relocation business isn’t what […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
East’s problems mirror an unstable district
It’s tempting to think that the pending shakeup at East High School is just the State Education Department doing its job: pushing for greater accountability. But the situation at East mirrors the serious problems permeating much of the Rochester school district. And a plan for improving the district as a whole instead of just focusing […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
RCSD budget: layoffs or not?
Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s proposed $784 million budget for the 2014-2015 school year emphasizes year-long reading support, expanded learning in more schools, and full-day pre-kindergarten. Vargas told board members at a meeting last night that if they’re serious about improving student achievement, that his is the right strategy for getting there. Vargas said he […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Can the school board, superintendent, and community work together?
Just weeks before Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas and the school board have to go into serious budget talks for the coming school year, both Vargas and school board President Van White face a difficult test. White initiated a far-reaching search for ideas from the community on improving student performance in city schools. Four committees […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
East’s problems mirror an unstable district
It’s tempting to think that the pending shakeup at East High School is just the State Education Department doing its job: pushing for greater accountability. But the situation at East mirrors the serious problems permeating much of the Rochester school district. And a plan for improving the district as a whole instead of just focusing […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Treatment for a traumatized world
One of Vikki Reynolds’ first clients was a young girl who’d pee the bed to avoid being raped. Another early client fled halfway around the world to escape torture for his political beliefs. Reynolds, a clinician and instructor, says she observed similar characteristics in these early clients. Alongside pain and sadness, she says, there was […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
[UPDATED] State ed: Time’s up for East High School
The State Education Department has sent a letter to Rochester schools superintendent Bolgen Vargas, saying that major changes are required at East High School.
Posted inNews & Opinion
More Big Five mayors interested in mayoral control
Mayoral control is back. Maybe it never went away. An Ithaca Journal report out of Albany says that the State Senate supports giving Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano control of that city’s schools. And Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said recently that he’s interested in mayoral control, too. Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren has so far refrained from making […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Superintendent Vargas needs union help, and more
It’s great that Rochester’s business community leaders are concerned about the academic performance of city school students. Sandy Parker, CEO of the Rochester Business Alliance, and Dutch Summers, chair of Jasco, said in last Sunday’s Democrat and Chronicle that they are disturbed by the Association of Supervisors and Administrators’ recent vote of “no confidence” in Superintendent Bolgen Vargas. […]
