For years, charter school advocates have touted lower operating costs as one of charters’ chief benefits. But operating on fewer dollars has become a huge handicap, says a lawsuit filed yesterday by five families — one from Rochester and four from Buffalo — with children attending charter schools. The suit says that New York’s method […]
charter schools
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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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WEEK AHEAD: Rally for women’s equality; RPD reorg; port proposal; inner loop final designs; Vargas’s East plan
This post has been corrected. At 4 p.m. on Friday, May 9, the Finger Lakes Women’s Equality Coalition will rally in support of the Women’s Equality Act. The demonstration will take place in front of 2300 West Ridge Road, Greece; State Senator Joe Robach’s office is in that building. The state legislation covers workplace and wage discrimination, domestic […]
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Can parents save the schools?
Few people not directly employed by the Rochester school district are as nimble at navigating local policies, labor agreements, and state education law as Carrie Remis. In 2006, Remis co-founded the Rochester Fund for Educational Accountability, an all-volunteer organization that provided technical assistance and training to parent groups on federal education law (the group has […]
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Elections and education
Two education initiatives are among the few issues in this partisan climate somehow crisscrossing ideological and political boundaries. Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has not backed away from his support of charter schools despite some tensions with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The new mayor of the country’s largest school system has been […]
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Study challenges charter schools’ superiority
A new study seems to confirm what many traditional public school officials have been saying for years about student performance in charter schools: when all things are equal, traditional public schools and charters perform about the same. Forward Institute, a Wisconsin public policy organization, compared the Milwaukee school district’s state accountability report cards to those […]
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Charters nervous about de Blasio
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a staunch and vocal advocate of charter schools. Charters proliferated during the Bloomberg years, aided by the guidance of former schools Chancellor Joel Klein and a change in state laws that raised the cap on the schools in New York. Teachers, parents, politicians, and school officials across […]
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The ABC’s of charter schools
You could call 2013 the year of the charter school in Rochester. Charters have been operating in the city for years, of course, but attention intensified last year and charter chatter was everywhere. Three new charters were approved to open, with several more in the pipeline. Rochester schools superintendent Bolgen Vargas repeatedly lamented the loss […]
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Week Ahead: Dems push independent LDC probe; charter school renewals
Today, a County Legislature committee will take up a Democratic proposal to create a special committee to take over the internal investigation into local development corporations. To ensure that the Legislature considers the proposal, Democrats voted last week against borrowing for the county’s annual capital project plan. Such measures need a two-thirds majority to pass, […]
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Career zone for a high school
Sheldon Cooper, 15, says he’s thinking about following in his mother’s footsteps. He wants to attend Georgia State University to pursue a career in health care, he says, perhaps as a nurse — like his mom. But he also loves cars and boxing. His friend and classmate, Tony Bermudez, 15, says he wants to attend […]
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Charters show higher suspensions
One of the most common characteristics of charter schools with high test scores, many observers say, is the focus on structure and discipline. The schools often bear a striking resemblance to the Catholic schools of the 1950’s and ‘60’s, with their low tolerance for levity and horseplay. The charters like to call it “no excuses.” […]
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RCSD Superintendent Vargas won’t concede to charters
If the Rochester school district doesn’t start improving soon, charter schools will become the dominant force in the district, city schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas said in a recent interview.
