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 […]
Rochester school district
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Feedback 2/19
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City school board seeking change and solutions
It’s difficult to read Mary Anna Towler’s January 29 Urban Journal and not notice the pessimistic tone expressed throughout the essay. She, understandably, notes that things “just [keep] getting worse” as the district continues its “slide down.” She certainly is not alone in her views. She correctly notes that our own superintendent has described the […]
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Feedback 2/12
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The most powerful group you don’t know
Many parents and teachers are familiar with their local school board members. But most probably couldn’t tell you what the New York Board of Regents is or what it does, says Eric Mihelbergel, a founder of New York Allies for Public Education, a coalition of 45 education-advocacy organizations with 25,000 members across the state. NYSAPE […]
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Weingarten: Stop blaming teachers
Rochester’s teachers are not to blame for the city’s current economic problems, said Randi Weingarten this morning during a stop at the Children’s School of Rochester. Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers, which at 1.5 million members, is one of the largest organized labor groups in the country. Weingarten arrived in Rochester […]
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Budget gap grows for Rochester schools
A little over a month ago, Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas cautioned school board members about a budget gap for the 2014-2015 school year that could top $30 million. But he revised that projected gap to $42 million at a recent board meeting. Vargas said the increase became apparent after hearing Governor Andrew Cuomo’s state […]
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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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Feedback 1/15
Send comments to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. For our print edition, we select comments from all three sources, and we edit those selections. Think like the Flintstones? On a reader’s letter arguing that preservationists are hindering progress in Rochester: Preservation and re-purposing of […]
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Powering-up parents
Brenda Coleman says her son LaBronze, 10, is intelligent and has an impressive vocabulary. And there are times when he is extremely talkative, she says. But Coleman says she has to keep LaBronze on a tight, consistent schedule. Any unusual variations can trigger serious behavioral problems, she says. When that happens, she says, “this house […]
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Feedback 1/1
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. For our print edition, we select comments from all three sources; those of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in […]
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Schools overhaul ready for phase two
Some Rochester school officials travelled to Albany recently to meet lawmakers on several pressing issues, including phase two of the massive project to overhaul city schools. School officials gave legislators a brief overview of the roughly $1.2 billion construction project — one of the largest projects in Rochester’s history. The second phase of the multi-phase […]
