Updated August 21, 2013 at 9:50 a.m. Superintendent Vargas understood the ministers’ request for a meeting concerned an employee matter, and he cannot legally discuss such issues, according to Chip Partner, the district’s spokesperson. With regards to concerns about the school day scheduling changes, Partner says that parents in some schools were notified well in […]
Rochester schools
Posted inNews & Opinion
Poverty is a factor in urban education
Mention poverty’s effect in any discussion of urban education, and the reaction is often dismissive. Officials from the highest levels of government on down the local level frequently say that referring to poverty is an excuse for low student achievement. Willa Powell raises the poverty issue in a recent article on the New York State […]
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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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What if we’re investing in the wrong education?
A couple of weeks ago, I quoted data from the grim new report, “The State of Black Rochester.” The book, published by the Rochester Area Community foundation, lays out the growing crisis in the city’s black community: the poverty, the abysmally low achievement in school, the incidence of illness, the incarceration rate, all of which […]
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Rochester school board passes $734 million budget
Last night, the Rochester school board unanimously approved a $734 million budget for the coming school year. The budget is about $6 million more than what Superintendent Bolgen Vargas proposed several months ago, and it will fund longer school days in as many as 10 schools this fall. The budget closes a $50.2 million gap […]
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Blacks, poverty, and the future of Rochester
It’s tempting to feel optimistic about some of the things happening in Rochester, especially in a spring like this one, with the weather in the 70’s and neighborhoods throughout the city awash in flowers. The Midtown site is getting ready for new streets (and, we hope, new development), stories keep trickling in about new businesses […]
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RCSD adopting ‘common core’ curriculum
While the New York City and Yonkers school districts have seen their graduation rates go up over the last few years, Rochester’s rate seems permanently stuck around 50 percent. And 27 of Rochester’s 60 city schools are among the lowest performing in the state. One reason for the gains in New York City and Yonkers, […]
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Parent trigger law debate heats up
The Buffalo-Rochester Parent Trigger Coalition, a group of community organizations and education activists, is renewing a push for a parent trigger law for the school systems in both cities. Parent trigger laws, first initiated in California, give parents a tool to transform persistently failing schools. Parents can petition the school’s board to enact one or […]
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Former Urban Choice leader starting another charter
Figuring out how to improve student performance in the city’s schools is arguably the biggest challenge facing Rochester. Like many cities across the country, Rochester has pursued multiple avenues to increase student achievement with little success. John Bliss, the co-founder and former head of Urban Choice Charter School, is concerned about the trend among state […]
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RCSD faces $50 million budget gap
Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas last night presented board members with a rough outline of his budget plan for the 2013 to 2014 school year. And it’s going to be another financially tough year for the district. For starters, the board approved a $705 million budget for the current year, but the district has operated […]
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Public needs to weigh in on Vargas’s schools modernization plan
There has been almost no serious public reaction to Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s proposal for the second phase of modernizing city schools. Vargas has held several public meetings to present the plan, which calls for closing five schools and spending about $625 million on modernizing buildings over the next 10 years. The school board […]
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Brizard out as Chicago’s schools chief
After about a year and half on the job, Jean-Claude Brizard is no longer CEO of the Chicago Public School System, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune. Brizard approached Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel about rumors that he was hearing suggesting the mayor was not pleased with his performance. In a conversation with the […]
