Great Schools wants to set up primary and secondary magnet schools that would cross existing school district lines, each with a limit on the number of poor children it enrolled.
urban school districts
Posted inNews & Opinion
RCSD per pupil spending doesn’t tell the whole story
The Rochester City School District spends more than $20,000 per student, more than just about any other district in the country, according to recent US census data. That’s higher than neighboring Buffalo and Syracuse. Shocking? Breaking news? Hardly. This story comes around about once a year, and the city school district never comes out looking […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
‘Fix’ the schools? Maybe we’re not up to the job
Every year on the first day of school, I like to walk over to the elementary school a block from our house and watch the children as they arrive. I used to get a little lift – a feeling of freshness and new beginnings as the school year started. All that potential, and all that […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
California decision a game-changer
No matter how you look at it, yesterday’s decision by a California Superior Court Judge was a serious blow to teachers, their unions, and their anti-reform allies. In Vergara v. State of California, Justice Rolf Treu ruled in favor of nine parents, saying that the current set of laws that protect teachers discriminates against low-income […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Changing my mind about charter schools
Right now, 10 charter schools are operating in the City of Rochester. Soon, you can expect to see more. The Farash Foundation plans to award up to $1 million in grants to spur charter growth in the region. While the grants will be available to selected charter schools in Monroe and Ontario Counties, nearly all […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Was the Atlanta education scandal inevitable?
The cheating scandal in the Atlanta public school system has shocked the nation, though it’s a little unclear why. Educators and parents concerned about overemphasis on high-stakes standardized tests have been predicting this kind of thing for years. Late last week we learned that Atlanta’s former superintendent, Beverly Hall, had been indicted on racketeering charges. […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Rivera’s big vision
Rochester’s northeast quadrant is known for many things. Children living here see more homicides and violence than children in any other Rochester neighborhood. The area is home to about 4,300 students, and more than 97 percent of them are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches. Most of them will move to a new home at […]
