No one can accuse Rochester schools Superintendent Barbara Deane-Williams of being a media hound. Since the school board hired her last summer, she’s had relatively little to say to reporters. She decided instead to embark on a months-long mission: an intense study of the district. Her listening tour involved dozens of meetings with teachers, administrators, […]
Urban schools
Posted inNews & Opinion
New York earns a D for its K-12 public school system
The Network for Public Education recently issued a 50-state report card on the relative condition of the country’s public education system. New York didn’t rank as failing, but close: it got a “D.” But to be fair, the politics of teacher-bashing and union-busting have earned their desired results. The NPE report evaluated each state on […]
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Vargas: results are coming
Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas used his State of the Schools speech last week to assure parents, students, and community leaders that the district is on a path to improvement. But creating a culture that’s firmly focused on the basics — literacy, attendance, budgeting, and basic management — will take more time, he said. Vargas […]
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Vargas foresees a smaller Rochester school district
It’s difficult to create stability in a system whirling from change, but that’s where the Rochester school district is today. Historically speaking, the district is facing an unprecedented drop in student enrollment, says Superintendent Bolgen Vargas. The main reason: charter schools. President Obama’s education policy — Race to the Top — lifted the cap on […]
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All eyes are on Chicago
It’s hard not to be fascinated by what’s going on in the Chicago School District. The teacher strike in the nation’s third largest school district, now in its second day, has all of the elements of great drama. For starters, there’s Rochester’s connection to the Chicago schools’ chief, Jean-Claude Brizard. After a tumultuous three and […]
