The Rochester City School District and the Rochester Teachers Association have negotiated a tentative new contract and some of the deal’s contents are catching people by surprise. A section concerning personal injury benefits, in particular, is receiving a lot of attention: “Crimes committed in schools will be pursued as crimes committed elsewhere to the extent […]
zero tolerance
Posted inNews & Opinion
Rethinking school discipline
A recent New York Times editorial looked at the growing intolerance toward “zero tolerance” school disciplinary policies. Since the 1990’s, school districts across the country have been ratcheting up the punishment, including suspensions for what are often minor infractions. A three-year-old Texas study showed that nearly six in 10 public school students were suspended at […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Stop and frisk, and Rochester
Hailed by civil libertarians and denounced as cataclysm by dismayed public officials, the recent court ruling that the stop-and-frisk tactics used by the New York Police Department violated minorities’ constitutional rights will have wide-ranging implications for police everywhere, including in Rochester, says a local criminal justice expert. “I think it probably is a good thing,” […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Rochester’s underground justice system
Whenever Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard is asked to explain this year’s surge in violent crime, he answers that many of the city’s altercations are the result of “ongoing disputes.” It’s a response that some people find wanting — after all, couldn’t most shootings, stabbings, and assaults be attributed to a dispute of some kind? […]
