Thanks to our Southern Tier readers – especially Corning Teachers Association President Richard Gallant – for alerting us to the sad news that the Corning-Painted Post schools school board had to cut many electives and non-mandated courses to stay within their tax levy cap. This link does not have many details, but here’s the district’s [...]

Reports are that the 2012-13 state budget will be done early next week. At the same time, there are reports that the state tax collections are up. Read the whole press release from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli about why caution is needed on this good news. I agree with caution, because you know what will [...]

It’s late Wednesday night and state lawmakers are passing a number of bills, including pension reform. Details are coming out in dribs and drabs. While most of this legislation impacts the state budget, the actual state budget is still out there, awaiting passage. For a personal perspective on what state budget cuts mean, meet Casey [...]

There’s a whole lot of political action going on. So much, that we’ll post this Fight Back Friday today. NYSUT political action coordinators and local leaders have been scheduling home office visits for today and tomorrow. Yes, hundreds converge on Albany for those Committee of 100 lobby days (March 20 and May 22) or for [...]

The pro-public education ad created by the Schoharie Teachers Association, and funded by locals across the state, has hit the airwaves. Here’s a link to an Albany Times Union article about the ad. One thing wrong in the article is it makes it sound like it’s the first time local unions have produced commercials on [...]

As I write this, the Canton community is gearing up for the drive down to Albany next week. There’s a meeting tonight organized after word got out about the massive cuts to programs the district is facing. Canton is one of nearly 30 school districts across the state sending at least one busload of folks [...]

Meet Kate Freeman. She used to teach preschool in Florida. Now she sells chili by the side of the road to make ends meet. Yesterday, a coalition of early childhood education providers, parents and advocacy groups released a report about the impact of budget cuts on preschool ed in our state. It also documented the [...]

Guess who has developed a two-hour session for a region of school districts on how to develop tests aligned with the state’s common core standards? And that will support the curriculum development for this important work? The Hudson River Teacher Center with the Curriculum Center at Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES. It’s from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. [...]

Across the state there are school districts working together. Syracuse is one of them and Friday morning is a great example. Starting at 8:30 a.m. the union joins with district administrators, Say YES to education and Syracuse 20/20. Together the groups will tell their elected lawmakers, both city and state, why the Syracuse schools need [...]

Rita Fischer teaches English as a Second Language in the Elba school district. She doesn’t keep track of how much she spends on her students. She does keep track of the reasons. Because students need: breakfast. “Before breakfast was an option at school, I always had fresh fruit available for students,” Fischer says. Everybody knows [...]