Living in Schenectady, I get to hear Schenectady High School senior Maya Williams speak at a number of events. (As well as Iris Williams, who see comments below, is not related!) Maya impressed again at a Wednesday press conference about what the governor’s proposed competitive grant program for state aid to schools really means. “Making [...]

It’s not baseball season, but Michael Mulgrew threw his pitch to lawmakers today. Here’s some video so you can hear it for yourself, and pictures of the variety of UFT members and NYSUT officers who met with lawmakers to talk about what schools in New York City need. (Sorry about the lighting in a lot [...]

View all photos The sound of thousands of plastic clappers on the south lawn of the Capitol earlier today was like rainfall. It heralded the coming storm from state workers who are angry at the governor’s threats of another 9,800 layoffs. The rally was led by Public Employees Federation. PEF president Ken Brynien said 15,000 [...]

Ditto, ditto, ditto to Frank Maurizio’s post “Documenting the pain.” Here’s a link to the Watertown Daily Times article that outlines cuts to 17 school districts in St. Lawrence county. The Press-Republican has this report about what’s going on in Beekmantown schools. Folks, help us out. Send us the links to articles in your hometown [...]

some of the more responsible journalists and news outlets are now starting to report what NYSUT members have long known: Budget cuts mean fewer programs and services for students; larger classes; jobs losses; deserted school buildings; and an overall diminished quality of life in many communities.

Among the hundreds of peaceful demonstrators at Wednesday’s Capitol Camp-in were students, parents and graduates of the state’s senior and community public colleges. They included Caitlin Kempf and Steve Moss, both students at Adirondack Community College. “It was supposed to be my senior year, but because of SUNY, I’m back at my sophomore year,” Kempf [...]

Setting the scene here at the Capitol: Organizers have renamed the Million Dollar Staircase the “Millionaires’ Tax Staircase.” There are hundreds of demonstrators from SUNY and CUNY. AQE’s Billy Easton announced that 70 large pizzas would be delivered to the Capitol at 7 pm, the largest pizza delivery in state history. He said s’mores would [...]

The Professional Staff Congress, which is rallying at the Capitol in Albany today to protest proposed state budget cuts to the university, has launched a targeted ad campaign telling lawmakers that they should make education a priority rather than giving tax breaks to the rich. PSC represents 22,000 instructional faculty at CUNY.

You could say the numbers tell the story. There’s the staggering number of teachers and SRPs at risk of losing their jobs as state lawmakers weigh $1.5 billion in cuts to education. And then there’s the close to 1,000 teachers, parents and kids who showed up Hackett Middle School in Albany on Wednesday for a rousing rally to protest the cuts to their schools.

UPDATE 7:34 p.m. A news report from WNYT Channel 13. The takeaway: “79 percent of voters oppose proposed cuts to education.” – BT FIRST POSTED: 6:24 p.m. Albany’s Hackett Middle School was double-booked. We’ve got to leave to make room for a music program. It’s 6:24 p.m. And I will try to get some video [...]