An Open Debate About Teacher Staffing
Every parent knows that the most important aspect of a child’s education is the teacher who heads up the classroom.
That is why we are very concerned that, with the state budget gap, there is talk of laying off public school teachers. East Side Assembly Member Jonathan Bing, one of the good guys in Albany, is trying to refine the state’s approach to layoffs. His proposal would allow a panel of teachers, principals and administrators to decide whom to downsize. Although Bing would still allow seniority to factor into any decision, his plan has come under attack because that aspect would no longer be the central factor in cutting staff. Read more
Lift the Cap And Help Our Public Schools
How to educate our children is an incredibly complex and controversial issue. One of the few things that almost everyone agrees on is that the more choice parents have, the more likely there will be a better educational outcome for their child.
In the more affluent neighborhoods of Manhattan, there are numerous very good schools, both public and private. Unlike some suburban areas and rural parts of America, where the local public school is the only choice, in Manhattan parents get to research and choose from a wide variety of educational settings to match the needs of their child. Read more
A Two-Way Fair Contract Negotiation
Editor’s Note: Our editorial this week about the contract negotiations between building workers and the Realty Advisory Board has elicited some strong reactions, and we feel it necessary to clarify and elaborate on this for our readers on the East Side and West Side.
Everyone who owns an apartment in Manhattan, and this includes owners of buildings, has suffered due to the recession the past two years. The costs of heating oil and other resources continue to increase. These days, it has become harder and harder to make ends meet anywhere, especially living in Manhattan. Read more
An Oscar Sweep For Our Town’s Former Staffer
You’ll have to indulge us this week while we proudly boast about a native New Yorker who has taken Hollywood by storm with his brave story about the Iraq war and the bizarre ways men find flirting with death sometimes more exciting than flirting with women.
Mark Boal, a 37-year-old journalist who graduated from Bronx High School of Science and was the editor of Our Town in the late 1990s, had an amazing night at Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony. Boal won an Oscar for his screenplay for The Hurt Locker, which also netted top honors as “Best Picture” in a field of blockbusters that included the overly-hyped Avatar, and other, much better-financed productions. Read more
Don’t Cut; CUNY Is a Success Story
An economic recession ought to be a time of prioritizing. Just as families prepare for an uncertain future by skipping vacations and safeguarding retirement and savings accounts, so too must governments give priority to areas that build towards the future. That includes New York’s governments, state and city.
So it’s puzzling to consider the 2010-11 State Executive Budget’s recommendations to cut support for The City University of New York—by about $84 million for the system’s senior colleges, and by almost $22 million for community colleges. One of the few, and the most important, ways that New Yorkers can meaningfully plan for the future is through higher education. A college degree is associated with better career opportunities, a higher lifetime income and improved health and job security. Read more
Why We Need Non-Partisan Elections
Our city, state and nation are at an historic political crossroads. Citizen resentment and cynicism about partisanship and our elected leaders is at an all-time high.
In Albany, our legislators have become synonymous with dysfunction. Scandals have taken down a governor and comptroller, and a dramatic State Senate coup last summer brought government to a standstill for weeks. At the federal level, Congress has been divided into two gangs, the Dems vs. the GOP. It’s a divisive and corrosive mix that even a once-popular president has been unable to tame. In our great city, apathy, cynicism and a flawed voting system have resulted in primaries where less than 10 percent of the eligible populace votes, and general elections that merely rubber stamp the results of Democratic primaries (with the notable exception of mayoral elections, but that’s a story for another day). Read more
Run, Andrew, Run—Run, Harold, Run
Last time we checked, we live in a democracy. In fact, our country prides itself on being the progenitor and exporter of democratic ideals. But you wouldn’t suspect this based on how the national (and New York) Democratic Party has been behaving lately.
Democracy, by our definition, offers citizens strong choices and vibrant debates on ideas and policies, not uncontested primaries or people appointed to high office by one unelected leader. Read more
The Right Reforms
Say what you will about Gov. David Paterson’s political missteps, the man has some good ideas for government reform. And the Legislature needs to stop proffering straw man arguments opposing them.
In his Jan. 6 State of the State speech, Paterson laid out an ambitious plan of long overdue regulations to whip Albany back into shape. Some highlights: Read more
The Dangers of Drilling
The state is currently collecting public comments on a proposal that would allow a certain type of natural gas drilling upstate, where the city gets its water supply. Now is the time for all New Yorkers—and especially Mayor Michael Bloomberg—to make their voices heard so this plan gets a much more in-depth evaluation before moving forward. Millions of dollars, and the purity of the city’s drinking water, may be on the line. Read more
General Election Picks
Mayor: Michael Bloomberg
As we mentioned back in September, the key to governing the city at this critical juncture is nursing a more diverse economy back to health while maintaining and building on the gains of recent years in education, business, public safety and the vibrant culture that defines New York City. We think Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is running as a Republican and Independent, is best qualified for this job.
Throughout the past eight years, Bloomberg has advanced ambitious plans to overhaul the largest public school system in the country, mitigate traffic and congestion, increase and improve green space, foster arts and culture and rezone the city to fit the residential and business needs of tomorrow—all while driving crime to record lows and keeping a vigilant eye on a terrorist threat that still lingers. Read more
