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Tim Louis Macaluso

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Rochester's teacher evaluation plan okayed

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 22nd, 2012

Rochester's plan for evaluating teachers has been approved by the state's education commissioner, John King. The district will now receive about $3.5 million in federal funds that King was withholding, Interim Superintendent Bolgen Vargas said at a press conference today. Vargas did not give a timeframe for when the new evaluations

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EDUCATION: Screening superintendents

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 21st, 2012

The search for a permanent superintendent for city schools is moving from a discussion and input phase to reviewing applications. The search committee has held several public input meetings with parents, teachers, business leaders, clergy, higher education representatives, and community groups. | The meetings were designed to build consensus

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URBAN ACTION (2/22-2/29)

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 21st, 2012

This week's calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Talk on Islam The University of Rochester will present "Islam and the West," a talk by Kwame Anthony Appiah at 4 p.m. on Thursday, February 23. The talk will

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HEALTH CARE: LGBT health-coverage needs recognized

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 21st, 2012

Even if you're a healthy lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person, finding affordable health insurance can be frustrating. The Obama administration has tried to make it easier, however, for the LGBT community to find coverage through the Affordable Care Act. The US Health and Human Services Department recently updated its

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Teacher evaluation deal reached

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 16th, 2012

Calling it a "historic agreement," Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that the long stalemate over a statewide teacher evaluation system has ended. Cuomo threatened to implement his own evaluation system if the state's main union, NYSUT, and the New York City union, United Federation of Teachers, couldn't reach

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URBAN ACTION (2/15-2/22)

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 15th, 2012

This week's calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Talk about breaking the political impasse Rochester Friends Meeting House will host "Toward Nonviolent Revolution in America," a talk by Robert Holmes, University of Rochester professor of

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EDUCATION: Rankle over high textbook costs

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 15th, 2012

This is a corrected version of this story. The excitement over getting into college often fades once students and parents start to realize the costs involved. And particularly irksome is the cost of textbooks. For most students, the added expense is a boil on a bigger abscess. Most reports

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URBAN ACTION (2/8-2/15)

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 7th, 2012

This week's calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Drones discussion Progressives In Action will present "The Expansion of Arial Robotic Warfare and Increasing Public Dissent on the Ground" at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14. Activists

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EDUCATION: [UPDATED] Alternative city school proposed

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 1st, 2012

This is a corrected version of this story. UPDATE: A presentation on alternative schools will be given in a school board committee meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, February 6, in the third-floor conference room of the Central Office Building, 131 West Broad Street. ORIGINAL STORY: The Rochester school district

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EDUCATION: Keeping libraries relevant

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 31st, 2012

The conditions are right for a perfect storm that could cause libraries to disappear, says Nancy Foster, director of anthropologic research for the University of Rochester. Most information can be accessed digitally from home, the office, or almost anywhere the Internet is available. So, who needs a library? Librarians at

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There's no denying most Americans need help

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 22nd, 2012

Outrage over government spending, particularly on social programs, helped fuel the Tea Party movement. And it has been a key issue for conservative presidential candidates, who have all pledged to cut spending. But some recent reports show that conservatives, despite their criticisms of government spending on benefits programs, are more dependent

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Searching for a superpower superintendent

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 17th, 2012

For much of the last century, the superpower status of the US was in part based on the ability to fight multiple wars at one time. There are similar expectations for the next permanent superintendent of city schools. The next superintendent will have to manage the district's multiple crises but not use

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Virginia's anti-abortion stand

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 15th, 2012

The last time I drove through Virginia there were signs, bumper stickers, mugs, T-shirts, and a slew of other tourist paraphernalia calling it the state for lovers. My-oh-my, how things have chilled. Virginia's House and Senate, according to a Huffington Post article, have passed a bill that will require women seeking

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Student achievement gap shifts

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 14th, 2012

Throughout much of 2011, we heard about the widening income gap between average Americans and the wealthy. Frustration over income disparity helped to fuel the Occupy Wall Street movement. But the income gap may have deeper roots than anyone imagined. And its impact on American society 15 to 20 years

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Vargas's appeal could challenge the board's search

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 13th, 2012

He holds coffee greetings with parents and community members at least twice a month. He's walked city streets and knocked on doors in search of students who aren't in school. And he can be seen smiling from billboards around the city, promoting enrollment in the district's new high schools. Interim

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Peace and soul, Don Cornelius

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 2nd, 2012

Before music videos became the industry's 24-hour marketing machine, there were a handful of television shows that mixed music, dance, and live performance. And few held the attention of generations of teens like "Soul Train." Creator and host Don Cornelius packaged fashion, fros, and funk with the top soul and

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The week ahead: Rochester school budget hearings

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 30th, 2012

Rochester Interim Superintendent Bolgen Vargas will hold three public meetings this week to let parents and community groups discuss their priorities for the 2012-2013 budget prior to its development. More public meetings will be held after the budget has been created. Vargas is facing a $40 million budget gap. He hopes

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The angry right

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 25th, 2012

Some Democrats are giddy about Newt Gingrich as the possible Republican nominee for president. I'm wary of him. It's beginning to look like Gingrich's trouncing of Mitt Romney in South Carolina will lead to a victory for him in Florida - so I hope President Obama's advisors learn something from

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Obama's critics, right and left, are getting it wrong

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 18th, 2012

I've been waiting anxiously for someone to write this article, and Newsweek columnist Andrew Sullivan has finally done it. Obama, Sullivan argues, could be a transformational president on par with former President Ronald Reagan if he is re-elected to serve a second term. But an unenthusiastic left and a bitter

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Sign of decline

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 17th, 2012

Is America in decline? That was the question posed to callers of C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" on Saturday morning. Most of the people who called into the show were convinced that America's glory days were over. I would have disagreed if it weren't for some discouraging business news: Hostess filed for

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