Bradford County, PA’s just over the state line from New York’s Southern Tier. Chemung and Tioga counties border Bradford, where they do hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Formation. They just had a big blowout down South, spilling drilling fluid over farmland and into a nearby creek. It’s like we asked yesterday…
A cartoon from the 1990′s called Captain Planet and the Planeteers showed a merry band of eco-warriors traveling to exotic locations while saving us all from greedy, evil corporations bent on destroying the world. Of course, they had a theme song: ‘We’re Planeteers / you can be one too! / ‘Cause saving the planet is the thing to do! / Looting and polluting is not the way! Hear what Captain Planet has to say!’ And then Captain Planet ends with: “The Power is Yours!” Continue reading
Governor Cuomo cut education funding to give a tax break to millionaires so they wouldn’t move to Florida, and to foster economic development in the Empire State. Two articles show the former is a false premise backed by an empty threat, the latter is actually hurt by Cuomo’s Cuts, and a 3rd shows the price kids are paying now. Not to mention the one we’ll all pay later… Continue reading
There are stories floating around telling how large corporations pay next to nothing while working families bear an ever-increasing tax load while getting ever-decreasing government services. Try as we might, we cannot come up with anything quite so direct and eloquent as the Labor Religion Coalition’s Tax Day Rally Speech, which addresses this very issue. Continue reading
Much has changed in the 64 years since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. We live in a world now that accepts African Americans as Supreme Court Justices, United States Senators, and as President of the United States. Many, including myself, credit Robinson’s running on the Major League Baseball field for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 as the lead charge for the modern day Civil Rights Movement. Robinson playing Major League Baseball before the US Supreme Court ended school segregation with Brown v. Board of Education, The Montgomery Bus Boycott, and The Civil Rights Act of 1964. Continue reading
There’s more and more news about school districts cutting back in the face of Governor Cuomo’s education budget fiasco. Today’s story comes from Schenectady, where the city balanced their school’s budget by cutting remedial reading and math teaching positions. NYCC’s own Iris Williams makes the news, but we kind of wish she didn’t have to… Continue reading
Now that he’s the “outgoing state Education Commissioner,” David Steiner has the freedom to speak his mind regarding schools, funding, and those standardized tests we cram down kid’s throats starting in the 4th Grade. Anyway, soon-to-be-ex-Commissioner Steiner speaks the truth, and for that we’re grateful. Continue reading
NY State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued subpoenas this morning against two firms for their questionable handling of mortgage foreclosures for such banks as Wells Fargo and NYCC favorite JP Morgan Chase. There’s a new Sheriff in town, and we at NYCC could not be happier. Continue reading
Three recent pieces about Governor Cuomo’s actions in the recent budget battle caught our eye. The NYTimes outlines just how different his actions are from those of his father, the Albany Times Union compares him to Al Smith, and the Huffington Post makes the point that only Tea Partiers and Republicans are happy with the man’s recent actions. Continue reading
He’s been in the post just shy of two years, and during his tenure he’s shepherded NY State school’s successful Race to the Top application, reformed teacher and leader evaluation criteria, and implemented a resetting of the Regents tests for grades 3-8. We at NYCC liked working with the man, even if we didn’t always see eye to eye with him, because he wanted what we want: quality education for all. Given Governor Cuomo’s education- busting budget, we cannot blame the man for seeking greener pastures elsewhere.
