The New York Senate Blog

Issue Blogs: Education

Senator Rivera Introduces Legislation Honoring Dr. Frances Fox Piven for her Life's Work and Academic Contributions

Posted by Gustavo Rivera on Monday, March 14th, 2011

On March 9, 2011, Senator Gustavo Rivera introduced a legislative resolution, numbered S.676, honoring the life’s work and academic contributions of Dr. Frances Fox Piven upon the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the publication of Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare. Senator Rivera was joined by Senators Liz Krueger and Bill Perkins in speaking on the floor of the Senate in support of this resolution.

Click here to view video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9fAbou1TpY.

Below is a copy of Senator Rivera’s floor statement in support of the Resolution Honoring Frances Fox Piven.

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Calling for a Comprehensive Plan to Rid Our Schools of PCB Contamination

Posted by Thomas K. Duane on Saturday, February 19th, 2011

Nearly three years have passed since dangerous levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were discovered in P.S 199 on West 70 Street and a number of other New York City public schools.  While much progress has been made in remediating contamination at a few select schools, it is unacceptable that there is still no City-wide plan to address this problem.  The Bloomberg administration’s intransigence is particularly disturbing in light of clear evidence of PCB leakage from light ballasts in schools built or substantially renovated between 1950 and 1978.

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Testifying Against the Co-Location of a Charter Elementary School at the Brandeis Campus

Posted by Thomas K. Duane on Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

On January 25, I submitted testimony at a joint hearing of the New York City Department of Education (DOE), the Community School District 3 (D3) Community Education Council (CEC3) and school leadership teams strongly opposing the DOE's proposal to co-locate a new Success Academy Charter School (SACS) with five existing high schools within the Brandeis Educational Campus (145 West 84 Street).  I echoed the concerns of the D3 community that SACS would preclude the campus from accommodating much-needed additional high school seats; prove extremely disruptive to the building's existing schools; place elementary students at risk among older students; require costly retrofitting of the building for younger students, and reduce individual schools' flexibility in moving, exchangi

File: 
DuaneTestimony on Upper West Success.pdf

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Seeking Cost-Efficient Solutions to School Overcrowding

Posted by Thomas K. Duane on Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

In light of the decision by the judge handling the St. Vincent's Hospital bankruptcy case to approve St. Vincent's retention of a real estate advisor, I joined New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and our other local elected officials in sending a strongly-worded letter to St. Vincent's Chief Restructuring Officer Mark Toney regarding the disposition of the properties.  Since, regrettably, we have not heard from Mr. Toney, our primary contact with St. Vincent's, in quite some time, we reached out to him to reiterate the necessity of restoring a full acute care hospital and a 24-hour emergency room on Manhattan's Lower West Side.

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Opposing DOE Proposal to Open a Charter Elementary School on Brandeis Campus

Posted by Thomas K. Duane on Saturday, November 20th, 2010

On November 19, 2010 I released the following statement in opposition to the New York City Department of Education’s proposal to co-locate a Success Charter Network elementary school with the five high schools currently occupying the Louis D. Brandeis High School campus (145 West 84th Street):

Statement of NYS Senator Thomas K. Duane Re: Proposal to Co-Locate Charter School at Brandeis Campus

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Improving Our Schools

Posted by Suzi Oppenheimer on Monday, July 19th, 2010

Race to the Top Legislation Highlights the Benefits of Consensus Approach

By: State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer

In May, the New York Legislature and Governor Paterson enacted sweeping education reforms that will pave the way for innovations to close the achievement gap and better prepare our students to compete in the global economy.  I was privileged to take part in the negotiations over these reforms and to sponsor the historic legislation that was passed in the Senate.  

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Budget Protects Schools, Provides Property Tax Relief And Makes Smart Spending Cuts

Posted by Senate Blogger 2009 - 2010 on Monday, June 28th, 2010

The Senate Democratic Majority has passed both the Education, Labor and Family Assistance (ELFA: S6603/S6607) and the Health and Human Services (HHS: S6604/A6608) budget bills which:

Protects our children’s education.
Provides much-needed property tax relief.
Makes the smart spending cuts to give New Yorkers a government they can afford.
Maintains the state’s investment in the Tuition Assistance Program which helps tens of thousands of students succeed in college annually.
Ensures support for unemployed New Yorkers who are seeking work as a result of the national economic downturn.
Delivers the services and programs most important to the health and well being of our seniors and New Yorkers with disabilities.

 

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Legislative Activity For June 14, 2010: Senate Passes Legislation To Keep Government Working, Reduce Spending And More

Posted by Senate Blogger 2009 - 2010 on Monday, June 14th, 2010

The Senate Democratic Majority passed legislation to keep government working, preserving essential services used to support employment, health, public safety, transportation, and education related programs, while achieving nearly $330 million spending reductions to close the budget gap.

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2010 Summer Reading Program

Posted by Senate Blogger 2009 - 2010 on Friday, May 7th, 2010

As the school year draws to a close, students naturally turn their thoughts to summer vacation and time away from books! It is important, though, to keep school age children in the mindset of learning. For this reason, the New York State Senate has partnered with the New York State Library to offer you the 2010 Summer Reading Program, a fun and exciting way to keep students in the fourth through sixth grades reading while on break through the summer months. This year's theme is "Make a Splash...Read!"

Extra Images: 

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Legislative Wrap-Up: Week Of May 3: Protecting Construction Workers, A Permanent "Power For Jobs" And Charter School Reforms

Posted by Senate Blogger 2009 - 2010 on Thursday, May 6th, 2010

The State Senate Democratic Majority passed bills this week which ensures payment to capital construction workers in order to protect jobs, makes ‘Power for Jobs’ – a program supporting more than 250,000 jobs – permanent, increases the cap on charter schools while also enacting new accountability and oversight standards

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