Culvert Chronicles, The

Scrambled, Boiled, or Fried, They Are Still Eggs

He talked, we listened, and then a few thinkers began to do the numbers. He talked about competing educationally in a global market. In America test scores are as nebulous as the cheese on the moon. If you listen to the educators you are led to believe one thing if you listen to the owners of charter schools you hear another thing. If you listen to the way students articulate the English language you hear another thing. One thing is irrefutable; Indians and Orientals win the Science and Math ...

Statement of Opposition

Council Member Inez E. Dickens expresses her opposition to the proposed re-siting of Harlem Success Academy 1 Middle School Grades 5-8, and co-location with existing schools Wadleigh Secondary School (03M415) and Frederick Douglass Academy II (03M860), in building M088, in 2012-2013. The Wadleigh School is Harlem's only remaining public performing arts high school, and must be protected from the overcrowding a charter school is sure to bring. Harlem has fought for educational equality for dec...

'Last in, First Out' Is an Outrage: Firing Less Senior Teachers Hurts, Schoolkids, Say Klein and Rhee

From New York to California, our policies governing teacher layoffs during tough economic times are controlled by a system known as "Last In, First Out" (LIFO). This policy dictates that when there are layoffs, the most recently hired teachers in the system are the first to be fired. These decisions are based solely on seniority, without regard for teacher effectiveness. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has already laid down a marker on this issue, vowing to end the current teacher tenure syste...

Why Quick Weight Loss Diets Fail

Remember, the essential ingredients for weight loss are regular exercise and reduced stress and caloric intake. Where the calories come from and how they are utilized is also important. Carbohydrates vary in glycemic indices, i.e. how quickly they cause the blood sugar to rise and trigger an insulin response. High glycemic index foods hinder weight loss efforts. Foods also vary in their ability to provide a sensation of satiety, but eating lots of fiber and drinking lots of water will help to...

Taking Our Medicaid Medicine: Attacking N.Y.'S Massive Spending Problem Will Take Courage in Albany

As most know by now, New York's Medicaid budget - at $50 billion a year and growing - is by far the costliest in the nation, outstripping even that of California, with almost twice the population. The state's program is expensive no matter how you slice it - offering more services to more people at higher payment rates than all the national averages. Controlling spending on long-term care "is totally the hardest stuff," says Elizabeth Lynam of the Citizens Budget Commission. "Yet that's where...

Black History Month 2011: State of Blacks in America

"Garveyite" nor "Pan Africanist" world views exist among mainstream-oriented African Americans. While Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Eric Holder are recognized as African American leaders, in reality their roles involve their maintaining America's imperialist status across the world. For many years African-American culture developed separately from mainstream American culture, both because of slavery and the persistence of racial discrimination in America. Today, African- American culture...

Abortion Rights at Risk, Even in New York

Conservatives in Congress have already introduced the Pence bill, which would prevent federal family planning dollars from going to Planned Parenthood health centers. In New York, a combination of federal and state dollars enables tens of thousands of low-income women to access affordable, preventive reproductive health care services - including contraception, annual exams, cancer screening and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections - through a network of family planning ce...

Skeete Looks Ahead to Run Well

"We're still waiting on the Millrose Meet," Westbury High School's Head Coach Don Ross said after the race last Saturday in New Haven. "They (the committee) still has to make a decision." "I love his style," added the veteran coach. "We're doing something no one has done before. We're changing history.." They said 'don't go out too fast. I say 'go out as fast as you want. Let them (the rest of the field) catch up with us.'" "I know I could run the (Yale) mile at the beginning of the week," [O...