End public funding of Charter Schools ....  Consolidate the 500+ school districts into 62 school districts based on current county lines ......Shift the funding of Public schools from the local property to the state income tax.

That is my 3 point strategy for education reform in New York State.    You will hear more about my plan
in 2012.  

Don't bother telling us about it, the Schenectady school system has gone down the drain ever since Linton and Mont Pleasant combined and you want to make it even worse by adding more schools to the mix.

School districts will be consolidated.   The Governor has talked about it during the campaign and since he
was elected.  

The state has too many school districts .. too many municipalities ..  they will be consolidates.   So - the only question is what the final product will look like.     I favor 1 school district per county.

It's not about consolidating schools today....it's about changing the ENTIRE school career and how it is taught/used....technology has/will change
EVERYTHING very quickly....

Quoted from senders

It's not about consolidating schools today....it's about changing the ENTIRE school career and how it is taught/used....technology has/will change
EVERYTHING very quickly....

Actually it is about BOTH   consolidating districts to reduce costs and making REAL reforms in how it is taught

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Actually it is about BOTH   consolidating districts to reduce costs and making REAL reforms in how it is taught

you're only thinking about the buildings....school interfacing can happen co-op style without even consolidating....

On the news Thurs. Cuomo seeks to "consolidate" 10,000-12,000 state workers.   If is done (highly unlikely) and Government survives/functions just as well, will make one wonder why they were needed in the first place.   Trim the fat.

Quoted from Mr. Majestyk

On the news Thurs. Cuomo seeks to "consolidate" 10,000-12,000 state workers.   If is done (highly unlikely) and Government survives/functions just as well, will make one wonder why they were needed in the first place.   Trim the fat.

interesting.....hhhmmm

They could cut half of them and nothing would be worse. Maybe 2/3 of them.

Cuomo and Obama are strong supporters of Charter Schools. They seem to understand school choice. DVR's plan is a big nothing that will go nowhere.

All charter schools do is weaken the existing public school by taking their funds.  Nobdy understands choice in education more than I do.  I chose private school for my kids and I paid heavily.  But they were in a much better educational environment than most of the charter schools provide.  Although this seems like I am contradicting myself, I am not.  We were unhappy with the Mohonasen School district and also my kids wanted to go to school with their friends.  We are not unhappy that we made the choice.  I ran a center in Arbor/West Hill and saw the results of the charter school there.  GB is correct .  You could close 2/3 of them and you would be no worse off.

Quoted from 612

All charter schools do is weaken the existing public school by taking their funds.  Nobdy understands choice in education more than I do.  I chose private school for my kids and I paid heavily.  But they were in a much better educational environment than most of the charter schools provide.  Although this seems like I am contradicting myself, I am not.  We were unhappy with the Mohonasen School district and also my kids wanted to go to school with their friends.  We are not unhappy that we made the choice.  I ran a center in Arbor/West Hill and saw the results of the charter school there.  GB is correct .  You could close 2/3 of them and you would be no worse off.

And that is the union bust.....

Nobody is saying that private/Catholic schools aren't the best choice. But what about parents with less funds? What is there choice? Send your kids to a failed, persistently dangerous school and shut up. You may not understand school choice as well as you think. The City taxpayers are flushing one million dollars a year to BUS kids to Albany Charters. There is a great Montessori school at the old St Anthony's which more should support.

     Some of you should care more about the students and care less about the teacher's union. One thing I agree with DVR about is getting school funding from a sales tax. Everyone and not just property owners should get skin in the game.

Charter schools cost parents money too.  My gripe is that we could have a good school district if the system was run by competents and the school bored weren't a bunch of derelicts.  Yes my children have been lucky to have been given a great private education.  We put their education first.  WE didn't go on vacations or do any other extravagant living.  But at their private school, which I always paid 100% of the tuition--no help because I had SIX kids in at once, there were kids from the South End of Albany as well as Hamilton Hill.  Their schooling ws paid for as long as they played basketball, hockey etc.

I agree with GB you could close 2/3 of the charter schools.  Many of them are persistently on the worst school list.  I had a ten year old who went to a charter school in Albany who came to my center who hung himself because he was not progressing and the teacher was bullying him.

And did I read on this thread that DVR has the answer to this problem and we will hear more about it in 2012.  What is he running for President?