Education

(03/09/12) Vermont's Champlain Islands are smack in the middle of Lake Champlain's northern end. Isle La Motte is the westernmost of those islands. It's isolated and rural. Living there, you might travel to New York State to see a doctor, or go to the grocery store.

But, Isle La Motte joins other towns across Vermont in town meeting day, when citizens come together to have their say on issues big and small. Sarah Harris spent town meeting day on the island and has our story. more

(03/06/12) In a new poll released Monday, voters give Governor Andrew Cuomo mixed reviews on his education policies. They say they like a new agreement on teacher evaluations, but a narrow margin say the governor is overall making the problems in the education system worse. more

(03/06/12) Protesters say 33 students and Occupy Albany activists have been released without injury or incident, following their arrests at the state Capitol Monday. Nearly 400 college and university students from around New York, from the SUNY and CUNY systems, gathered for the rally in Albany.

The students said they were rallying against rising tuition costs and said those increases are pushing them into debt. They want the state to restore funding to public universities. They also said the quality and variety of education are decreasing in New York. more

(03/06/12) Governor Andrew Cuomo's popularity has slipped a bit in a new poll released Monday, but with a 69% approval rating, it seems the governor does not have much to worry about. more

(03/05/12) It's a scene that was common-place in the early 20th century, horses out on a frozen lake cutting through the ice with bladed plows.

Ice harvesting may not be part of your family's plans this year, but for one rural St. Lawrence County family it's the only way to keep food cool during the summer. Trevor Alford visited the Douglass family farm outside Canton and has our story. more

(03/05/12) A new poll finds that half of New Yorkers believe the recent agreement on a new teacher evaluation system in every school district will improve education. The poll was taken by the Siena Research Institute.

At the insistence of Governor Andrew Cuomo, the State Education Department and the teachers' unions agreed on the new evaluation system.

The Siena Poll finds that while 50% of New Yorkers think the evaluations will improve education, 38% say it will have no effect, and 3% say it will make things worse.

A majority of those surveyed also said the agreement is fair to teachers.

The poll finds that Cuomo, himself, continues to have strong favorability and job performance ratings, although both are down slightly this month.

The Siena Institute telephone more than 800 New Yorkers in the last month of February for the poll. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.4%.

(03/05/12) Canton Central and other north country school districts are asking the community's opinions on where to make budget cuts for the coming year.

Canton faces a $2.5 million budget deficit. School leaders largely blame the gap on the state aid formula. The district has scheduled two community forums open to all residents. The first is set for Thursday evening.

Potsdam Central is also holding public forums, to deal with its projected $1.2 million budget shortfall.

(03/05/12) Gov. Cuomo's Mandate Relief Council continued its statewide tour Friday with a three-hour hearing on at Lake Placid's new conference center.

The council consists of state lawmakers and members of Cuomo's administration. The group listened to concerns about unfunded mandates presented by officials from across the North Country; the system "is broken," they told the council.

Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy moderated Friday's hearing. He said the forums have been educational, and he hopes mandate relief can be accomplished as quickly as possible.

Chris Morris has our story. more

(03/02/12) Saranac Lake will host one of only four Congressional hearings on the 2012 Farm Bill in the country. The Saranac Lake session will be the only one held in the northeast U.S. this year.

Representative Bill Owens of Plattsburgh calls it a "tremendous opportunity for New York to make its voice heard as Congress crafts the next Farm Bill."

A press release from Owens office says North Country Community College will host the hearing on Friday, March 9. The other three are scheduled in Illinois, Arkansas, and Kansas in the coming weeks. The hearings are meant to gather on-the-ground input from farmers and others about re-authorization of federal agriculture policy, which last happened in 2008.

(03/01/12) Three busloads of students and parents from Canton Central Schools are recovering today from a roundtrip to Albany yesterday (Wednesday). They were among 600 rural school advocates there from around the state to lobby for a bigger share of the state budget.
Martha Foley has more. more