May 27, 2013 — Last week, four North Country school districts tried to buck the state's 2 percent property tax cap.

General Brown, Minerva, Newcomb and Tupper Lake all asked voters to approve spending increases that ranged from 7 percent as high as 24 percent. In every case, voters said no.

That means school administrators and boards of education are meeting, holding conversations with their communities -- trying to figure out how to maintain programs and services in their rural areas.  Go to full article

May 22, 2013 — Voters in the North Country sent a clear message to school districts that tried to exceed the state property tax cap. The answer was a resounding No.

The vast majority of the region's budgets came in under the cap and passed handily.

But four of the region's school systems -- in General Brown, Minerva, Newcomb and Tupper Lake -- asked voters to go beyond the roughly 4-5% hike allowed by state rules.  Go to full article

Apr 30, 2013 — An anti-bullying organization will use a play written by a St. Lawrence University theater professor as part of its "peaceful schools" tour this spring.

SLU Associate Professor of Performance and Communication Arts Ann Marie Gardinier Halstead, is the author of the one-act play, Have you Filled a Bucket Today?. She says schools and parents seem eager to use the arts and creative ways to address bullying in schools.

Based on Carol McCloud's popular children's book of the same name, the play also emphasizes that bullying is wrong. The organization, Peaceful Schools, will perform the play at schools in northern and central New York throughout the 2013-2014 school year.

Halstead told Todd Moe that she first heard about McCloud's book at a meeting at her son's school, and was thrilled when McCloud gave her permission to adapt it as a play.  Go to full article

Apr 11, 2013 — Many North Country school districts are facing uncharted territory. They're going bankrupt, and at the same time have more mandates to fulfill.

The annual North Country Symposium is focused on the state of education, and how it's affecting the rest of the community. Keynote speaker John Sipple is director of the New York Center for Rural Schools at Cornell University.

He says there are no easy answers, and that the schools are inextricably intertwined with the community - they rise and fall together.  Go to full article

Mar 21, 2013 — As leaders in Albany continue to hammer out the final shape of the state budget, North Country lawmakers are anxious to know what's in store for the region's cash-strapped school districts.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Mar 19, 2013 — State Senator Betty Little says she's keeping an eye on three big issues in the final hours of budget talks in Albany: Aid for cash-strapped rural schools, the minimum wage hike, and the planned closure of at least two state prisons in New York.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Feb 22, 2013 — Eighteen senators from Upstate New York have sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, asking him to make his school aid more fair to the low-wealth school districts they represent.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Jan 28, 2013 — Governor Cuomo is trying to have a no-drama budget this year, with a low-key presentation and a fiscally austere spending plan, with no major cuts or new taxes.

But growing opposition from the teachers' union and local governments may yet result in some sparks flying before the deal is settled in late March.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Jan 10, 2013 — Gov. Cuomo laid out a challenging year for New York in his State of the State speech Wednesday.

The bullet points are many and varied, from raising the minimum wage, to money for the "clean economy," a 10-point Women's Equality Act, "destination resort casinos", a regional tourism competition, an Adirondack whitewater competition, a tough assault weapons ban, incentives for teachers and for schools to provide more time in the classroom.

Then there was emergency preparedness, worker's comp, fairness in the justice system, housing, climate change.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Dec 19, 2012 — Just two thirds of school districts in New York State have completed new teacher evaluation plans, one month before a deadline imposed by Governor Cuomo. The governor says if the rest don't finish on time, they won't see any increased school aid next year.  Go to full article