A misguided push for tests
Times Union Editorial Board
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Bored schoolboy from online classes. Back to school. Tired of homework. Education and back to school conceptsgolibtolibov, Contributor / Getty Images/iStockphoto
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In the midst of a pandemic, they will divert resources and serve little if any useful purpose.
Sure, the U.S. Department of Education can force New York s public schools to give kids standardized assessment tests this year. Administrators can squeeze some data out of them and feel like they’re doing something, being accountable, seeing “how far kids have come” or “how far they’ve fallen.”
Editorial: More secret police files
Times Union Editorial Board
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THE ISSUE:
THE STAKES:
New York’s repeal last year of a law that long allowed police misconduct records to be hidden from the public was an important step toward greater transparency and accountability. It turns out, however, that such information can still be covered up, even destroyed.
That can be done, not surprisingly, under labor contracts that have in this and other instances allowed negotiated terms of employment to supplant the public interest. The state Legislature needs to straighten this out.
As the Times Union’s Brendan Lyons reports, many police agencies handle misconduct matters by putting “counseling memos” or other disciplinary letters in officers’ files. While they’re typically used for fairly minor matters, they may also be used for things like excessive force. But unlike a more formal finding from an internal affairs investigation, which may stay on an office
Editorial: Get going on broadband
Times Union Editorial Board
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Paul Hoovler from the Mid Hudson Cable Company installs cable for high-speed internet broadband in Prattsville, Greene County, on August 14, 2007. Times Union Photo by Steve JacobsDG
THE ISSUE:
THE STAKES:
If the need for universal, affordable high-speed internet service wasn’t apparent before the COVID-19 pandemic, it surely is now.
So why would Gov. Andrew Cuomo hold up a bipartisan legislative proposal to do one of the most fundamental things that needs to get done to achieve it find out where high-speed internet really is and is not available in New York?