The odd logic, strange bedfellows and unexamined implications of a major education policy shift the state adopted this fall: allowing SUNY charter schools to waive state requirements for teacher certification and hire unlicensed teachers without education degrees.
The first week of 2018 offered government stories galore, from a chilly inauguration to a new speaker’s elevation to the governor’s state of the state address. Ben Max of Gotham Gazette and City Limits’ Jarrett Murphy break down the week’s stories at the intersection of policy and politics.
Elvin Garcia did not get the City Council seat for which he ran. But, as he writes in this op-ed, he did gain a new respect for the people of the Bronx, for the capacity of established leaders to change and for the need to reform New York’s voting system.
‘We have developed a clear vision, clear goals, and a clear path to success for our kids and families.’
The law will give the city the ability to aware higher-value contracts through the kind of discretionary process that gives minority- and woman-led firms a leg up.
The City Council passed historic reforms by close margins over the fierce complaints of advocates claiming betrayal. As important as the drama and its outcome is what the debate revealed about the balance of power in the city.
Whatever role he plays on the national stage, de Blasio will be part of the struggle for the soul of the Democratic party, writes the mayor’s biographer.
The revamped housing plan includes steps to implement many of the policy ideas proposed by advocates within the last couple years, though clear disagreements remain between the administration and critics.
Mayor de Blasio was resoundingly re-elected. Almost every other incumbent was also safely returned to power. NYC’s government in 2018 will look much like it has for the past four years. But rising seas, term limits, population growth and federal cuts could reshape the city and its politics even if the voters did not.
Yes, the debate stunk. Yes, the race has been uninspiring. Yes, it is still your civic duty to vote. So, better listen to Ben and Jarrett to figure out what to make of it all.
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