James J Malatras
109 Fernbank Ave
Delmar, NY 12054-4222
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(518) 729-4281
Age: 35-39
Associated:
Chris L Moore, Jennifer W Malatras
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Highly educated James Malatras works for a man who does not treat holy days equally and who only treats homosexuals equally. See NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3.
Per
View James's ProfileHighly educated James Malatras works for a man who does not treat holy days equally and who only treats homosexuals equally. See NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3.
Per
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo
signaled on Thursday that he intended to push next year for sweeping
changes to the state’s education system, with goals that include making
it easier to fire low-performing teachers and increasing the number of charter schools.
In
a letter to the state’s departing education commissioner, John B. King
Jr., and the chancellor of the Board of Regents, Merryl H. Tisch, Mr.
Cuomo’s director of state operations, Jim Malatras, asserted that the
performance of the state’s students on a variety of measures, like
graduation rates and test scores, was “unacceptable.” He also enumerated
pointed questions about subjects like teacher evaluations and tenure.
The first question on the list, for instance, asked, “How is the current teacher evaluation system credible when only 1 percent of teachers are rated ineffective?”
The
letter, which cited “special interests,” a clear reference to the major
teachers’ unions, suggested that the governor planned to aggressively
confront the unions, which did not endorse him in his re-election
campaign.
The letter asked Ms. Tisch and Mr. King, who is leaving at the end of the year for a senior job at the federal Education Department, to respond by Dec. 31, so that the governor could incorporate their suggestions into his State of the State address.
The
governor does not control the state’s Education Department: The
commissioner is appointed by the regents, who are selected by the
Legislature. (Mr. Malatras wrote that the setup was “unique” and asked
whether it should be changed.)
But
the letter indicated that Mr. Cuomo planned to use his considerable
power in the budget process and clearly laid out his views as the
regents prepared to select Mr. King’s successor.
Education reform groups were nearly celebratory in response to the letter.
“Governor
Cuomo continues to show his genuine commitment to our state’s students
and is asking all the right questions to get them the education they
deserve,” said Jenny Sedlis, the executive director of StudentsFirst NY,
a group that advocates tougher teacher evaluations, fewer teacher
tenure protections and the creation of more charter schools, which are
publicly funded but privately run. Several of the group’s board members
were major donors to Mr. Cuomo’s re-election campaign.
Union
leaders, meanwhile, criticized the governor for not addressing issues
like school funding, class sizes and poverty, and accused him of the
wholesale adoption of his backers’ agenda.
Teachers’
unions have criticized the growth of charter schools, which tend to be
nonunion, as taking resources from traditional schools.
“This
letter comes right out of the playbook of the hedge funders for whom
education ‘reform’ has become a pet cause and who poured money into the
Cuomo re-election campaign,” Michael Mulgrew, the president of the
United Federation of Teachers, the New York City teachers’ union, said
in a statement.
Through
a spokesman, Ms. Tisch responded: “The Board of Regents is enthusiastic
about continuing our partnership with the governor to work in the best
interests of all our students, and we look forward to responding to the
letter from his office.”
The
topics of Mr. Malatras’s questions, like the process for removing
poor-performing teachers, echoed the agenda of reform advocates. The
letter sought opinions about the probationary period for teachers,
currently three years, and whether it should be extended; whether
teachers should have to be recertified every several years; and whether
the cap on the number of charter schools should be raised.
The
letter also asked Mr. King and Ms. Tisch what they would do about
mayoral control of New York City schools, and what adjustments they
would make. The Legislature must consider next year whether to keep
schools under the mayor’s control, and the letter is a hint that the
governor plans to use the issue in negotiations with Mayor Bill de
Blasio over other matters.
Mr.
King and Ms. Tisch have overseen a period of rapid change in the
state’s education policies, from the rollout of standardized tests
aligned to the Common Core curriculum standards to a new teacher
evaluation system, both of which have caused enormous controversy and
have turned Mr. King into something of a lightning rod among parents and
teachers. The new, more difficult tests have caused large drops in
passing rates across the state.
Mr.
Cuomo, who was originally a strong advocate of both the Common Core and
teacher evaluations, has at times shifted in the political winds. This
year, he negotiated with the Legislature a measure to prohibit state
test scores from appearing on students’ transcripts. He also agreed on a
bill protecting teachers from being fired for low test scores for two
years.
This
week, after new figures showed that 96 percent of teachers received one
of the two highest ratings on the state’s new evaluation system, and
less than 1 percent got the lowest rating, Mr. Cuomo criticized the
process as being too soft on teachers and suggested that he might not
sign the bill. But it landed on his desk on Wednesday and, under the
arcane rules of the capital, it will become law if he neither signs it
nor vetoes it within 10 days.
Stop scratching on holidays
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
HI-
Thanks for
the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy,
if you give me a mailing address.
Claude
Solnik
(631)
913-4244
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Island
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Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348
Home > LI
Confidential > Stop
scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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