Don’t Make Poor Districts Shoulder the Burden An opinion piece written for the Albany Times-Union: https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Viewpoint-Don-t-make-poor-districts-shoulder-the-15573324.php
New York’s School Aid Cuts Will Disproportionately Harm Poor Districts A recent Albany Times-Union report “recently warned officials they should expect state aid payments to be reduced by 20 percent.” The source of the report was the Questar III Board of Cooperative Educational Services State Aid and Financial Planning. The Times-Union article went on to report that “Freeman Klopott, a spokesman for the state budget […]
Covid-19 Cases Reach New Highs: What Have We Learned? As I write in late July, Covid-19 cases continue to reach new highs at the national level. The number of new cases reached more than 66,000 a day in the week ending July 18th, using a seven day rolling average. That number is about two and one half times the 24,000 new cases that were […]
Covid-19: Rapid Growth in Cases Exposes Vulnerabilities Although the Northeast, particularly New York State, was the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in March and April, states like New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts imposed stringent measures that limited personal interactions, such as closing all non-essential worksites, limiting gatherings to groups of 10 or less, and requiring people to wear masks in settings […]
Despite Agitation to Reopen Businesses, Upstate Covid-19 Cases Are Not Declining Upstate areas are seeing increasing pressure to reopen currently closed businesses as the economic damage from Covid-19 restrictions increases. With millions of New Yorkers unemployed and businesses facing the prospect of permanent closure, there is real need for relief. But reopening should take place in a way that does not lead to significant growth in […]
Reported Covid-19 Cases Increase in Upstate New York Although New York State is seeing a decline in the number of new reported Coronavirus infections, the decrease is concentrated in downstate New York. Reported new Covid-19 cases in upstate areas are increasing. The increase is associated with an increase in the availability of tests for the virus. New Cases Decrease Statewide New Covid-19 cases […]
New Covid-19 Cases Decline Throughout New York The number of new reported cases of Coronavirus in New York State has begun to decline. The chart below, which shows the three-day moving average of new cases, indicates that after plateauing from April 3rd to April 10th, a decline began, with cases decreasing from a peak of more than 10,000 to less than 5,000 […]
Will New York Reopen for Business by May 1st? Recent reports show that President Trump would like to reopen the national economy within a few weeks. The Washington Post reported that “President Trump — concerned with the sagging economy — has sought a strategy for resuming business activity by May 1.” More recently, the President said that he expected some states to reopen before […]
Local Leaders’ Role in Combating the Economic Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic The Covid-19 health response has shut down New York’s local economies. With most business activities on pause, local government leaders should be addressing the economic impact now and preparing for the time when businesses are permitted to reopen. To date, the health impact of the virus in Upstate New York has been less severe than […]
New York’s Amazon Debacle – Some Lessons Predictably, Amazon’s decision to abandon its HQ2 project with 25,000+ future jobs in New York City led to acrimony with opposing politicians and some commentators blaming the company for abandoning its effort. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an early project opponent tried to re-frame her stance saying, “We do not have to settle for scraps in the […]
