Monday, October 27, 2014

Who Won The Gubernatorial Debate?

After watching a part of the gubernatorial debate, it was not hard to decide who won in it. Even though Andrew Cuomo had an obvious support of Michael McDermott, Rob Astorino was able to present his ideas and prove his points clearer than anybody among the four candidates. To each of his arguments, he seemed to have some information on how the current governor, Cuomo, failed to meet expectations of New Yorkers and the state government. This made the discussion stay on his side, by showing how well informed he is on different aspects of the state and its needs. Astorino also made his part of the debate very strong by saying that Cuomo wasted millions of dollars on making false advertisements about other nominee's credibility, by which he delivered a message, that if the current governor keeps his position, he might as well keep wasting money for his own benefits. Rob Astorino had definitely won the debate; he addressed a lot of problems that New York faces, such as the economy, corruption, Common Core, and fracking system. He clearly stated his opinions about each of those topics, and to make his argument have better chances of getting support, he compared his ideas to the ideas of his opponents, thus proving that he doesn't only proposes a few plans, but also listens to what others have to offer. His way of providing people with his points of views is not the only thing that makes me believe that he is the one who should win. I like his idea of decreasing taxes and still improving the economy. The fact that he focuses so much on the corruption of our government, gives me and other New Yorkers, a reason to believe in him. Astorino's ideas of getting rid of the Common Core fully suits my desires as a student and the desires of all the parents who oppose the current system of education. As for the question of fracking, i think that the majority of people agree with Astorino, that fracking is causing pollution and other environmental damages, and therefore shouldn't be the primary source of our oil and gas. Rob Astorino has definatelly won this debate and based on everything he said, I would surely choose him to become the next governor of New York.

By: Caterina Arnautova G-Band

Friday, October 24, 2014

Debate on Education


In the debate, Cuomo stated that he wanted to make charter schools a notable education priority while Rob Astorino wanted to stop common core by creating a ballot line in opposition. They both support longer school days. Cuomo especially supports the Dream Act, which would give state college aid to undocumented immigrants. He believes that the more money we spend on schools, the better schools do. While Astorino wants different diplomas based on different high school curriculum, he opposes the dream Act, but would lead private fundraising. 

They both have ideas I like but I lean more towards Cuomo because he supports Common Core which i think is beneficial to students from 1st-8th because it is designed to help student increase critical thinking and problem solving skills. With common core, professional development would also improve because all teachers will be teaching to the same standards. I also like the Dream Act. But I don’t like the idea of charter schools because I think the idea and the system wouldn’t sustain in the long run because despite it being publicly funded, it operates independently. Charter schools usually aren't funded enough. There would also be less transparency because charter schools are run by private institutions, they are not subject to the freedom of Information Act and lastly I don’t think charter schools promote enough diversity.



Joyce Lu G Band 

http://www.ny1.com/content/politics/governors_race_on_the_issues/217770/education-debate-continues-to-be-point-of-contention-in-governor-s-race/

http://www.parents4publicschools.org/Documents/Common_core_chart_final.pdf

Thursday, October 23, 2014

What Will Happen to the Education System?

The midterm elections are coming up and debate on education is growing. The debate, which was co-sponsored by The Buffalo News and WNED-WBFO, brought together Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Republican Rob Astorino, Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins and Libertarian candidate Michael McDermott. The four spent an hour in the WNED-TV studios in downtown Buffalo fielding questions on issues such as the Common Core educational standards.
Rob Astrorino campaign said that the Common Core “Is not appropriate, and it's something that New York should get out of, just as other states are beginning to do right now," Rob Astorino plans a "Stop Common Core" ballot line in opposition to adopted education standards. The main reason is because the standards are experimental, conceived in secrecy with no public hearings on the draft standards, and never tested. It is education guided at the federal level – not the state and local level. In addition it is considered to be developmentally inappropriate in the early grades and not based on well-researched child development knowledge. Instead of the Common Core he wants to develop more accurate measures of student, teacher and school performance, reducing reliance on high stakes assessments, with a more balanced, portfolio approach and increase availability of vocational training in schools for careers in home economics, carpentry, mechanics and electrical. This well be a great skill/interest to have after High School because in the recent years schools have moved away from career training.

http://www.robastorino.com/astorinomoss-education-plan/

By: Amy Zhang G-Band

Different philosophies regarding education-Blog Post #3

The concept of education has been thrown around in this election, catching the attention from the public eye whether the common core standards should be abandoned or further implemented. Candidate Howie Hawkins reveals his opinion. He states how New York should eliminate the common core curriculum standards that NY adopted with the majority of United States. Fundamentally, he is stressing the importance of stopping the common core. Candidate Hawkins gives beard-stroking reasons as to why the Common Core should be banished for good.

The common core is completely unfair to educators. It is dumbing down education, according to Howie. This current system forces teachers to teach the test, which shifts the educators into bad moods. As educators, they are appointed with the position to educate students through creativity and other thought-provoking activities. Educators spent time learning and mastering the skills of presenting material to students. How can this be compared to a fat chunk of paper that was printed within a couple of hours? Dedication from the educators should be looked more highly upon and Hawkins is absolutely right to steer away from the common core. In addition to somewhat neglecting the teachers, the common core is a tremendous drain on time and money in schools. 

According to Howie Hawkins, school communities should be given the opportunity to overlook the issue and come up with a decision regarding the standards and assessment. His essential theme is to allow teachers to experience independence while teaching, not to have a textbook be their dictator while demonstrating information. Unlike him, his competitors are content with creating standardized assessments, which are not beneficial nor interesting to any child. If elected as governor, Howie Hawkins will increase funding for education and discover an alternation for distributing available resources to academic settings amongst the state's 70 school districts.

WRITTEN BY DIMITRIS VITALAKIS G BAND GOVERNMENT HONORS

Debate on Education

The candidates for this year's election are having a constant debate concerning education. Their arguments are on whether or not schools should only focus on students' knowledge. The question  presented in the debate is; should the Common Core be used in every aspect of school structure, or should there be an alternative system for New York's education? The candidates show their opinions on the topic, by discussing the financial needs for classrooms, the accomplishments of teachers and the school system itself.
Andrew Cuomo proposes various ideas during the debate. In the past, he has done a lot for education; for example, created a full day Pre-kindergarten program, so he has experience with the system. Cuomo says that the only way to achieve a stable economy, is by making sure that every child receives a good education. He wants to focus on funding on performance and establishing new pathways to college level work and career readiness. He also wants to fund the recognition and rewarding of the most successful and outstanding teachers. Andrew Cuomo is planning to reinvest in the classrooms of New York schools and additionally to make sure that the school funding does not lead to unaffordable property tax hikes. He is a great supporter of the high performing charter schools and primarily because of that, has proposed a $2 billion "Smart Schools" bond, that should eventually re-imagine our classrooms for our world of technology and make sure that household income doesn't get in the way of proper education.

Source: http://andrewcuomo.com/record-of-success/education/

By: Caterina Arnautova

Blog#3 Education Debate in NY State

Andrew Cuomo has his own platform on education. Governor Cuomo believes that  the only way to achieve a dynamic economic future for all New Yorkers is by ensuring that all children receive a quality education that prepares them for the 21st century. Ever since Governor Cuomo first took office New York has become the leader in the nation in placing the most effective teachers in the classroom. Every school in New York now has a teacher evaluation system to ensure a performance based approach to student learning. The Governor also increased budgets in the past couple years and will do so again if he gets reelected. In the past 3 years he has increased funding for education by $2.9 billion. He is planning on using that money to compete with charter schools. Also he proposed a $2 billion "smart school" bond that will re imagine our classrooms for our high tech world and level the playing field so that income won't effect the level of access students have to technology  in schools. His basic motto for education is putting students first. 

By: Rony Rud 

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Who is a better candidate?

Howie Hawkins


Howie has a list of things he says he will do if he gets elected as governor such as more women's rights, workers rights, immigrant rights, LGBT rights, and many more. If he gets elected he says that he will raise the state minimum to 15$ an hour. He promises health care for all New Yorkers. Quality education for all and that tuition for all CUNY, SUNY, and community colleges should be free. He is also trying to make New York a greener place by making it 100% clean energy by 2030. He says he wants energy production from distributed solar, wind, wave, etc, so that every home, office and factory is retrofitted to be a solar power producer. But by doing all of this he needs a lot of money in which he is planning on getting it from the rich by taxing them more and cutting the other 95% of New Yorkers taxes. He is against stop and frisk and broken windows and plans on trying to stop that because he says there is a lot of racism involved. H wants to legalize many drugs such as marijuana and heroin. He wants to raise the age of adult criminal responsibility to 18. He wants to enact a Pay Equity law to insure that workers are paid equal pay for work of comparable worth. This also applies to women.

I liked Howie Hawkins platform. It seems like he has a lot of plans if he gets elected, but he doesn't really explain how he will make all of his plans happen.

http://www.howiehawkins.org/platform

By: Rony Rud G-Band

Howie Hawkins' ideas regarding the economy 
Snatching money from the poor may be a poor moral decision, but allowing the rich to take care of funding is smarter. Howie Hawkins brings up an excellent idea to revisit the plan from the 1970's, that is, to tax wall street in order for our academic settings and local government to receive necessary money. In addition, he indicates how property taxes should experience a permanent cut, fundamentally lowering the taxes for employees in society. Unlike other political parties, Howie expresses a sense of relief towards the public. He reveals how his political party, The Greens, do not capture corporate money. The party relies on themselves for the corporate lobbyists and their-paid for political representatives in the Democratic and Republican parties. Howie is insinuating how his services shall not cost a single dime to the public, nor should they feel that their earnings will fall into his pocket. Society today fears politics due to its economic corruption. By having Howie elected as governor, the public will experience a relationship full of integrity between their politician and community.

www.howiehawkins.org

WRITTEN BY DIMITRIS VITALAKIS

Rob Astorino


The New York Republican, Rob Astorino pledged to make significant overhauls to the state budget, tax code and economic plan, saying he has "the commitment to reform of a Roosevelt." He wants to cut the state budget and reduce the tax rate. In addition Astorino wants to create new jobs to Westchester County. More than 30,000 new jobs have been created in the county since 2010. Rob Astorino also plans to eliminate job killing regulations and mandates, reduce tax burden, create gas development, and accelerate hi tech start up creation. Astorino plans to propose a gun law that is similar to California's Use a Gun and You're Done Law. Astorino said he would add 10 years to a prison sentence if a criminal is caught using a gun to commit a felony; 20 years if the gun is discharged while committing a crime and an additional 25-year to life sentence if the gun kills or injures another person during the crime. Astorino also called for reforms to the distribution of public assistance programs like food stamps and Medicaid.



I believe Rob Astrorino has a better plan because due to the fact that New York has a population of over 19 million people, people need jobs and its very competitive and hard to get a job. In addition there are many families with low income that don’t have enough money to buy food for their family, with food stamp it helps the family out, making it more affordable to buy food. Since the population is large in this state, the fact that Astrorino is trying to enforce more gun control law makes this a safer place and environment to live in. 

By: Amy Zhang G-Band

Rob Astorino Continued...

Rob Astorino is looking forward to eliminating gaps in the economy while not raising the taxes, but lowering them. He reduced his own budget by 19% and encouraged many non-union county employees to start contributing to health care costs with him. Those contributions, along with the lowered taxes have created many jobs for people who need financial help. Astorino believes that a good paying job is the best type of welfare and economy improves with that. Throughout his years in the government, he was able to get rid of a $166 budget gap by using his methods of economical progress. With such savings he was able to support many organizations; for example, schools and parks. He soon wants to create a High-Tech Research Complex out of 60 acres of grassland in Westchester in order to create more medical and bio-tech positions. He also wants to make school classrooms safer and discuss the main causes of violence in students, like metal illnesses and simply the inability to attend school lessons. As for Astorino's beliefs, he thinks that the government should be limited, just how it states in the Constitution, and that no organization should provide an innocent person's identity to the public without the person's consent. He is against corruption in the country, stating that many economical procedures are causing economical fall downs. Another economical issue that he is concerned about is abortion. Astorino says that unnecessary abortions are taking money from state's Medical funding and he is completely against it. In addition to this medical problem, he states that he will only support such drugs as medical marijuana only if they are strictly controlled by the government and medical organizations. Astorino supports the Dream Act, which provides financial aid to students without documents, in order to make sure that every person who decides to live here gets their chance to become somebody in the society. Overall his goal is to improve our economy by making the people happy, instead of degrading and attacking them with crazy taxes.


I think that Rob Astorino has great ideas for improving our economy. He focuses lowering taxes, creating jobs, schools, and organizations to help people live fulfilling life. He supports a healthy way of living by banning marijuana and tries to help people with no money for health care. Along with the economy, Astorino also protects our environment by promoting solar energy use and restoring parks. By supporting a plan of helping out students with no documents, he is encouraging many young kids to study harder, and by making the schools safes, he allows children's minds to fully expand. He wants our society to rise to the top, so that people who live here have more opportunities to have normal lives. 

By: Caterina Arnautova G-Band

Andrew Cuomo

If Andrew Cuomo were to be reelected, he would continue to fight for abortion rights (Reproductive Rights Acts), civil rights for women, immigrants, workers, and the LGBT community. He plans to end “stop and frisk," criminalize synthetic marijuana, and designer drugs. Also improving the education system by adding additional fundings to SUNYs and CUNYs schools. He also supports government-run healthcare and water policies to protect environment and business interests. Cuomo plans to jumpstart the economy by creating jobs. As of December 11, 2013 announced that $715.9 Million dollars would be invested into economic development funding. This plan is to empower communities, business and academic leaders to help create jobs and academic growth. Cuomo plans to transform New York State into a destination for complains around the world to invest and grow with initiatives like START-UP NY to help promote tax free areas. These efforts have furthered our economic growth. 

I would vote for Howie. His platform is well rounded and it include mostly every group from women to LGBT community. What really caught my attention was that he calls for making college free for students. He has a lot of good ideas, but I agree with Rony, that he needs to throughly explain his plans. 




Joyce Lu G Band

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Which is better?

The difference between the democratic party and the republican party is that while democrats believe in working together to succeed, republicans believe that in order for people to succeed they have to be presented with equal opportunities. Republicans believe that the American dream is at risk and that restrictions of the government is needed; the government needs to be returned to its proper role, making it smaller and more efficient. Republicans believe that taxation, litigation and regulation needs to be kept to the minimum. Democrats also believe in fair share, but they believe working together playing the same rules would lift the economy for all americans. Democrats focus more on individuals. 

Both parties have its principals I really support. Republicans believe in the constitution being honored and upheld. Communities should be free from government intrusion, government being smaller and more efficient. Health care decision made by citizens, and having pay check used on good government programs. Military being strong and prepared, veterans having best care and opportunities and social programs lifting people out of poverty. 


However, i must say I lean more towards the democratic side because democrats care more about individual communities which makes up America. It focuses on specific issues like civil rights, educations, health care, immigration reforms, open government and most importantly, the LGBT community. I think it’s important to incorporate the different voices of community and democrats are constantly trying to think of ways to make this huge community work. It is to my advantage of being a minor in this country to support democrats because my voice can be heard. 

Joyce Lu G

Democrats vs Republicans

Republicans believe that each person is responsible for his or her own place in society. they believe that the government should give each person the ability and opportunity to secure the benefits of society for themselves, their families and for those who are unable to care for themselves. They also believe taxes shouldn't be increased for anyone (including the wealthy) and that wages should be set by the free market.

Democrats believe it is the responsibility of government to care for all individuals, even if it means 
giving up some individual rights and/or subordinating enterprise and initiative. They believe that the economy is too complicated for individuals to navigate alone. They believe that business decisions should be guided by government officials. Their economic ideas are that minimum wages and progressive taxation, higher tax rates for higher income brackets. Born out of anti-federalist ideals but evolved over time to favor more government regulation.

I am more of a Republican because when it comes to taxes and equality they get the job done. Every person has the same opportunity to become wealthy. The government should not tax the wealthy more just to help out the poor, because most of the wealthy people worked hard for their money and therefore should pay the same taxes. 

By: Rony Rud 

Donkey or Elephant

 Democrats believe all people should be able to pursue their goals despite their gender, religion, nationality or ethnic background. In addition anyone can have an education regardless of the economic situation. Democrats also give the rights for people to express their beliefs and ideas. Democrats tend to help out the lower class. Taxes should not be used to increase the gap between the wealthy and the poor in the United States. They believe in a larger federal government. This means a dominant federal government that seeks to control the authority of local institution. Democrats want to lower increases in military spending, favor more gun control law, support abortion rights, favor equal rights for gays and increase the minimum wage

The Republican wants less governmental interference and strongly believes in property rights rather than welfare rights. The social and human ideas should be based on individual responsibility, rights and justice. Republics also believe in free marketing meaning that there are no government restrictions to doing business. This causes competition to sees who stays in the market and who leaves the market. Republicans want to increase military spending, gun control laws should allow the right to carry concealed weapons and believe that marriage should be between a man and women.


Both sides have their good and bad, but I tend to lean more towards the Democrats. Being a low class citizen it’s good to have the democrats support the raise in minimum wage, public education and health care. I believe that there is equality among all races and ethnic backgrounds and that the government should help the lower class. 

By: Amy Zhang G-Band

Democrats vs Republicans

Democratic and Republican parties have existed for centuries, providing their own views on how the government should interact in the way a country develops and how the rights of individuals are going to be protected. Every year about 30% of Americans are identified as Democrats, about 30% are Republicans and the rest 40% percent of Americans usually stay independent of those two political parties. So this shows that the people aren't really more supportive of one party than another. In general, if a child should ask what the difference of the two of them really is, the simplest explanation would be: democrats believe that the government has to care for all individuals at any cost, while republicans believe that people should be responsible for what they are and what they will become in a society on their own, without much help from the government, except for security.

To go in depth about most of the differences of the two parties, it is important to know one of the most common reasons for why a person would choose one party over another. Democrats want the higher class to pay more taxes than a middle and especially the lower classes. They justify this by saying that people with no money barely loose anything anyway by paying taxes, while the poor people don't really have anything to pay from, because they can barely survive in their low-income homes, which means that high taxes can actually hurt them a lot. Republicans, on the other hand, want all social classes to have taxes cut, and they don't support the idea of the richer people paying more taxes only because of their high income. They say that this kind of taxation can hurt many businesses and actually lower the income of those higher-class people. That was the main issue which affects people's opinion of each of the parties. Other issues that they disagree on are military defenses, financial support, minimum wage, gun control, abortion and gay marriage. For example, Democrats try to spend less of their money on the military while increasing the benefit programs for lower-income families. They highly support the minimum wage, claiming that people cant survive on a salary lower that a certain number. Also, the democratic party gives their support for gun control laws, abortion and gay marriage, in order to provide protection and equal rights for every individual. To the contrary, Republicans believe that the government should focus more on financially supporting the military defenses while giving less benefits to the poor. They don't support the minimum wage, because in their opinion, it hurts many businesses. Unlike the other party, republicans oppose gun control, abortion and same sex-marriage, claiming that the first issue contradicts the Second Amendment, which is the right to bear arms, the second issue provides unnecessary rights to kill innocent people, and the last issue is simply unnatural.

As an young individual of the 21st century, I would most likely choose the Democratic party since it provides more financial help for common people and protects majority of Americans. As a person supporting the democrats, I know for sure that if something would happen to me in the future, that would prevent me from being financially stable, I will be able to get help from the government and if I somehow manage to get to the top, I don't really think that paying high taxes would stop me from living a perfect life. Also, even though the gun control laws take away some rights given by the Second Amendment, I would rather know for sure that my chances of getting shot are less than they would be if guns were allowed. In my opinion, guns should only be distributed to law officials, and banned for the majority of others. In addition to gun control, I highly support abortion and gay marriage. Even though I don't support the killings of innocent people, I think that a baby shouldn't be born to a family where he or she is not wanted, because that would only create violence in the society. For the issues of same-sex marriage, I don't see anything unnatural in a male and a male or a female and a female getting married. It has been already proven, gay people are born that way, so banning them from creating families would simply take away their rights as individuals. The only thing I don't fully agree with is the minimum wage. Yes, I do believe that workers should have a minimum salary required by the law, but the youth should have more job opportunities which can be created from a little bit less money than usually. Still, I believe that the democratic party concerns most of the Americans' rights and is the right party for me to be a part of.

By: Caterina Arnautova (G-Band Gov't Honors)

What is the main difference between Democrats and Republicans?Which one are you? Explain

 The main difference between Democrats and Republicans is that they think and act differently, fundamentally, obtaining different philosophies. Democrats believe in liberalness,("left wing"), which is strictly defined as preferring more regulation and services like free universal health care to be provided by the government to all citizens. Republicans believe in Conservatism, ("right wing")which is described as smaller government regulation, and for the majority of services to be given from the private sector in a free market, and a literal interpretation of the constitution. In addition to their predominant philosophies, their social views, along with their personal responsibilities differ immensely.

Democrats approve how gay couples should have equal rights just like everyone else, more in depth, regarding marriage amongst them. Also, abortion should be completely legal, in addition to supporting embryonic stem cell research. Lastly, Democrats support restrictions and regulation around the right to bear arms. Republicans are extremely odd when it comes to expressing their social views. They do not support gay marriage, abortion, and frown upon embryonic stem cell research. In addition, Republicans favor the right to bear arms and to perform the death penalty. The government may be a source or weapon posed to both political parties, but in the end, their personal responsibilities are an indication of themselves as human beings.

The Democratic party follows the culture to glance at the government in order to provide structure. In addition, laws are enacted to give immunity to every individual for an equal society, sometimes at the expense of economic independence if necessary. Nevertheless, the Republican party reveals how individuals should exercise personal responsibility and it is the governments' role to hold them accountable even with severe punishments. Lastly, laws are enacted to demonstrate the best interest of society as a whole.

In terms of selecting a party, I would learn more to the Democratic party because their overall interest is to give individuals a chance in society to make their mark. For example, same-sex couples can spend the rest of their lives together while having the title of being married, from the support of this political party. Another example of their overall interest is that they believe the government should be more caring, yet appropriate when it comes to dealing with those who come from low-socioeconomic
families. This would create the underprivileged families to receive aid and relief whenever needed. Lastly, this political party wants to ensure everyone guaranteed health care, which is a necessity in life because everyone must be healthy while living their lives. The Democratic party is an organization that fights for the people who need assistance and looks for the best resources for their members.

WRITTEN BY DIMITRIS VITALAKIS G BAND GOVERNMENT HONORS