The debt this $2 billion bond will create is no small amount in the annual budget. E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, puts the total at roughly $130 million per year, but that figure could change drastically depending on how long the note is for. Read More
Five area school superintendents have made the list of the top 20 salaries in the north country for 2013-14 in a report released Thursday by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
The number of school district employees outside of New York City who are paid more than $100,000 has jumped nearly 50 percent since 2008. Yet, that’s still just half of what the highest-paid school employee in the Mohawk Valley made during the last year, according to data from the Empire Center in Albany Read More
Proposal Three would authorize issuing up to $2 billion bond. The money would go to improving technology in classrooms and for technology-based school security. The Empire Center argues it would could about $500 million in interest. Read More
Who doesn't want the best for New York's students? But the price tag for electronic equipment that will be obsolete long before it's paid off isn't the best use of the taxpayers' money. We would urge voters to vote "no" on the bond act. Read More
Eighty-five percent of websites for the state’s largest area governments and school districts are failing to provide taxpayers with basic easy-to-find information, according to ratings announced Thursday by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
The city of Auburn has one of the top five websites among cities in New York state, according to a report released by The Empire Center for Public Policy. The results were not as positive for Cayuga County and the Auburn City School District, however, as both government entities received failing grades from the organization. Read More
Criticism of the $2 billion bond extends to the think tank The Empire Center for Public Policy, which refers to the Smart Schools Bond Act as full of "highly debatable promises." Considering the state's already "enormous" debt burden, the center advises voter's take caution when thinking about voting on the bond. Read More