Latest news with #Reason
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
New York's elite public schools at risk as socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani targets admissions test
New York City's specialized public high schools, long regarded as one of the few bright spots in the city's struggling education system, may face a major overhaul under the potential leadership of socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now With Mamdani projected to win the Democratic mayoral primary, his plans to eliminate the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) — the gateway to eight of the city's most prestigious selective high schools — have sparked intense debate about the future of merit-based education in the US's largest school district. These specialized high schools, including the Bronx High School of Science and Stuyvesant High School, have offered talented students from across the city an opportunity to escape underperforming local schools and attend some of the nation's top public high schools. But Mamdani's socialist-leaning agenda, which extends beyond housing and wages to education reform, threatens to dismantle the exam system that many credit with maintaining academic excellence and diversity in these schools. Specialized high schools: a rare success story in NYC public education The city's eight specialized high schools admit students solely through the SHSAT, a test designed to select the most academically gifted students. While New York City public schools often face criticism for overspending, lack of accountability, and overall dysfunction, these schools have consistently produced exceptional academic results. They provide opportunities for students from varied economic backgrounds, with roughly half of students at top schools like Stuyvesant and Bronx Science considered economically disadvantaged. For example, 52 percent of Bronx Science students come from low-income families. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now However, the SHSAT has also drawn criticism for what opponents call racial bias. Asian students have historically scored highest on the test; in 2023, over two-thirds of Stuyvesant's student body was Asian. This has led critics to accuse the test of perpetuating segregation. Yet, as reported by Reason, Asian students in New York City also have the lowest median income among racial groups, challenging assumptions that specialized schools are dominated by affluent students. Mamdani himself is an alumnus of Bronx Science and has acknowledged the segregation problem but insists the SHSAT must be abolished. Mamdani's challenge to merit-based admissions As quoted by Reason, Mamdani has stated, "I support measures to integrate our public schools and fully fund our education system, including the abolition of the SHSAT." His campaign focuses on implementing recommendations from the 2019 School Diversity Advisory Group, which call for eliminating gifted programs at elementary levels and halting new test-in schools. Mamdani argues that ending the SHSAT will address systemic segregation and inequality in education. Yet critics warn that eliminating the SHSAT could harm talented students, particularly those from low-income families who rely on the merit-based test to access top-tier education. The current system already includes support programs for disadvantaged students who narrowly miss admission, such as summer study sessions that offer a second chance to gain entry. The risk of losing a proven pathway for talented students Removing the SHSAT may not close achievement gaps but could instead reduce opportunities for many capable students. The exam provides a clear, standardized metric to identify academic talent across all neighborhoods and income levels. Without it, students from disadvantaged backgrounds might lose access to schools where they can learn among peers with similar abilities, limiting both their growth and chances for upward mobility. Mamdani's plans, if enacted, would represent a significant shift in one of the most closely watched education systems in the US. While the goal of increased integration and equity is widely supported, education experts and advocates caution that dismantling a merit-based system without a proven alternative may do more harm than good. As Reason reported, the debate over New York City's specialized high schools highlights a broader national conversation about balancing fairness, diversity, and excellence in public education under the current US administration led by President Trump.
New York Post
16 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Who'll end Christian slaughter, grad schools will survive loan caps and other commentary
Foreign desk: Who'll End Christian Slaughter? 'On Friday June 13, over 500 Christians' were murdered by Islamic terrorists in Nigeria, reports The Free Press' Madeleine Kearns. 'The jihadists broke into homes and shelters, murdering people with machetes,' then 'doused their victims' bodies and homes in petrol and set them ablaze.' And, 'though exceptional in scale and barbarity,' it's just 'part of a pattern of persecution that Christians in Nigeria have come to expect.' Consider: 'Since 2009, Islamists' across Nigeria 'have destroyed over 18,000 churches,' 'murdered over 50,000 Christians' and displaced 'a further 5 million Christians.' Yet Western governments and media 'have turned away from the issue.' Will anyone move to stop the carnage? Libertarian: Grad Schools Will Survive Loan Caps Advertisement A provision in the Republican Big Beautiful Bill 'may make considerable inroads to correcting a decades-long student loan policy that has driven expensive programs and large debt burdens for students,' cheers Reason's Emma Camp. The House bill 'eliminates the Graduate PLUS loan program, which allows graduate students to borrow an unlimited sum of money from the government,' instead capping grad-student borrowing at $100,000, 'with a $150,000 limit for professional programs, and a lifetime cap of $200,000 for all students.' These caps could 'force colleges to lower their prices once their students no longer have access to an infinite pile of government money.' Indeed, If we want more affordable medical schools, 'the first step should involve actually incentivizing medical schools to stop overcharging students.' Conservative: Dems' NYC-led Coastal Elitism 'One interesting aspect of the rise of' socialist Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani 'is what it says about New York City's dominance of national Democratic politics at this moment,' muses the Washington Examiner's Byron York. 'The New York contingent essentially is the leadership of the Democratic Party today,' since congressional leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer as well as stars Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders are all current or former New Yorkers. 'After the 2024 election, Democratic pollster Mark Penn wrote that Trump was elected by 'Americans who feel abandoned by the coastal elites and a Democratic Party that moved too far from mainstream America.'' 'There are probably a lot of things Democrats might do to broaden their appeal beyond the coastal areas, but' elevating Mamdani 'is definitely not one of them.' Advertisement Antisemitism beat: 'Kosherizing' Jew-Haters Just before New York's mayoral primary, late-night host Stephen Colbert's guests were Zohran Mamdani and City comptroller Brad Lander, notes Commentary's Seth Mandel. 'All three were there' to 'help elect Zohran Mamdani mayor.' Mamdani — 'the poster child for progressive anti-Zionism's conquest of the mainstream Democratic Party' — had defended the phrase 'globalize the intifada,' which calls for violence against Jews, and 'Colbert can be effective at shielding left-wing anti-Semites from criticism.' Then again, the TV host doesn't 'hold a candle in that department to Brad Lander': Indeed, the comptroller's 'alliance with Mamdani' is the 'culmination of years of Lander's efforts to kosherize anti-Semitism.' He's part of the story of 'the collapse of New York's Jewish-political establishment.' Sen. Chuck Schumer, who kissed 'Mamdani's ring,' is 'the capstone of this project.' From the right: Lefties' Chronic Mental Misery Advertisement Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) 'said last week that Donald Trump supporters are mentally ill,' but 'it's her side that is not well,' snarks the Issues & Insights editorial board. 'Nine in 10 conservatives self-report their mental health to be excellent (51%)' versus only 20% of liberals. Meanwhile, 'only 19% of conservatives say their mental health is poor, while 45% of liberals say they have poor mental health.' 'This is not a new development related to Trump returning to the White House. A decade ago, University of Toronto researchers similarly 'found that conservatives are more emotionally stable than liberals.' 'Democrats, progressives, socialists, anti-capitalists, and the rest who reside under the leftist umbrella are unhappy, and they want everyone else to be just as miserable as they are.' — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
On Housing, All New York Politicians Are Socialists
Zohran Mamdani's upset victory in the New York Democratic Mayoral Primary on Tuesday puts the self-proclaimed socialist one step closer to enacting his far-ranging left-wing agenda. At the top of the candidate's list, as Reason's Liz Wolfe covered this morning, is his call to freeze rents on New York's roughly one million rent-stabilized housing units. Relative to free market orthodoxy, a rent freeze is indeed an extreme policy proposal. In New York politics, it's a solidly mainstream idea. Mamdani's socialism has gotten a lot of attention, thanks in no small part to his aggressively charismatic social media presence. But when it comes to housing policy, everyone in New York is effectively a socialist, even the allegedly sane, centrist candidates running against Mamdani. When then-Mayor Bill de Blasio called for a rent freeze back in April 2020, a loud supporter of the idea was then-Brooklyn Borough President (and current Mayor) Eric Adams, who'll face off against Mamdani in the general election. The city's mayor-appointed Rent Guidelines Board obliged and voted in June 2020 to cap rent increases through October 2021 on one-year rent-stabilized leases. Coinciding with that rent freeze was New York's eviction moratorium, which in effect made paying rent optional by preventing landlords from removing delinquent tenants. The author of that eviction moratorium was then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani's main—and now defeated—Democratic primary rival. Both Adams and Cuomo have since come out against the idea of a rent freeze in 2025. Yet Adams has also criticized the top-line rent increases currently being considered by the Rent Guidelines Board as excessive. The board voted back in April to back rent increases of between 1.75 percent and 4.75 percent for one-year leases (and 3.75 percent and 7.75 percent for two-year leases). The board will approve a final number next week. Landlords have been harshly critical of those rent increases, which they say don't come close to making up for rising operating costs and the mounting maintenance needs of aging rent-stabilized properties. They say that years of low single-digit allowable rent increases have only compounded the problems created by the state's 2019 rent law, which eliminated or restricted property owners' ability to raise rents on vacant apartments or to cover maintenance and renovation costs. That 2019 law, signed by Cuomo, has been repeatedly challenged in court by property owners who argue that the law's restrictions on their ability to choose their tenants and remove their property from the rental market amount to an uncompensated physical taking. (Last year, the Supreme Court declined to hear several of these cases.) Meanwhile, the 2019 law's limits on rent increases and elimination of avenues by which landlords could remove units from rent control continue to push more and more rental properties into insolvency. As Eric Kober noted in City Journal earlier in the campaign, none of the Democratic or independent candidates are contemplating serious reform of New York's rent stabilization law. Mamdani's proposed rent freeze would certainly aggravate the problems of New York's rental housing stock. But it's not a radical departure from the current system. New York politicians of all stripes are on board with capping rents and regulating rental housing into the ground. Mamdani is just a little more openly enthusiastic about the idea. The post On Housing, All New York Politicians Are Socialists appeared first on
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Iowa Landowners Fight Seizure of Private Property for a Pipeline
A privately owned company is proposing a pipeline across five states. While some of the state governments appear to be on board, the project is facing backlash from a large and formidable population: property owners. The pipeline, known as Summit Carbon Solutions, would span 2,500 miles and transport carbon dioxide (CO2) captured at 57 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakotas to a permanent underground storage site in North Dakota. Construction of the $9 billion pipeline is expected to begin this year, with operations kicking off in 2026. In June 2024, the project received regulatory approval from the Iowa Utilities Commission, despite landowner protests. Julie Glade and her husband, Paul, are Iowans who oppose the project because of its use of eminent domain. Their property aligns with the proposed route, and in 2022 the couple was visited by a land agent. "The guy who came to our door wanted us to sit down and sign it without reading it," Glade tells Reason. "They swooped in and tried to contact as many people as possible right away before the people knew what the consequences were. It's very unethical." Several other landowners in the state share the Glades' worries. During a hearing conducted by the Iowa Utility Commission, landowner Joan Gaul testified against the pipeline, which she said would cross a large portion of her farmland. Gaul said Summit Carbon Solutions mailed two easements, which would give the pipeline a legal right to her land, to her without notice. "This letter came telling us about taking our land using eminent domain. It was a difficult pill to swallow," she said. Gaul said she didn't accept the easements and has indicated that she will continue to fight the project. The Glades visit the Iowa Capitol nearly every week to voice their opposition to the pipeline. They are joined by what the couple calls a diverse coalition united by their concern for the basic constitutional right to land ownership. "We have MAGA Republicans and we have lefties. We put our differences aside and we work together," she says. The Glades' efforts could soon pay off. In May the state Senate passed House File 639, which would prevent CO2 pipelines from using eminent domain unless the company proves the pipeline meets the definition of public use. The bill would also prevent CO2 pipelines from operating longer than 25 years. The bill is awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is reportedly weighing opinions from pipeline supporters and detractors. If passed, the bill would represent a significant win for the rights of Iowa property owners. It would also be the latest setback for the Summit Carbon Solutions project. After the company launched a blitz of eminent domain lawsuits in South Dakota, Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed a bill into law in March preventing carbon dioxide pipelines from receiving eminent domain permission in the state. The post Iowa Landowners Fight Seizure of Private Property for a Pipeline appeared first on
Perth Now
09-06-2025
- Health
- Perth Now
New-look arm bandages to inspire more people to donate blood
Blood and plasma donors will be easier to spot from this week with Australian Red Cross Lifeblood permanently replacing its white arm bandages with branded red ones. The move during National Blood Donor Week is backed by research, revealing that applying a branded bandage was an effective way to identify donors and wearers were perceived to be generous, altruistic and moral. The inaugural red bandage features the organisation's 'Life is the Reason' campaign tag line. Lifeblood needs more than 1.7 million donations every year to meet the 12-year-high demand for blood and blood products. Lifeblood acting chief executive Cath Stone said she hoped the new bandages would promote discussions about blood donations and encourage more people to become donors. 'A new blood donor is needed every five minutes in Australia, and that means we need people talking and thinking about blood and plasma donation, and encouraging each other to roll up their sleeves,' she said. 'We know that branded post-donation bandages are a great way to start conversations and boost awareness about blood donation.' New Lifeblood bandage hopes to inspire more people to donate blood. Credit: Australian Red Cross Lifeblood A Life is the Reason hub, where donors can submit their reasons for donating has already received more than 12,000 responses. A recent analysis revealed the most common reason people donate is to help others. Other top reasons include because they can, to give back, and to save lives. For others, it's simply for the party pies. To book a donation, call 13 14 95, visit or download the Donate Blood App.
