Latest news with #publicschool
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Yahoo
Man, 29, gunned down outside Brooklyn school he attended as child
A 29-year-old man was fatally shot outside a Brooklyn public school he attended as a child, as neighborhood Fourth of July fireworks obscured the sound of gunfire, officials and neighbors said. The victim was standing outside the entrance of Public School 174, the Dumont School, on Dumont Ave. near Williams Ave. in Brownsville at about 11:45 p.m. Friday when he was shot in the chest, cops said. The victim managed to get transportation to Brookdale University Hospital, where hospital staff found him at 1:30 a.m., said cops, who did not release his name. Doctors scrambled to save him, but he died at the hospital a short time later, officials said. A motive for the shooting was not immediately disclosed. 'We're working backwards from the hospital,' a police source with knowledge of the case said. Cops on Saturday were scouring the area looking for surveillance footage near the school that could help them identify the shooter. Yellow crime scene tape blocked off the entrance to the school. Cops have yet to release the victim's name, but neighbors said he lived down the block and attended PS 174 as a child. 'He was such a sweet kid. He was beautiful,' said one neighbor, who wished not to be named. 'He went to school there.' The victim's immediate family were too grief-stricken to talk Saturday. One relative said the victim 'kept to himself' and was 'always in good spirits.' Neighbors said this part of Brownsville is usually quiet. No one heard the shooting because of all the fireworks popping off throughout the night. The killing took place nearly three hours after the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks show lit up the night sky over the East River to the delight of thousands. Police said no other homicides or shootings were reported on July 4. Last Independence Day, four homicides occurred, cops said.
The Independent
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘Exposing themselves to minors': ICE agents ‘caught on video urinating on grounds of LA public school in broad daylight'
Footage appears to show Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents urinating on the grounds of a Los Angeles public school, which they described as a 'deeply disturbing' incident. Members of the El Rancho Unified School District Board wrote to the Department of Homeland Security to complain about the alleged incident and accused the ICE agents of risking 'exposing themselves to minors.' It follows a period of heightened tension in LA and Southern California as communities push back against ICE and the Trump administration's aggressive deportation agenda. The school board claimed the agents urinated against a storage container beside the playground of the Ruben Salazar High School in Pico Rivera on the morning of June 17. It was also close to where students were in session. Footage shared by the school appears to confirm the claims, as one by one the agents walk toward the storage container and stand for a few moments. The DHS did not respond to questions about the alleged incident when approached by The Independent, other than to confirm 'the matter is under investigation.' 'A review of ERUSD video surveillance from the date of the Incident reveals that ERUSD's video footage captured approximately ten ICE agents urinating near storage containers on the Salazar campus' parking lot,' the school board wrote in a letter on July 2 addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. 'Any reasonable person, of any profession, entering Salazar where the ICE agents were urinating would clearly recognize the surroundings to be those of a school where minors are taught,' the letter continued. 'ICE agents unlawfully trespassed ERUSD school grounds and did not exercise sound and respectful judgment with the risk of exposing themselves to minors and committing a public offense under California law.' The school also accused ICE agents of unlawfully trespassing and requested the department hand over the names and badge numbers of each of the agents and their supervisors who 'aided, allowed, caused and permitted such unlawful behavior to take place.' It was a 'deeply concerning' incident, the letter added. District staff claimed that the agents failed to provide any judicial warrant or legitimate reason for being on school grounds. The agents did leave after staff told them they did not have permission to enter the school, the LA Times reports. The reason for the agents' presence on campus remains unknown, the outlet added. In April, the board issued a warning about ICE operations in the area. 'The ERUSD board wants its students, staff, families and community to know and understand that maintaining a safe and supportive environment at each ERUSD school site is at the forefront our of our actions and policies,' school board president John Contreras said. 'These actions by DHS and ICE agents raise alarming and pressing questions regarding ICE's behavior and judgment.' Their warnings follow the anti-ICE protests that erupted across Southern California last month following aggressive raids in LA. The Trump administration took a heavy handed approach to the protests, deploying the National Guard to support local authorities to deal with demonstrators.
CTV News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Northern Ont. MPP calls on Ford government to spend more on education
At a news conference Wednesday, Sudbury MPP Jamie West called on the province to increase education spending. Northern Ont. MPP calls on Ford government to spend more on education Sudbury MPP Jamie West is calling on the province to increase education spending. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday morning, West said his office receives calls regularly from parents who are concerned with the state of the public school system. 'Our kids need … more funding,' he said. 'We want to ensure that people know it's not because of the educators, it's not the principals, it's not the school boards. It's a result of a lack of provincial funding from the Conservative government.' West said per-capita spending on education has dropped 11 per cent since Doug Ford was elected in 2018. West held a press conference Wednesday morning at the local (ETFO) office, joined by concerned parents and ETFO affiliates. Liana Holm, Elementary Teachers of Ontario Federation (ETFO) Rainbow local president, said the impact of the cuts can be seen in the amount of violence in the classroom. 'I get calls from educators almost every day,' Holm said. 'Seventy-seven per cent have personally experienced violence or witnessed violence against other staff members.' She said students are not being served the way they need. She added classroom sizes are too large, and there are not enough staff to meet student needs. 'The world has changed, so we need to change with it,' Holm said. West education spending Speaking at a news conference Wednesday morning, Sudbury MPP Jamie West said his office receives calls regularly from parents who are concerned with the state of the public school system. (Amanda Hicks/CTV News) 'That requires bodies in our schools to help deal with the dysregulation and some of the violent incidents.' Gina McAfee, president of the Rainbow Designated Early Childhood Educator Local, said children often enter the school system less emotionally and socially prepared for school. 'The children that are coming into school now are not representative of children in the past,' McAfee said. 'Children are coming to us with challenges -- special needs challenges -- that are undiagnosed. Families don't have family doctors. They don't have pediatricians. So, we have a lot of challenges in our classrooms. And not a lot of support.' Jessica Montogomery has an 11-year-old son with a communication disorder who recently required special accommodations for a physical injury. 'We are still on waitlists for supports that he was referred to when he was in Grade 2. We are now in Grade 6,' Montogomery said. 'We've had to privately pay for the therapy that he needs in order to be successful in the classroom, but also outside of the classroom, as well.' During the speeches, statistics were presented showing the impact of education cuts at local schools, averaging roughly $1,500 per student. 'It shows how much money has been deducted from the school board budgets,' she said. 'It's a very eye-opening experience to understand that one school could be $700,000 down in funding, which could be equal to seven adults. Seven adults in a school would make a huge difference.' More information can be found here. Statement from the province In response to a request from CTV News, the province sent this statement: 'Our government has made historic investments in education, including $29 billion in funding to school boards for the 2024/25 school year, the largest investment in Ontario's education system. Rainbow District School Board funding has increased to over $227.6 million, despite relatively stable enrollment, while the Sudbury Catholic District School Board was provided over $104.8 million despite declining enrollments. 'Since coming into government, we have increased special education funding year over year to over $3.5 billion this school year and supported the hiring of 9,000 additional education staff. We've also provided $118 million in mental health supports, representing a 577 per cent increase. We will continue to support student achievement and get students back to basics on building foundational reading, writing, and math skills that prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow.' Holm said she would like to see the province improve recruitment and retention, as well as more occasional teachers, smaller class sizes and resources for special education teachers. She said she'd also like to see specially trained mental health professionals in schools. 'If we had the people and then the mental health support, a lot of what we're seeing in schools right now would be able to put a lid on it,' Holm said. 'And then we'd actually be able to assess where we need the rest of the support to come.'
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Rural communities brace for Medicaid cuts in Republicans' big bill
HERMANN, Mo. — Like many Americans, Cierra Matthews doesn't have time to pay close attention to the flood of policy changes and announcements coming out of Washington, D.C. So when the single mom of two boys heard that her Medicaid benefits could be affected because Republicans are proposing changes to the social safety net program, she was shocked. Members of Congress, Matthews said, are 'covered no matter what, so they don't have to worry about it. So how is that fair to just take it away from somebody that does have to worry about it because of finances or because of a job?' 'I don't think it's fair that they don't care enough to think about that, and that they get to live in that happy little bubble of theirs,' she said in an interview on Friday. Matthews lives in a rural community 90 minutes west of St. Louis, where she works in the public school system and falls below the poverty line. She is one of 72 million people in the U.S. who rely on Medicaid for her health care, and before Missouri voted to expand Medicaid access in 2020, she was uninsured. She said Medicaid saved her life: She received a mental health diagnosis and is on medication that her sons said transformed their mom into a different person. As part of a sweeping domestic policy bill, Republicans proposed adding work requirements for 'able-bodied' adults ages 19-64 with exceptions, including for those with dependents under 14, like Matthews. But GOP lawmakers have also included provisions in their so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill' to crack down on the health care provider tax that states charge health care providers to help fund Medicaid, particularly in rural areas. Under the new proposal, the federal government would limit reimbursement to states, with some conservatives citing 'abuse' of the program by undocumented migrants in blue states. A cap or freeze on that fee would cost rural hospitals, like the Hermann Area District Hospital, billions of dollars in funding, according to providers, physicians, hospital associations and even some Republican lawmakers. They include Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who argued the provision would 'defund' rural hospitals. Dr. Michael Rothermich, the chief of staff at the Hermann hospital, said it is already treading water with current funding levels. 'We've had to make a lot of tough choices, a lot of cutbacks. We've had to freeze salaries. The saddest for me was that we had to let go of our home health agency,' a service that helped rehabilitate people in the remote area, Rothermich told NBC News. With the steeper cuts proposed by Republicans, Rothermich said, there is no more room to trim. 'There's no magic money that pops up from some place else or falls out of the sky to help us do our job. … We provide services to patients, and we need to be reimbursed for those services so that we can take care of the next patient and we can buy the next medicine and we can buy the next piece of equipment,' he said. The hospital has just three full-time physicians on staff to service patients in two counties, where 1 in 4 rely on Medicaid. 'There are fewer and fewer people to take care of it and fewer and fewer resources to try and do what we need to do to take care of people,' Rothermich said. In southern Missouri, Karen White, the administrator for Missouri Highlands Health Care, said the new provisions could mean they need to prioritize which patients to care for. 'I think we will see loss of life, maybe not immediate, but if chronic conditions go untreated for an extended period of time, it does result in lower quality of life, less people working,' White said. 'We've lost three hospitals in the last 10 years in our region, and that has left Missouri Highlands as the only form of health care.' Missouri Highlands is a federally qualified health center, or FQHC — a community-based health care provider that relies on federal funding to operate. White said 46% of the population there is on Medicaid, and Missouri Highlands is the only health care provider in a three- to four-hour radius. To help address the shortfall Republicans are creating as part of their bill to fund President Donald Trump's campaign promises, Senate leaders are working on a separate fund that would go directly to rural hospitals. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told NBC News on Tuesday that in response to 'a number of concerns our colleagues had mentioned' about their rural constituents, they are 'making good headway' on a solution. One such proposal landed Wednesday from members of the Senate Finance Committee, the panel with jurisdiction over Medicaid, to funnel $15 billion to rural health care providers. But multiple Republican senators, including Hawley, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine, feared it wasn't enough. 'I don't think that solves the entire problem,' Collins told reporters Wednesday. 'Any money is helpful, but no, it is not adequate.' The American Hospital Association, a group that lobbies on behalf of the industry, estimates that rural hospitals would lose $50 billion over the next decade if the GOP's crackdown on the provider tax went into effect. And an analysis from the Urban Institute found that hospitals overall could lose upward of $300 billion as a result of the provision. Tillis circulated a document to his Senate colleagues Monday that illustrates the potential impact on rural health care providers in Republican states. Tillis argued that in North Carolina, 600,000 people could lose access to health care as a result of Republicans' changes to Medicaid, and he warned the party it could face losses in the 2026 midterm elections reminiscent of Democrats' defeats in 2014 after a rocky Obamacare rollout. Matthews said that because of this issue, she partially regrets her vote in the 2024 presidential election, especially given the administration's push to realize the cuts. 'Why does somebody else get to make those choices for you? Why is somebody else in charge of [Medicaid]? For you? I don't think it's fair,' she said. And White said she doesn't understand why Republicans are committing 'political suicide' by including the provisions in their signature piece of legislation. 'It does seem a little odd that the folks that elected [Republicans] will be the ones that are impacted the most with these cuts,' she said. This article was originally published on
CTV News
24-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Breaking ground on new Saskatoon city centre school
WATCH: A new school meant to amalgamate several in the Saskatoon city centre broke ground on Monday. After years of planning, and a few hiccups, on Monday officials broke ground on Saskatoon's newest public school serving the city centre. Community leaders, representatives from the Saskatoon Public Schools Division (SPSD) and some future students were on hand for a sod turning ceremony at the site of the City Centre Project. 'This is quite an amazing day,' said Everett Hindley, minister of education. 'I think you saw the excitement in the crowd here this morning amongst the students, the board members, teachers and staff and the principal and everyone who is here today. It's been a long time coming.' The province originally committed to the project in March of 2020. When the Princess Alexandra School was torn down at the end of the 2022 school year, officials hoped to have the new facility open by 2025. Work was soon delayed after an anticipated capital partner pulled out, according to the Saskatoon Public School Division. 'Our board was in the middle of several conversations with potential partners for the project, so that added to a little bit of a delay,' said Shane Skjerven, SPSD director of schools. 'And then obviously through the pandemic, there was a bit of a delay. But as I said, we're excited, I'm excited to get the project underway.' The new Avenue H facility is the fourth school to be built on that land. The new school will have room for 400 students from kindergarten to grade eight, as well as 74 child care spaces. Skjerven says it will take students from what was previously three different schools. 'We knew that there wouldn't be enough money for three new schools, obviously, in these areas,' said Skjerven. 'But the opportunity to build one state of the art facility that amalgamate into three communities was appealing to us, and I think to the community as well.' The project was described as the community getting a brand-new bike that will be passed down from generation to generation. 'They're going to be taught how to ride that bike,' said Vernon Linklater, SPSD Ward 2 trustee. 'They're going to be taught how to change the equipment on that bike. And pretty soon, when that bike gets old enough, to give it away to someone else. And I think that's what the school represents, is our community.' The school board has been taking submissions for a new name that's better suited than its current one, the City Centre Project. 'Right now, I think it'll be getting all the names and kind of putting them into categories,' Skjerven said. 'And then having conversations with, again, our Indigenous Advisory Council and our board to determine what the name would be.' He says the new name will be announced in the fall, and construction is expected to take about two years. -With files from Rory MacLean
