Education

A new survey indicates most school districts are proposing tax levies that meet or fall under the property tax cap limit enacted last May.

But to do so, an overwhelming number of districts are reducing programs and staffing in the next school year, according to Michael Borges, executive director of New York State Association of School Business Officials.

His group and the State School Boards Association surveyed districts statewide and found over 400 districts will eliminate over 4,200 positions.

Local teen filmmakers are giving viewers an inside look at the issues that impact youth, and they’re doing it through mini-documentaries.

Teens involved in the Raising 100,000 Voices Project shared their films with the public Wednesday night at a special screening at The Little Theatre.

Rochester’s City School Superintendent says the federal government has fallen short on meeting the needs of kids in special education.

Bolgen Vargas says he’s sharing his concerns with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as part of a nationwide conference call.

A youth leadership workshop aims to help Rochester youth overcome past failures, low self-esteem while building good character.

It’s called YouthMAX.  A new initiative launched by leadership author, speaker and pastor John C. Maxwell.  Sandra Fink is part of the Maxwell team, who'll be talking with teens about how to navigate through life positively.

SUNY has stepped up its self-promotional efforts.

In an attempt to paint the university system in a better light - and perhaps to justify its $10.8 billion budget in tight economic times - SUNY staged a regional “showcase” in Buffalo Tuesday. It was one of ten similar events thrown over the past year.

The science fair-like atmosphere - with dozens of booths and cardboard displays - provided a chance for nine western New York SUNY campuses to toot their own horns - be it in scientific research, new degree programs or job creation.

One of the polar bears at the Seneca Park Zoo may be expecting, and if she is pregnant, it could mark the first successful artificial insemination of a polar bear.

The procedure was performed by the Seneca Park Zoo, in conjunction with the Cincinnati Zoo's Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife, or CREW.

County Executive Maggie Brooks says the results could be groundbreaking.

Brooks says, if successful, the procedure will put the Seneca Park Zoo in the forefront of preservation of the world's polar bears. Polar bears are an endangered species.