FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 7, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 31
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LET TEACHERS
FINALLY TEACH
Teachers are breathing a sigh of relief
because the mandatory link between their
performance ratings and their students’
standardized test scores has been abolished
by the Democrat-controlled state
Legislature and Governor Cuomo.
Th ese educators aren’t rejoicing because
they had something to hide and now
they will no longer be held accountable.
Teachers never, as a whole, felt threatened
by accountability. Th ey feel that a big
weight has been lift ed from their shoulders,
because they have now been freed
from the tyranny of arbitrary and scientifi
cally unsound tests that were used
punitively with no redeeming value to
improved instruction and learning.
Because they can now concentrate once
again on teaching, learning will soar.
Despite some bumps in the road in
recent years, state government has now
listened to the teachers union and the
coinciding pleas of a preponderance of
experts and accepted that standardized
tests must be conceived and administered
only for right reasons which do not allow
for abusive practices. Th ey have struck
a blow for the re-professionaliaztion of
education.
Albany has fi nally, for the present, cast
off the yoke of the union-busters and private
school acolytes and inquisitors of the
Grand Obsolescent Party.
Ron Isaac, Fresh Meadows
PUSHING BACK ON
PRIME PLAN FOR LIC
Readers should consider why Amazon
is sending mailings convincing us to support
HQ2 in Long Island City. Th ere is
strong local opposition, but why multiple
fl yers? Because the project can still
be blocked. Cuomo inadvertently said on
NPR that a bill could be passed to stop
Amazon!
I’m a mom, an IT Manager, and a
25-year Sunnyside resident. When I fi rst
heard about the 25,000 jobs, that sounded
good. However, I learned there are no
guarantees that workers will be recruited
locally. Seattle City Council members
warned that many of the well-paying
jobs in the fi rst HQ went to people who
moved there.
Th e new jobs will pay an average of
$150,000 year, and from working in IT,
I know that salary level will require very
specifi c experience. As an immigrant, I
am not against people coming here to
work, but a rapid infl ux of high earners
will cause increased housing costs, higher
rents for businesses, and horrible transportation
challenges. Yet Amazon will get
billions in tax breaks.
On Jan. 30, Amazon announced it will
provide computer courses in Queens high
schools. Th is PR strategy was news to the
Department of Education, who had not
been contacted, as per Th e New York
Times. Computer classes are hardly an
equitable trade off , when their families’
rents increase. People will be forced to
move to other parts of Queens, creating a
chain reaction of displacement.
Doreen Deignan, Sunnyside
SO MANY CANDIDATES,
SO FEW JOBLESS
Th e Department of Labor reports that
the unemployment rate is at its lowest
since August 1969, nearly half a century.
Th e news outlets are also reporting
that nearly every day we hear of another
Democrat announcing a candidacy for
president.
At the rate both are going, it seems very
likely there will soon be more Democrats
running for chief executive than people
out of work.
Edward Riecks, Howard Beach
WAITING FOR THE
SECOND HALF
Whatever happened to Phase 2 of
Woodhaven Boulevard Select Bus
Service? Today’s estimated cost of $231
million could increase based upon the
outcome of fi nal design and engineering
on the project scope of work.
Several years ago, city Transportation
Commissioner Polly Trottenberg testifi ed
before a City Council Committee meeting
that completion of the project could
cost up to $400 million. Why would the
Federal Transit Administration enter into
a Full Funding Grant Agreement to guarantee
the proposed $97 million federal
share request toward a total project cost of
$231 million until this task is completed?
According to the February 2018 FTA
New Starts Report for Fiscal Year 2019,
the project is still in the development
stage. It will still need several more years
before reaching a serious discussion about
approval of a FFGA. Th is would represent
a legal commitment by the federal government
to commit $97 million toward the
project. Th is also requires congressional
and presidential authorization and approval
of funding in future FTA budgets.
Th e previous construction start date
of 2019 for Phase Two is impossible if
design and engineering will not be completed
until the end of 2019. You need six
months from start to fi nish for the procurement
process to award contracts for
construction, which would have to take
place in 2020.
Taxpayers, commuters, transit advocates,
elected offi cials and media have
to ask if potentially waiting seven more
years until 2026 before boarding the full
Woodhaven Boulevard SBS is worth the
fare.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
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Th e views expressed in all letters and
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