Education-(Teresa Kurtz)

The Republican candidate running for governor of New York State, Rob Astorino, has strong views on the education system in New York. He wants to remove high stakes tests that determine students' grades and evaluate teachers in ways other than the grades of their students. I think this is fair and should be done because a good test score shouldn't be equated with intelligence, a student might have cheated. Also a bad test score shouldn't be equated with intelligence, a student might have had a bad day or have test anxiety. If Rob Astorino wins the gubernatorial election and removes high stakes tests, students will respond greatly. They will learn for intrinsic purposes, instead of learning the information for a test and then forgetting it all. Astorino wants students to learn for themselves without so much weight on assessments.

Cuomo Education (Ysabelle Francis)

Cuomo believes that for there to be a good economy in the future, the current younger generation should have a fulfilling education. One of the first things he did was, "we formed the new New York education reform Commission; they have called for a full day Pre-K, extending school days and for performance pay." (http://governor.ontheissues.org/Governor/Andrew_Cuomo_Education.htm) He also wants to increase the technology in schools. On the issue of the teacher evaluation system, he said he would implement a 4% budget increase if schools submitted a teach evaluation test, "We want to keep in the model that in order to get the additional aid, you have to continue the evaluation process." (ontheissues.org) In wanting to increase the education reform, he said "This starts with the increasing the charter school cap from 200 to 460." Cuomo being a strong supporter of charter schools believes charter schools, in order for the cap to be increased charter schools should't be limited by school district and "arbitrarily limiting the number of charter schools that can operate in a district." He also said, "we should continue to allow SUNY to have shared authority for approving charter schools with the Board of Regents. "

Social Issues (Celina Santin)

           The democratic governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo states the following: Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, New York enacted the SAFE Act, one of the toughest and most comprehensive gun control measures in the nation.  The SAFE Act prevents criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from buying guns by, among other things, requiring universal background checks on gun purchases, increasing penalties for illegal gun use, mandating life in prison without parole for anyone who murders a first responder, and strengthening the state’s ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.  He also launched Gun-Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) Initiative to provide $13 million to local law enforcement agencies to address gangs and guns using the latest data, technology, and evidence-based strategies. (andrewcuomo.com) I support his position on this because I want more gun regulations because without them, I believe the neighborhoods would be more dangerous. The SAFE Act ensures the safety of communities by stopping the ill from having their 

Andrew Cuomo's Success on Taxes (Celina Santin)

                The current governor, Andrew Cuomo has wanted since 2010 to bring New York into a
financial Renaissance due to the lack of trust between the people and the government, and the highest
unemployment rate of 850,000 in New York since the Great Depression. Since his term as governor
began, "New York’s property taxes have been held to an average growth rate of just over two percent  during the past two years, less than half the rate of growth over the previous ten years.  And with the Governor’s recently enacted tax plan, homeowners will have their property taxes frozen and then cut over the next few years. New Yorkers are now paying the lowest middle class income tax rate since 1953.   And to create jobs, the State has the lowest corporate tax rate since 1968 and the lowest manufacturer’s tax rate (zero) since 1917." (Andrew Cuomo). He has truly tried to make his state better, employment rates have gone up, as well, and people have been earning more money and having new jobs. Also, tax rates being lowered have augmented to the amount homeowners which is truly helping the community. 

To Green or Not to Green (Stephanie Thomas)

Rob Astorino has clearly stated his opinion and plans on renewable energy. Astorino believes in renewable recourses for New York state, but he will approach converting from oil to clean energy through different means. Astorino wants to invest money in tax breaks to families who convert from fossil fueled energy to clean renewable sources. I do not personally believe that this is the answer but it can give businesses incentives to switch over to clean outlets. Astorino and I have conflicting views on fracking, Astorino believes that fracking will benefit the economy by creating jobs, investing money to the state, and becoming energy independent. I disagree with fracking, it harms the environment and can poison us. The state should invest in clean energy instead such as windmills and solar panels.

To Green or Not To Green-(Teresa Kurtz)

Personally with respect to the issue of fracking, I'm not completely sure where I stand, similar to the stance of New York State's current governor, Andrew Cuomo. Fracking can be defined as "the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth"(what-is-fracking.com). Fracking is a fairly new strategy to extract from the earth high concentrations of natural gas. It is done by drilling water, sand, and chemicals deep into the earth. In a positive view, fracking can provide thousands of jobs and the United States could potentially be less dependent on other countries for energy resources. Negatively, fracking disrupts the naturals habitats of animal wildlife and can be potentially harmful by contaminating the water supply with chemicals. Until there is substantial research done and evidence to show the harms of fracking, I can't say with which side I stand on. Cuomo is intelligently not picking a side on fracking not only because there isn't enough research, but also to appeal to both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Hawkins: To Green or not To Green? (Celina Santin)

Howie Hawkins, as an advocate of the environment, believes in renewable resources and is against Hydraulic fracking and claims that Cuomo is completely for fracking.

"I met with homeowners who have seen their land and property values destroyed. The people I met with have to buy water that is brought in because their well water is no longer potable. And drilling continues in the area, despite a court order that Cabot Oil must stop their operations there. This is an area that was at one time calm and peaceful, and now it's completely industrialized." If Governor Cuomo gives the green light for Fracking, does he have a plan on how to deal with cleaning up contaminated water systems like those we saw last week in Pennsylvania?" said Howie Hawkins. (howiehawkins.org)
He believe that tracking has more cons than pros, especially polluting our finite amount of water,  with it's chemicals. In Pennsylvania, he has seen how it has affected people so far and does not want tracking to be approved. He also doesn't believe that pennsylvania's fluids should be disposed of in new york. 
"The center piece of the Hawkins for Governor campaign is the Green New Deal, which sets a goal of transitioning to a 100% clean, renewable energy system in New York by 2030. Clean energy is also the path to full employment and affordable power. A study by Stanford and Cornell professors shows that a 15-year a transition to 100% clean renewables would create 4.5 million new jobs and cut electric power rates in half."(howiehawkins.org)
I agree with Hawkins with his green deal, new renewable energy is really important and it he says that it would provide us with a substitution of a pro for tracking: new jobs. New jobs are important, especially in a short amount of time. I agree with Hawkins completely with Fracking because I think it's too dangerous because we do not have the money to fund it and we cannot afford to spend more than needed, and because of the contamination it can cause in water. Also, I do agree with his plan as candidate to increase renewable resources  because there would be no pollution, new jobs, and because we can be more independent and efficient.