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Do you support the creation of a Local Government Modernization Commission to help develop, with public input, a new model of governance for Onondaga County?


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Learn More

Sign up to receive SYRACUSE 20/20's weekly update that highlights local, state and national articles on government modernization related activities by e-mailing syracuse2020@yahoo.com and requesting to be added to the listserve.

 

 

 View Brochure

Read more about the community conversation in our brochure

 

Share Your Thoughts

Join our on-line discussion about the changes you think need to be made to modernize our local government structures.

 

Reports of Interest

 

SYRACUSE 20/20 Annual report 2009


SYRACUSE 20/20 Mayoral Document

SYRACUSE 20/20 called on candidates during the 2009 Mayoral Campaign to present a metropolitian vision for the region.  Paper presents 20/20's issues in the context of the mayoral race.

 

Headlines
Times Union - The recipe for N.Y.'s Success

Read Jennifer Bradley of the Brookings Institution take on Governor Cuomo's "common-sense proposals to make government in New York state work more cheaply, efficiently and effectively."

 read more ...

Education Week: Personnel Costs Prove Tough to Contain

Pay and Pensions Constitute a Massive Portion of Schools' Costs, but Reining Them in Requires Creativity and Realistic Expectations

Article Tools
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Baltamore Sun: State making little progress with Smart Growth, study says

Thirteen years after Maryland embarked on a nationally recognized effort to promote "smart growth," the state's laws and policies have had little discernible impact on sprawl or traffic congestion, a new study says, and farmland and forests are still threatened with development.

 read more ...

Education Week: Study Finds Bad Schools Rarely Get Better—or Shut Down

The lowest-performing public K-8 schools often linger in that state for years, neither improving enough to get off accountability life support nor being shuttered completely, and persistently failing charter schools fare no better than regular public schools, a new study finds.

 read more ...

Education Week: Study: States Must Move Faster to Close Achievement Gaps

The report by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research and policy group, finds it could take decades for lagging student groups in some states to catch up to their better-performing peers.

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Governing Magazine: Firefighters Feel the Squeeze of Shrinking Budgets

In small and large cities alike, firefighters have gone from heroes to budget bait.

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 A Better Way to See The Issues

Current News

 


SYRACUSE 20/20 Issues Report Calling for a Local Government Modernization Commission

Our County Executive, our City Mayor, and some of our town and village officials have risked their political careers to press for modernization, setting a courageous example that their colleagues in local government may now be willing to follow.   The fiscal challenges facing municipalities only make the case for change more urgent.  We can turn this threatening scenario into an opportunity to define for ourselves how we want to be organized and governed locally, so that government services continue to meet high standards of quality at a price we can pay with less outside help.  If there is a way to re-invent local government so that local resources can be focused equitably and effectively to help our economy and protect our community assets, then let’s try to find it.

 

SYRACUSE 20/20, CenterState CEO, FOCUS Greater Syracuse, the League of Women Voters of Syracuse Metropolitan Area, Onondaga Citizens League and the Homebuilders & Remodelers Association of CNY call for the creation of a local Government Modernization Commission to help shape a vision for more efficient local government in Onondaga County. 20/20 and its partner organizations released a report making the case for the creation of a Commission.  You can read the report here:  A Call to Action on Modernizing Local Government

 

 


 

SYRACUSE 20/20 Submits Testimony to the New York State Education Reform Commission

On August 15th, SYRACUSE 20/20 provided testimony to the New York State Education Reform Commission.  The Commission created by Governor Andrew Cuomo is focused on finding ways to improve student achievement and teacher performance and to examine education funding.  The Commission will report back to the Governor by December 2012.  SYRACUSE 20/20 testified on the importance of State support for high-quality, research-based professional development for low performing school districts.  In addition, 20/20 urged the State to become more innovative with regard to helping high-need districts attract and retain highly effective educators.  You can read the full testimony here:  Education Reform Testimony

 

 


  

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 Government Modernization

Community Conversation

  We Are at a Tipping Point
Help Decide Which Way We Go

Syracuse 20/20 has spent the past several years examining the issues surrounding government modernization. We feel strongly that the time has come for our community to engage in a thoughtful conversation about the future of the governance of our region.

Our mission is simply to start a community-wide conversation about whether our current way of organizing local government, a system that was invented around 1800, is still working for us in a global economy.  Our approach is positive and non-partisan.

Join the Conversation

The way we see it, we’re at a “tipping point”.  This is a critical time for us to talk about the role of local government in “tipping us” toward growth rather than potential decline. 

 What can you do?  Begin by learning about the Government Modernization Effort by watching the power point presentation and sharing your thoughts on our online discussion forum.