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In the world of school-age kids, it's that time of year again when parents judge their children's academic success. High school seniors have gotten into a good college -- or not. Honors and advanced placement assignments have been made for the coming year. Some elementary school students have been accepted into gifted and talented programs.

Based on these academic measures, we parents judge...

The New York State Legislature tends to crash a lot of decisions into the final days of its annual session – an outcome known to Albany-watchers as The Big Ugly. And so it is this year.

Even as some major legislation, such as the Women’s Equality Act, remain in the stew of today’s legislative work, the editorial board is talking about what the legislature did that we like and don’t like –...

The editorial board is fascinated by a push to reopen the investigation of the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800, which exploded minutes after taking off from JFK Airport, killing all 230 people aboard. An upcoming documentary, to be released July 17, questions the government’s official explanation: faulty switches. We want to watch the documentary before commenting.

We note that President Barack...

The editorial board is talking about what an unusually stagnant atmosphere pervades Albany at this end-of-session time. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is weakened by the inquiries into how he handled sexual harassment claims against former Assemb. Vito Lopez. And Sens. Jeff Klein and Dean Skelos, sharing the leadership of the Senate, also don’t seem to be moving much legislation forward.

We’re...

Again today, the editorial board is keeping a watch on the end-of-session developments at the state capitol. At the moment, the proposal to reorganize the Long Island Power Authority isn’t strong enough for us. It doesn’t give Long Islanders enough of a break in terms of tax certioraris paid by LIPA to school districts where plants are located.

Ditto the deal on binding arbitration – what...

As the end-of-session bargaining churns ever faster in Albany, the editorial board is trying to make sense of negotiations over casinos, LIPA and the Women’s Equality Act. It looks as though the legislature is divided along regional lines over Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s casino plan, which he has yet to put into writing. And lawmakers appear to be moving toward a compromise on LIPA that would reduce...

The situation in Syria has become so serious that the United States needs to take a stronger role in aiding the rebels, the editorial board believes. Our past position, reflecting the sentiment of the majority of Americans, has been to avoid getting involved. But now that President Barack Obama has committed himself to arms, we feel U.S. aid to the rebels could force Syrian President Bashar Assad...

Today’s Supreme Court decision that human genes cannot be patented by companies has history-making implications, the editorial board believes. Genetics is a burgeoning area of medicine, and the court’s ruling says that companies can’t own the knowledge for profit. We’re very pleased with the 9-0 ruling, and we’ll be watching to see how researchers react.

The board is unhappy with Nassau and...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ambitious plans to prepare for climate change remind editorial writer Joe Dolman of past grand plans to develop parts of Manhattan. One thing that's critical to see this kind of vision through is the support of the city's influential real estate community. Bloomberg is proposing new coastal protections, zoning codes, developments, telecommunications planning...

The editorial board notes that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is trying to lure New York businesses to Texas, with the claim, among other things, that the tax structure is fairer there. We think Perry is overlooking some great things about New York – but we also believe that our state needs to reduce the cost and complication of doing business here.

We’re concerned about allegations that State Department...