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School districts rife with controversy need the sort of honesty displayed by Carlos Ramirez, who exposed Hempstead school district’s grade-inflation policy last month.

But that honesty isn’t sitting well with district administrators. They’ve since gone on the defensive for Hempstead’s decades-old policy of automatically rounding up failing final grades of 63 and 64 to passing marks of 65 for...

The editorial board is talking about new ideas for the John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility, which shut down recently after Suffolk County failed to complete a sale to two sets of interested buyers. The building could be used to treat jail inmates with drug problems, or to house the homeless.

For Sunday, we’re looking at reports that consultants for the Long Island Power Authority used the...

Though state officials’ financial disclosure forms are expected to be made public for the first time this week, don’t expect a treasure trove of well-organized, easily searchable information. That would make too much sense.

State legislators’ outside income, investments and debts will be available online in accordance with the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo hailed...

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s formation of a commission to investigate corruption in state government – a Moreland Commission – has put a strain on his relationship with Senate co-leader Dean Skelos, the editorial board notes. Skelos is calling it a “witch hunt.” The investigation has a much broader focus than originally anticipated, with commission members deputized as Deputy Attorneys General and given...

The editorial board is unsurprised by revelations by notorious former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that the NSA has been spying on its allies, including Germany and the European Union. “Grow up,” says board member Alvin Bessent. “Of course allies spy on each other.”

We’re outraged by reports that the Hempstead school district has been routinely changing some students’...

Anyone who hoped for a blockbuster affirmative action ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court Monday has to be horribly frustrated. The court took a pass.

With the hot issues of same sex marriage, the Defense of Marriage Act and the Voting Rights Act, all queued up for decisions in the next few days, court watchers now have to entertain the possibility that what has the makings of an historic court...

A Congress that can't manage to do much of anything should avoid the need to do some things over and over again. That includes what's become an annual fight to make sure the interest rate on college student loans doesn't double.

Nobody wants that to happen, least of all the millions of students with little choice other than to pile on debt. But the rate on subsidized Stafford loans will bound...

In a show of support for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Rockland Democrats are blasting one of their own: New York Sen. David Carlucci. They’re particularly peeved at the Independent Democratic Conference's role in blocking the governor’s Women’s Equality Act from being voted on.

They’re calling Carlucci a sellout. It's this kind of hardball pressure tactics that just might force the Senate to have...

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...