The Buffalo Board of Education voted to rescind the residency requirement for teachers at a meeting on Wednesday. The public was not informed of this discussion. It was done very quietly behind closed doors, because the Board knew it would be controversial.
Buffalo Common Councilmember Darius Pridgen is rightly outraged. People in the city need jobs. The teacher who lives in the city is going to add to his/her street. They will shop at the neighborhood supermarket and contribute to the local economy. From my experience in organizing youth sports, I can say many teachers have served as great volunteer coaches for their own kids, also. If the children in the city don't have teachers on their streets to look up to as role models, they will model themselves after the gang leaders and drug dealers that we know are on their streets. The taxpayers of Buffalo are the employers for the Buffalo Schools. They have a right to decide whether this is a good law or not. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to the beach in Hamburg (Oh wait, I can't. It's for Town residents only.)...
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Buffalo Common Councilmember Darius Pridgen is rightly outraged. People in the city need jobs. The teacher who lives in the city is going to add to his/her street. They will shop at the neighborhood supermarket and contribute to the local economy. From my experience in organizing youth sports, I can say many teachers have served as great volunteer coaches for their own kids, also. If the children in the city don't have teachers on their streets to look up to as role models, they will model themselves after the gang leaders and drug dealers that we know are on their streets. The taxpayers of Buffalo are the employers for the Buffalo Schools. They have a right to decide whether this is a good law or not. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to the beach in Hamburg (Oh wait, I can't. It's for Town residents only.)...
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how would Pridgeon feel if civil rights was put up for majority public input in the 1960's and Kennedy and Johnson didn't make unpopular controversial decisions?
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