Letter to the Editor: Admission standards at Bflo's top schools

Parent activist Sam Radford loses all credibility with me when he proposes moving students from Buffalo's poor performing schools into it's top schools. In his warped logic, he thinks it makes sense to move a student from Burgard or East High School into City Honors. And this man actually has people following him? 

The reason City Honors or DaVinci HS are what they are is because they do have standards to get in. Disruptive students are not welcome there. I don't understand how Radford thinks moving low performing students into a high performing school will benefit them. And what about the student who loses their spot to one of Radford's "low performing" followers? Watering down the few successful schools in Buffalo is not the answer, and I agree 100% with this letter writer...

Keep admission criteria at Buffalo’s top schools

Part of the Buffalo Board of Education’s long-term plan for dealing with low-performing schools includes “reconsidering the admission standards” for schools such as City Honors, Hutch-Tech and Olmsted. That sounds ridiculous.

The reason these schools have excellent reputations is precisely because they have admission standards. Allowing students to attend without having a certain level of academic ability, a constructive attitude to education and good attendance would make a high-performing school mediocre, at best.

That is without taking into account the deleterious effect of academically oriented students being cheated out of a quality education, as teachers have to deal with disruptive, unmotivated classmates or those who cannot handle the coursework.

You can probably make a pretty good sausage by mixing high-quality meat with some poorer cuts of meat and adding spices. The same recipe does not work for schools.

Larry Finkelstein
East Amherst

http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130812/OPINION/130819900/1119

Teachers assaulted in Buffalo

 

This week's violent assaults on Buffalo Public School teachers are brought to you by Hot Stuff the Buffalo, a chief cheese maker at Yancey's Fancy, New York's artisan cheese. 

Attacks like this happen every week in certain Buffalo Public Schools. The kids involved are the first students the charter school "reformers" get rid of when they are "turning the school around". Unfortunately for Buffalo teachers and principals, they don't have that option. They're stuck with who they got in most cases.

“We have fights here almost every day,” said Marc Bruno, the Riverside teacher who was kicked in the head. “The kids walk around and say, ‘We can’t get suspended – we don’t care what you say.’ Most of the kids who go to school here are really good kids. But you’ve got 20, 25 percent who are pretty rough. Someone’s going to get hurt.”

For every one violent attack in the schools, there are dozens of verbal attacks on teachers. Many of these students are used to getting whatever they need, right now, for free. You're seeing the product of very bad or nonexistent parenting in many of the schools. Grandstanders like Sam Radford and the charter school profit seekers really think it is the schools themselves that are the problem, and not the parents. Many of the parents are the same ones who caused problems in the schools fifteen years ago, and they've multiplied.

I've advocated for a long time to remove the worst of the worst and create Alternative schools in Buffalo. I feel bad for the decent kids that they have to sit next to students with zero discipline, intent on causing havoc.



http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/buffalo/teacher-describes-attack-by-teen

8th graders at School #53 get teacher suspended

 
 8th grade teacher Lica Lucente was suspended for trying to instill discipline in her classroom. (Photo from Buffalo News' Sharon Cantillon).


The local media won't say it. The principal at school #53 won't say it. I'll say it. The reason suspended Spanish/Italian teacher Lisa Lucente treated her students like scumbags is because they probably were. I'm not saying Lucente's a great teacher, as I've never met her. But, if you believe the majority of her 8th graders at school #53 showed up to class willing  to do work, you're very naive...

Lucente also said that one of the students she blames for the complaints – a 15-year-old eighth-grader – told her, “I’ll get you fired yet” a few days before she was placed on leave. She said other students in the class have called her crude names and, on one occasion, made fun of her weight.

15 is kind of young for an 8th grader in some of Buffalo's public schools. Do you know how lazy one has to be to fail twice in Buffalo? I'm sure the liberals will view these kids as innocent victims of a troubled school system. But, then again, they've been watching too many TV shows. They should go sub in some of the lower performing schools and meet some of these precious snowflakes themselves. I'm sure their opinions would change quickly. There are great kids in every school, but the behavior of many students in the lower performing schools is downright atrocious. I'll guarantee the three students Lucente mentions are trouble and have been trouble since Kindergarten...

Lucente gave The News the names of three male students whom she called “ringleaders” of the group that made complaints about her. She said the three students caused problems in her classroom “pretty much every day this year,” talking loudly in class and ignoring homework assignments.

Where do you send students like this? A charter school or a private school would kick them out? Would you want your kids sitting next to them in class? Of course you wouldn't. Why do you think so many families have fled to the suburbs? 

Teachers in these neighborhood schools face a very difficult task-teaching kids from troubled families with no work ethic or interest in bettering themselves. I hope the News interviews their families so we can meet their parents. Sharon Lucente might not be a good teacher, but I can guarantee you half her class comes from the cast of the Jerry Springer Show.
Suspended teacher denies misconduct allegations*

Meet the candidates for Buffalo schools Superintendent

 
The third and final candidate for Buffalo Schools Superintendent, Philadelphia school administrator Pamela Brown, arrived in Buffalo yesterday to meet with education officials...


Because of a family emergency, Brown's interview was delayed until Tuesday.

Brown is the only candidate with Ivy League credentials — a master's and doctorate from Harvard University — and experience working on both coasts and in between, including time in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Charlotte, N.C., and Richmond, Va. Her short term goals include lowering test scores and increasing the rate of teen pregnancy in the Buffalo schools. 

Despite having a unique appearance, Brown brings a wealth of educational experience, having worked in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Richmond Virginia. She joins interim Superintendent Amber Dixon (pictured here)
 
 and Baltimore County Assistant Superintendent Edward "Ozzie" Newsome

in the field of three remaining hopefuls. Newsome said his goals would include closing down City Honors High School and increasing the number of street gangs operating out of the Buffalo schools. 

Board President Lou "Pinnochio" Petrucci announced that the Board would be making it's final selection after whoever is really in charge tells them who to pick.
Third superintendent candidate visits Buffalo

Buffalo Schools protest

If you want a good laugh reading the Buffalo News, you don't have to read the comics. Sometimes interesting in his candidness, Rod Watson usually is good for some laughs when it comes to the Buffalo schools. In his latest column, he bemoans the fact that only 40 protestors showed up at Phil Rumore's office the other day. Perhaps they are waiting for a government program to hire full time protestors to show up in their absence?

Forty people, and I'll bet you half of them were the "Occupy Buffalo We'll protest anything with 15 minutes notice" type. Watson is surprised at the low turnout? How many parents does he think show up to parent/teacher conferences in the city of Buffalo? I've talked to some teachers who sit at their desk all day waiting for  one parent to show. Does he really think they're going to take time off from the Jerry Springer show to worry about their kids' education?


This parental impotence illustrates the bigger problem in the city, and it's one that millions of dollars won't fix: The majority of  students and the parents in the lower performing schools simply don't care! The ones who bother to show up are there more for social reasons than anything else. Disruptive students is an understatement at these schools. If you tell them to put away their phones (in class), they look at you as if you're speaking another language. And where does Watson think they learn this behavior from? From the Buffalo News...


“What we have now” clearly doesn’t work for most students, only about half of whom graduate on time. But it works great for teachers, who refuse King’s call to be held accountable for their ability to deal with challenging kids.

I got news for Watson. What we have now doesn't work great for teachers, either. The teachers I know from the struggling schools are stressed out from trying to raise other peoples' children for them. Challenging kids? Buffalo is forced to pay it's subs $30 more/day than the local suburban districts. It's not because the students are a little bit more "challenging." Watson loves to use  euphemisms like "challenging" and "sassing" to describe the behavior of these students. The people I know on the front lines who deal with the disrespectful ones use other words. Disruptive is usually high on the list.


The schools are a reflection of the community. What we have in Buffalo right now is a group of people who want other people to raise their children for them. That's why none of them show up to these protests. The schools and their kids are not their problem. You can throw $6 million or $600 million at the problem and it won't matter. Until the community itself (families) start taking education seriously, nothing will change.

Here's one parent who understands what is really taking place in the classrooms:
Waiting for miracle won’t fix the schools

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Trying too hard

Living proof that grey haired white guys should never attempt rap music.With lyrics like this, it's no wonder only 50% of students in Buffalo are attending class. "Drama queens and haters?" You're a grown man. Here's a crazy idea: How about just sticking to teaching class?...

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In case you missed it...

CNN did a national story on the Buffalo teachers Cosmetic Rider in their health care plan. In case you didn't know, this is the ridiculous benefit allowing them to get boob jobs, liposuction, and tummy tucks at no expense (except to the taxpayers). Police and firefighters and their spouses also get this perk.

School teacher Linda Tokarcz (in this clip) looks like Joan Rivers with all the plastic surgery she has received. Dr. Kulwantt Bhangoo says the teachers have "paid their dues" and deserve this benefit. Of course he says that! The 2004 South Buffalo Irishman of the Year is the quack all the teachers are going to for their botox injections and fake breasteses.

Buffalo Teachers Federation President Phil Rumore argues in this piece that the teachers are willing to give up this benefit if the school board comes to the table to negotiate their contracts. Until then, Buffalo, the 3rd poorest city in America will continue to be looked at as a laughingstock because of ridiculous stories like this. Memo to Buffalo school teachers: Don't listen to a word Lou Petrucci says. Watch this clip and you will know he is not on your side. He is known to talk out of both sides of his mouth and will not negotiate in good faith. Fortunately for you, he's a terrible liar and will be easy to figure out. Don't take anything at his word, or you will live to regret it...
Video: A school district offers teachers free plastic surgery.
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Buffalo teachers react to new suspension policy

In Mary Pasciak's Buffalo News column today, some Buffalo teachers said what I've been saying for months: keeping problematic students in the classroom is only going to hurt the well behaved students. The teachers interviewed for her story , who wished to remain anonymous, pointed out that the students causing most of the problems are coming from troubled home environments...

“The school cannot overcome the home, no matter how hard it tries,” said one teacher of English as a second language. “Band- Aid solutions such as the suspension policy may temporarily remedy some behavior problems, but the real remedy needs to start with home and society.”

One of the new changes is for principals to hold conferences with misbehaving students and their parents, instead of suspending them. The teachers point to this as another example of something that only works when parents are responsible...

“My school already uses the policy of parent conferences instead of suspensions. Many parents don’t show,” said one elementary school teacher. “District policy changes in suspensions won’t change anything unless more social services are brought in and the families start stepping up to the plate. How do we make them do that?”

Another teacher described the scene at her school when they tried to implement in-school suspensions...

“I have seen in-school suspension rooms filled with 20 or so students and one teacher, and complete chaos going on,” said one teacher at a low-performing school. “Students leave the room and roam the halls, all while administrators have been notified — but [it continues] due to the fact that Buffalo has a policy where students are not allowed to be sent home during the school day for suspensions.”

If a student consistently acts like an animal in school, he shouldn't be suspended. He should be expelled. You'd be surprised at how quickly everyone else's behavior would dramatically improve. I don't understand why we in the U.S. continue to allow this type of behavior to go on? Everyone deserves the opportunity to obtain an education. However, if a student decides to act disrespectful towards the adults in charge, they are forfeiting that right. End of story. I wonder when we'll get some administrators with enough guts to say this publicly?
Teachers weigh in on policy for suspensions

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Dixon caves in to misinformed parents

Her approach to handling school discipline problems in Buffalo makes Amber Dixon appear weak and part of the status quo.


As usual, it will be up to me to be the voice of reason with the charade that is the city of Buffalo school system. Interim superintendent Amber Dixon missed a great opportunity to show leadership and make actual change this week. The topic was discipline. Instead of talking about what is actually taking place in the schools each day, Dixon caved in to the parents' flawed beliefs that the teachers and principals are somehow at fault...

“Too many students are suspended from school on a daily basis,” she said. “We’re concerned at every level. We’re particularly concerned at the elementary level. We know we can’t solve our attendance problem when we’re walking kids out the door on a daily basis.”

She rolled out 11 recommendations, some intended to take effect very soon, and others that are longer-term. The recommendations, which were generated by an advisory group following four public hearings, are subject to board approval.

Clearly, the "advisory group" needs some advising from the Blogger. Instead of talking about the attitudes of the students being suspended, they and Dixon believe it is the principals who simply don't have the tools to "understand" them...

Dixon is recommending that principals be trained on how to use the conferences and that the new requirement take effect Feb. 27.

What an insult to the principals. They need to be trained on how to use conferences? As I've said before, the parents in question expect the teachers to take the place of the child's actual parents. At no point in the meeting (or at any of the other meetings) has Dixon or a board member stood up for the people on the front lines (or for the many students who do behave). It is a classic cop out. We (society) continue to not hold the students themselves accountable for their atrocious behavior. And when I say atrocious, people who have never walked the hallways of a Buffalo Public school have no idea. These are not kids being suspended for chewing gum or wearing hoodies. These are students who continuously choose to disrupt the educational process simply because they can.

From the youngest possible age, students should be taught to respect education. If they have not learned this from home, it is not the fault of teachers or the principals. Students showing continuous disrespect towards adults should be removed from mainstream schools (away from good students) and placed into alternative schools. In other words, the adults in the building should be allowed to take back their schools. According to the likes of Dixon, it is the adults, and not the disrespectful students, who need to change.

In the Buffalo schools, we are seeing the results of parents who would rather be their child's friend than teach them right from wrong. We are seeing the results of absentee fathers and children raised by their grandparents (because mom isn't done partying yet). Instead of confronting the truth, Amber Dixon threw all the teachers and administrators under the bus this week. She missed a great opportunity to stand up for what is right. It will be now up to "Pinocchio" Petrucci and the rest of the board to stand up for the teachers and talk about the real issues at play. Don't hold your breath. It'll be a cold day in hell before any of them show the slightest sign of courage.

Dixon lists proposals on student discipline


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Citizen Action and the School Bored

Although well intentioned, the people from Citizen Action are woefully out of touch with what is going on in the Buffalo Public Schools. The bleeding hearts, who took some time off from pretending to sleep out in Niagara Square, chanted "Books, not prisons!" and paraded a bunch of minority handcuffed-wearing children around at tonight's school board meeting. But I didn't hear one of them accept responsibility for the overall piss-poor behavior of the students at the lower performing schools. I guess it's much easier to thump ones chest and protest than to actually talk about personal responsibility and good parenting.

One woman said the death of a student at a bus stop would "never be allowed at a suburban school". This tragic death had everything to do with society and nothing to do with the school. Does she ever stop to think why most parents left the city in the first place? So their kids wouldn't have to sit next to the angels (white and black) constantly disrupting class on a daily basis, with their outbursts and overall ignorant behavior.

By the way, despite what Citizen Action would have you believe, the Buffalo Public Schools' policies are not racist (and nobody has criticized the board and administrators more than I). Ask the well behaved kids from Somalia, Nigeria, and Burma if the current suspension policies are racist. They are just as puzzled by the boorish behavior of the American born students as school employees and the rest of us are. It all starts with attitude and an appreciation for education. Stop blaming everyone else and simply raise your children. If your kids weren't acting like fools, they wouldn't have to worry about getting suspended...

Handcuffed students protest suspensions: wivb.com

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Buffalo Public Schools suspensions: Inside the numbers

If the Buffalo Public Schools' suspensions debate interests you, I suggest you check out Mary Pasciak's blog on the Buffalo News' website. She compared the number of suspensions at each school to the number of students suspended at the school. What she found shouldn't be a surprise to anybody...

In some schools, the average student who got suspended was suspended about three times: North Park Middle led the pack, followed by Riverside High School, Southside Elementary, Waterfront Elementary, Buffalo Elementary School of Technology and Harriett Ross Tubman.

At the other end of the spectrum, at some schools, most students who were suspended were suspended only once: Early Childhood Center 82, Olmsted 64, D'Youville Porter, Hutch Tech and Middle Early College.

They need to take the students who behave at the lower performing schools and have them separated from the students who choose to misbehave. In other words, have the worst of the worst students go to alternative schools. There is no reason to force well behaved students to sit next to consistently disruptive students. Here is a comment from underneath Pasciak's post. Although the language is rather blunt, I do tend to agree with his opinion...

No news here. Tough schools like Burgard, South Park and Riverside have higher recidivism rates as they have since the magnet school system came to town. The more serious students get siphoned off to Hutch, Da Vinci and Honors and the thugs and slugs get dumped in with good kids who dont have great grades in the so called academic schools. The more thugs and slugs in your building the more suspensions and repeat offenders. Pardon the offensive language but spend a few minutes in the hallways and listen to the filth and disrespect spewed by some of these "students" and you will wonder why we cant just expel some of these 18 year olds with 5 more arrests than they have high school credits. If school is a joke to you then the punchline should be "you're out." Suspension is the only temporary reprieve some kids and teachers get from the criminals and idiots in a building who couldn't care less about an education.

Very true. By the way, North Park Middle School leads the pack with 3.1 (the average # of suspensions per student suspended). Most of the students there are not from North Buffalo. This comes as no surprise to me, as it is the worst school I've seen (behavior wise) in my three years of subbing. To see how your son/daughter's schools stacked up, please go to:

http://blogs.buffalonews.com/school_zone/2012/01/how-many-times-did-the-same-student-get-suspended-find-your-school.html
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Letter to the editor- Angry Alison

I'm glad some people are finally speaking up about student behavior in the Buffalo Public Schools. There have been at least three letters this week in the Buffalo News pointing the finger where it needs to be pointed: at unruly and disrespectful students.

Sam Radford and the group Citizen Action think it is the teachers' job to raise children. Parents of the schoolchildren are not held accountable in their view, because that wouldn't be politically correct. These people live on Mars and have no idea how poorly behaved many (not all) students are in the Buffalo Schools. The students demand (not ask) to use the bathroom. They are outraged that anyone should tell them to put their cell phones away during class. Many feel it is within their rights to walk around and disrupt the class. Despite being given everything for free, they can't be bothered to show up with pens, paper, etc. Fortunately, people with common sense are starting to respond to the kooks who want to blame the adults in the buildings. We're living in the real world, bleeding hearts. Go into the classrooms at some of these schools and see what is really going on. This isn't some kind of Michelle Pfeiffer movie we're talking about...

Don't blame teachers for terrible behavior

I am a Buffalo teacher and a Buffalo Teachers Federation Executive Committee member. I am writing in response to the article, “Dozens take district to task over suspensions.”

Suspensions are not given for minor offenses and primarily to “students of color.” There are rules of behavior for students. If they disobey these rules, whether the child is white, black or purple, rich or poor, there are consequences. Cellphone use, tardiness, destroying school property, bringing in weapons, wandering the halls, swearing and fighting are not just minor offenses. I have witnessed a child saying, “get off my d---” after being politely asked to sit down, a student screaming, “what the f---are you looking at” to a teacher, texting to arrange fights and lavatory destruction. Despicable!

Students are not “kicked out of school and put into the streets.” There is protocol and behavior modification plans. Work is given to suspended students. There is not “a lack of black history taught in the schools.” Black history is integrated into our entire curriculum. Black History Month is also celebrated. There are not “too few black teachers.” Students should behave for and learn from any teacher, regardless of color. There is no place for racial bias and bigotry.

Parents must take responsibility for their children. Children are “dying in the streets” not because of teachers, but because of poor parenting. Know where your children are at all times. Ten-year-old children should not be out roaming the streets at midnight. Insist on proper bed times so that your children can make it to school on time. Read to them. Make sure that they complete their homework. Attend meetings even if they are “not on the bus line.” Find a way to be an integral part of your child’s life. Parent your children!

Alison Hall
Buffalo

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Another day at Riverside

Most people will see this for what it is, an out of control teenager with zero discipline and no respect for authority. But, I'm sure the folks at Citizen Action will find a way to blame the attack on the teacher or school administrators. See, it could have been prevented had the teachers been better parents, err, supervisors. It couldn't have anything to do with poor or nonexistent parenting skills at home. Could it?...

Girl,16, charged in attack on another female student

A 16-year-old Riverside High School student was arrested by Buffalo police after she allegedly attacked another female student at about 11 a. m. Thursday at the school at 51 Ontario St.

After school officials stopped the classroom attack, the girl was charged by Officers Michael Bennett and Joseph Paolucci with third-degree assault and harassment and taken downtown for booking.

The victim told the officers and school officials her attacker entered her classroom and punched and slapped her and hit her on the head. The victim, who complained of pain and had noticeable swelling, agreed to seek hospital treatment.

Girl, 16, charged in attack on another female student

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Letter to the editor- students' behavior in Buffalo

I know many current students from the Buffalo Public Schools through coaching. There are quite a few grammar schools, some better than others. Many of the students I know are great kids who come from very good homes. However, there are quite a few in the lower performing schools, where this is not the case. Some parents as well as community groups (Citizen Action being one) would have you believe these students are the victims of unfair administrators and teachers. I can assure you this is not the case. Students are not being suspended for frivolous reasons. They are suspended as a last resort when they become disruptive to the learning environment.

I sub in the Buffalo schools from time to time and have been in many of the lower performing schools. If you're not in these buildings every day, you would not believe the things that go on in them. The problem at these schools is not the principals or the administrators. The problem is a large number of students coming to school with zero discipline and no respect for education. Education starts at home. The people who think these students are being unfairly targeted for their behavior have been watching too many Disney movies. The rest of us live in the real world. I was glad to see this letter in today's Buffalo News...

Don't blame administrators for students' bad behavior

A recent News article regarding the high rates of student suspensions in the Buffalo schools was really alarming. Some parents, grandparents and even community activists took administrators to task for levying discipline for “minor infractions.” Examples cited were students who were tardy, using cellphones and roaming the halls. I find it incredulous that once again, misguided people are blaming teachers and administrators for their own kids’ bad behavior.

Schools are places where we send our kids to learn. These same kids who regularly break the rules also make it more difficult for those who are attempting to get a quality education. If the suspension of troublemakers leads to them ultimately dropping out, that would be unfortunate. However, it’s better to have them gone if their absence creates an atmosphere where others may actually learn.

Even more disturbing to me was the insinuation that race was involved in suspensions. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a white guy from the suburbs. However, I am confident that the district’s policies regarding cellphones, roaming the halls and tardiness apply to all races.

M. Scott Chismar

Lake View

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Debate on student suspensions

The parents and grandparents who attended the meeting on suspensions in the Buffalo Public Schools need to know that the rest of Western New York is laughing at them. To place the blame on anyone but the students, is an insult to everyone's intelligence. People are sick of hearing nonsense like this...

During two often-heated public hearings, parents and others criticized what they said was a long history of building administrators meting out excessive punishments for minor infractions that fail to address underlying issues and that disproportionately affect minority students.

Those suspensions, they said, often do not correct behavior problems but simply set children on a path from school to prison. Many wind up dropouts.

Give me a break. If minority students are being disproportionally suspended, perhaps it is because they are disproportionally misbehaving. It all starts with parenting. These parents expect the schools to raise their children for them. I'm not a huge fan of Charter Schools, but the reason minority students do well at these schools is because the schools get rid of the students whose parents aren't involved. It has nothing to do with color. Kids from good homes are not going to act like fools and get suspended. Didn't anyone listen to Bill Cosby's speech?...

"They keep suspending children who look like me -- children of color," said Ina Downey. "Caucasian students aren't being suspended. Children of color are."

Black students account for 56 percent of the population of the Buffalo Public Schools. But during the first three months of 2011-12, black students accounted for 73 percent of short-term suspensions.

The teachers I've worked with (and I've been in dozens of Buffalo Public Schools), bend over backwards to avoid suspending any students. What choice do they have when students show up acting like animals? People are sick of hearing nonsense like this. The officials of the Buffalo Public School system need to get some guts and start telling these parents to stop making excuses for their kids' atrocious behavior. It's called personal responsibility.

Dozens take district to task over suspensions

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Uncle Phil vs Aunt Amber

The Federal government says that 50% of the teachers at lower performing schools need to be replaced in order for the district to receive millions in funding. Uncle Phil Rumore says over his dead body, as it violates the teachers' contract. Everyone seems to agree that this game of musical chairs with the teachers makes no sense.

The question I have is who are the idiots at the federal level that think it's a good idea? The teachers in these buildings are not the problem nor the cause of the problem. They are dealing with a very rough population of students. Throwing money at the problem won't help. The interim superintendent, the parents, and the teachers at the lower performing schools need to come up with better ideas. Many (not all) of these students come from dysfunctional homes. This is a major cause of the schools' problems. I think smaller class sizes at these schools would be a good start. Many of these kids do not know how to deal with resolving minor conflicts with classmates. They are used to watching the adults in their lives yell and swear at each other when they don't get their way.These students become a major distraction to the others and need to be separated from them. Why has my son been separated from the rest of the class? Because your son throws a tantrum every time he doesn't get his way. One word you'll hear every day if you work in Buffalo is "outburst"...

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Musical teachers

Half the teachers at Futures Academy and the Drew Magnet School will be transferred to other schools. Because of some ridiculous state mandate, they will also be forced to "reapply" for their jobs. Can you imagine being at work for several years and then told you will have to reapply to keep your job?

"We're not doing it. We're not budging an inch. Nobody is. We've had enough," said one teacher at Futures Academy. "It's going to be a battle. I'll tell you that right now. If they violate the contract, we'll go to court and sue them."

I don't blame this teacher. Do these suits really think bringing in entirely new faces is going to lead to improvements? Most of these ideas are generated by people who've never spent any time in the classroom. Just another attack on teachers, trying to perform under difficult circumstances. I like what this Future's Academy teacher had to say on the topic...

"If we're such poor teachers in these schools, why aren't they bringing Olmsted, City Honors and Hutch-Tech teachers into these schools and moving us into those schools? We can't do any more damage there," a Futures Academy teacher said.

So true. I think what they really need to do is switch the custodians and the cafeteria workers from the lower performing schools to the higher ones. Why not? Both ideas make about the same amount of sense. What's the difference? It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I have a feeling Uncle Phil Rumore will have something hidden underneath his sleeve. Prediction: He will make fools of the Superintendent as well as the School Board. Look for them to try and come up with a loophole to get the state money without switching the teachers. Where's David Copperfield when you need him?
Teacher transfers planned at two city schools

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Rod Watson must be reading the blog

I have to give credit to Buffalo News reporter Rod Watson. He's clearly been reading the blog in an effort to make himself more informed on the topic of the Buffalo Public Schools. His article today basically is the same article I've been writing for the last two years. I give him credit for tackling some tough topics, but he continues to place most of the blame on the district/teachers and continues to make excuses for an entire community. From today's column...

Whatever assets a parent brings will be tapped to help teachers improve education. It’s the kind of help that parents in suburban schools and the elite city schools routinely provide. But you may not even know you’re supposed to do that if you grow up in a neighborhood where you’ve never been asked.

Never been asked? The low performing schools hold parent teacher conferences every quarter, where only a handful of parents bother to show up. And they were asked. Never been asked? Teachers routinely call student's homes to find out why they haven't been showing up to class or to inform the parents that they've been causing disturbances in class. Upon being called into a school for her daughter's misbehavior a few years back, one mother at Burgard High School told the principal, "nobody disciplines my child!"

A few years ago, parents from a Buffalo Public School in South Buffalo called the Metro Community News to complain that the principal was making their children be quiet in the halls and on the way to classes. ??? As if the principal was in the wrong for this. This is the mentality we're dealing with. How about the parent(s) from Lorraine Academy who dressed their six year old son up as a pimp for Halloween? And the two parents from School #17 arrested a few weeks ago for fighting with the assistant principal? I hope they never do get asked.
http://mikeblake-myopinions.blogspot.com/2011/11/school-17.html

I wish the parents' group success. It is important part of the process. But the bottom line is that education starts at home. The parents need to read to their kids, monitor their classroom behavior, and stop blaming the adults in the buildings for their shortcomings.
Kids succeed when boost is given at home


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School #17

It's hard to believe the students can be so disruptive and demanding in class when their parents demonstrate such great respect for authority. If you sit home and watch Jerry Springer all day, I guess you find different ways to resolve differences...

Two women were arrested Friday after they threatened the assistant principal of School 17 and refused to leave the Newburgh Street school’s cafeteria, Buffalo police said..

Vanessa N. Pomales, 28, of Forest Avenue, and Erica Arroyo, 30, of Lisbon Avenue, were each charged with harassment, criminal trespass and child endangerment.

Police said the disturbance occurred shortly before 1:30 p. m., when the two entered the cafeteria and threatened Assistant Principal Carrie Meyers, who ordered them to leave the school. Several second-graders witnessed the confrontation, police said.

Two accused of threat to assistant principal




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Race Card Rod meets Race Card Rad

Buffalo News columnist Rod Watson and parent/advocate Samuel Radford held a forum recently at the Tapestry Charter School to discuss ways to increase high school graduation rates among African American boys in Buffalo. They agreed that education must become more of a priority in African American homes and that there is a need for the students to become more disciplined in class and respectful towards their teachers. Parenting classes were also discussed.

Just kidding. Actually,they blamed the schools and the teachers, made excuses, and said the characters in the books needed to be more racially diverse...

Many on the panel expressed concern that the current way of doing things in the Buffalo Public Schools is not meeting the needs of many African-American male students

"When [students] start asking, 'Why are we reading this book? Where are the black kids in this book? Where are the brown kids in this book?' I think for the teachers who are conscious of what's going on, they appreciate that. That's a challenge. 'Let me find a different set of books to help engage these students.' I don't think that happens," said Hunter.

I was in a classroom today at the Seneca Prep School on Hertel Avenue. I observed students from Haiti, Liberia, and Somalia attempting to complete their assignments, while students born in this country threw papers, swore at each other, grabbed each other, walked around the room, etc. (In fairness, there were some African American students working hard, also. But they were in the minority, compared to their peers.)

The foreign students (who were mostly black) appeared very serious about completing their Algebra worksheets and were not the least bit concerned with the colors of the characters in the text books. Samuel Radford is all about promoting Samuel Radford and Rod Watson needs to stop making excuses for an entire community. These two circus clowns should sub for a week in Buffalo. End of story...
Forum focus is ways to improve students
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