Catholic School closings leave many parents scratching their heads

The recent closing of St. Ambrose and Trinity Catholic Schools is a big topic these days with parents I speak to throughout South Buffalo. So many people (including myself) attended and graduated from one of the many now extinct Catholic grammar schools. I think what bothers some people is the perceived dishonest manner in which the parents, teachers, and students were treated by the Buffalo Diocese. It seems like they made their decision behind closed doors and then pretended as if they were looking for input and involvement from the parishioners. 

Take the closing of the two schools last week. A teacher from one of the schools (who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal), forwarded me a recent article from the Western New York Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. The article was written just this past September. It talks about the uniqueness of the three remaining Catholic Schools and how they will soon be one school with three campuses. It boasts about a new leadership model, yet the leaders at St. Ambrose and Trinity Catholic weren't given any chance to increase registration under this new model. Here are various excepts from the article that will have leave many South Buffalo parents scratching their heads...

South Buffalo Catholic School takes pride in its unique structure. It is one school with three distinct campuses. A new administrative model being implemented this fall aims to further unify those campuses and strengthen Catholic education in the South Buffalo area.

Notre Dame, with about 360 students, is the strongest of the three sites in terms of education. Business First listed it as the number seven top grammar school in Buffalo. Ambrose Academy followed at number eight. Trinity is in a neighborhood with a low economic background, yet placed better than 31 of the Buffalo
public schools. “And we’re expecting Trinity to go even higher now that it’s under the new model,” said Father Judge. “By having the same guidelines, the same handbooks, everything else, it creates a better atmosphere for learning, which in turn turns into a better school of excellence for the kids.”  

The South Buffalo Catholic School Parents Association has offered plenty of ideas for fundraising for all three campuses as one entity. 

“There is no way that people can take a look at this and say it won’t flourish,” said Sister Joan Sherry, school board president.

I have to admit, this one got past yours truly. But, thanks to the soon to be out-of-work teacher, affected parents can go back and read the article in it's entirety. I'm not sure how many parents read it when it came out a few months ago.  

The News and the TV stations won't hold the Diocese accountable, but we will on this site. If they were truly serious, how could they pull the plug on this "new model" after only a few months? The parents of the students at all three of these buildings are terrific volunteers, coaches, and fundraisers. Trinity recently had some problems in this area, but I think a change in leadership was much needed over there, based on my conversations with parents.

 If you read the attached article in it's entirety, it is very clear: the Diocese had no intention of keeping the the three schools open long term. The plan all along appears to have been to merge to one building. It's sad that, with this new development, many students from the two closing schools will not realistically continue to receive a Catholic education. Teachers will be without jobs and parents will be forced to make some difficult choices as to where to send their children next year.

Please check out the full article here. Also, feel free to share this article with others affected by these changes.
http://www.wnycatholic.org/wnycatholicnews/tabid/1002/vw/1/itemid/1684/new-leadership-model-to-further-unify-south-buffalo-catholic-school--.aspx

What's going on at St. Ambrose?

 
I know the neighborhood politicians will never do anything about it, so I thought I'd take a minute to talk about St. Ambrose School. Not sure if it's true, but I heard recently that only six students had registered for next Fall's Kindergarten class. It makes you wonder whether the neighborhood can support five Catholic grammar schools. Currently, we have St. Ambrose, Notre Dame, Trinity Catholic, OLV, and Our Lady of Discovery. I include the Discovery School because it is essentially a Catholic School minus the daily prayer rituals and Murphy's Oil Soap. When the politicians are all sending their kids there, you know it is not your typical public school. I don't see any of these snake oil salesmen sending their kids to Southside or School #27.


Let's face it, times are tough around here. Parents able to get a free education equivalent to a private education, jump at the chance. Then, you have the South Buffalo Charter School, which also takes students away from private schools like St. Ambrose, due to price (free) and proximity. There are also so many families who have fled the city due to better job opportunities out of state or for quality of life. My mother sits in her backyard and watches people walking by, smoking marijuana in public, littering on her property, and uttering obscenities. Then, the cars speed by going 85MPH with their speakers blaring. Not to sound like a prude, but it's no wonder so many people choose to move to the suburbs.

St. Ambrose is a very good school. I've met several students from there over the years and they are great, intelligent kids. I have to ask whether there is more at play here than just increased competition from other schools? Schools like St. Ambrose are going to have to be ahead of the curve in order to remain open. What can they offer prospective students that the other schools cannot? The simple answer is a Catholic education. However, people are fickle, and will jump ship if they think the grass is greener on the other side (of McKinley Parkway).


They have a great group of dedicated parents over at St. Ambrose. I see it in their sports programs. Unfortunately, their numbers are so low, it makes it difficult for them to compete against bigger schools like Notre Dame. I would be interested to hear from parents from St. Ambrose and elsewhere to understand what has really been taking place. I know the parents from the school have been trying to drum up support and hopefully, it will pay off with an increase in future enrollment. This post is not meant to deride any of the other schools in South Buffalo. I just hope St. Ambrose doesn't suffer the same fate as St. Agatha's, St. Thomas', and Holy Family. I think it can be saved if people work together and come up with innovative ideas.

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

Radford must be on drugs

Sam "the Grandstander" Radford is calling for students at the lower performing schools to transfer into better schools, because, you know, all of a sudden, they'll learn how to read Shakespeare and behave in class. You see, it's not the fault of the underachieving students or their parents. It's the teachers who are at fault. Just to show how ridiculous Radford is, he is calling for chronically poor students to be transferred into City Honors and Hutch Tech. Where does he buy his marijuana anyway?...

"Even if you want to transfer, it's not like you have high-quality options that are available," she said. "Parents don't really have a choice."

Radford said he is prepared to challenge the legality of the district's decision not to offer schools such as City Honors and Hutch-Tech as transfer options.

Hey idiot: The reason City Honors and Hutch Tech are good schools is because they are selective in who they choose to go there. Does Radford really think the parents of the high achieving students want to have their kids sit next to disruptive students? And that's exactly what many of the students at the lower achieving schools are: disruptive. Here's a crazy idea: How about ending the flimsy excuses and start holding the parents of these chronically disruptive students accountable? It's not the schools that are under-performing. It's the particular students at the schools. But really, Radford doesn't care about that. He just wants to see his face on TV and his name in the paper and make all sorts of ridiculous and outlandish complaints.

Students' right to transfer is cited in city

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Class clown

I don't know if I agree with his method, but one South Florida father isn't taking his son's bad grades lying down. During his spring break, he had him stand on a busy Miami intersection with a homemade sandwich board announcing his failings. On one hand, at least the father is around. He says he doesn't want his son to end up as a "statistic." On the other, I don't know if this type of punishment will work in the long run. I guess time will tell...

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Media circus descends on LeRoy

Information is slowly coming out of the Genessee County town of LeRoy. The only thing certain so far is that Erin Brockovich has probably undergone breast implant surgery...


School officials in the Genessee County town of LeRoy are not big fans of the environmentalist/celebrity Erin Brockovich. Brockovich and her band of scientists broke onto school grounds, with cameras in hand this week to test the soil for contaminants. The district was forced to call local law enforcement to keep the talking heads off school property.

"It is appalling that whatever group or entity employing [Brockovich's workers], as well as the media outlets participating in this effort, chose to conduct themselves in this way -- which can only be characterized as grandstanding," Cox said.

Brockovich points to a plume, or underground lake, from a 1970 toxic railway spill, which she claims is lying directly underneath the school. The derailment involved a spill of cyanide crystals and carbon tetrachloride...

She contended that a plume from the 1970 toxic railway spill had spread to within "close proximity" of the school. She noted that the school had been built on a swamp and that there were gas-extraction installations under the school's ball field.

Environmental investigator Bob Bowcock gets points for his inflammatory rhetoric, labeling the whole 1970 incident a huge government coverup...

In a statement to the media Saturday, Bowcock said: "The people of Le Roy need to know they have the largest TCE plume in the eastern United States under their community, and the government has given them lip service for 40 years, telling them, 'We've cleaned it up. We've cleaned it up. We've looked at this. We've done that,' and, frankly, I'm here to tell you they haven't done a darn thing," Bowcock said, referring to the chemical spill.

LeRoy Superintendent Kim Cox disputes this claim, saying Bowcock is full of crap. The plume, according to her, had actually moved in the opposite direction, directly underneath a farm on the other side of town, the birthplace, coincidentally, of several two headed calves...

"There are also some who are attempting to marry the 1970 derailment to the school, when in fact the plume has been shown as moving in the opposite direction some three miles away," she said.

I don't think anyone really knows what is going on here. If I were a betting man, I would guess the whole strep infection thing has something to do with it. In any event, School Superintendent Kim Cox and Erin Brockovich are planning a celebrity boxing match for tomorrow night in the school gym at 7PM.

What this case really points out is how much we distrust our government in 2012.
Brockovich's efforts in Le Roy halted

Mother do you think they'll drop the bomb?
Mother do you think they'll like this song?
Mother do you think they'll try to break my balls?
Mother should I build the wall?
Mother should I run for president?
Mother should I trust the government?
Mother will they put me in the firing line?
Mother am I really dying?

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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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Classic movie scenes:I don't know

The new Buffalo schools superintendent should consider bringing in this man as an attendance officer...

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Photographer Says 'No' To Senior Pictures For Bullying Students - Pittsburgh News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh

We need more people like this Pennsylvania school photographer Jennifer McKendrick. On a Facebook page, she noticed a group of HS seniors bullying other students. When it came time to take their individual pictures, she sent a note to their parents and refunded their money.

She said she couldn't take their pictures knowing how mean they had been to other people. According to the photographer, some of the girls' parents thanked her for bringing the problem to their attention. Good for her and good for the parents who sided with her...

Photographer Says 'No' To Senior Pictures For Bullying Students - Pittsburgh News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh

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Channel 7's Teacher of the Week

Congratulations to Mrs. Rose Brady from Notre Dame Academy. She was awarded channel 7's "Teacher of the Week" after being nominated by my conscientious niece, Colleen Finn. The annoying Mike Randall showed up at the school to pass out the award. Colleen was immediately named Student of the month for the months of March, April, May, and June by Mrs. Brady. Of course, any relative of the Blogger is going to be the student of every month...

Mrs. Mary Rose Brady, a Junior High Religion teacher at Notre Dame Academy was surprised by Channel 7’s Mike Randall following a nomination by one of her students for “Teacher of the Week”.

Colleen Finn, a 6th grader at Notre Dame Academy, nominated Mrs. Brady and enjoyed Mrs. Brady’s reaction as the student body and fellow faculty and staff members offered their congratulations.

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New school in South Buffalo?

On the same day the Buffalo News revealed Dr. Williams' excessive $100,000 administrative club, it was also revealed that a new charter school is in the works for the South Buffalo/Lackawanna area. So when this school gets built and the Buffalo Public Schools lose more students, does that mean Dr. Williams will hire even more do-nothing administrators?...

Southwest Key Charter School,which would target students in South Buffalo and Lackawanna.

The project is driven by Juan J. Sanchez, the founder of Southwest Key Programs, Inc., a non-profit group serving youth in Texas for more than two decades. For 14 years, Southwest Key has been running Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Programs, alternative schools in Texas.

If Southwest Key Charter School is approved, the school would open with with 50 students each in kindergarten, first grade and sixth grade. By 2017-18, the school would serve 1,034 students in kindergarten through tenth grade. The school's founders hope to eventually expand it through twelfth grade.

The school would replicate the Yes Prep School model, a five-campus program in the Houston area. Key features: two hours of homework each night for middle and high school; one Saturday a month devoted to community service; a mandatory three-week summer session; and teachers who are on call for students on weekends and as late as 9 p.m. on weeknights.

Two hours of homework each night? Teachers on call for students on weekends? WTF! Sounds like Nazi Germany. If a student called me at 9PM on a Saturday, I'd tell them to go take a flying leap. What parent would let their son/daughter bother their teacher at night? Raise your own damn kids!

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Violence occurs every day in Bflo Public Schools

If we had a real superintendent and not one purchased by M&T bank executives, stories like this wouldn't be happening every day. The 12 year old would be in an alternative school and the 11 year old would not have to be subjected to her. I'm sure this will be straightened out in the courts...

Police and Southside Elementary School officials are investigating the attack on an 11-year-old girl by a 12- year-old late last month, Buffalo police said Tuesday.

Police said the victim’s mother told them that at about 4:30 p. m. Feb. 28 the girl was in the third-floor bathroom at the Clinton Street school when she was punched in the nose, pushed into a radiator and then had her arm forcibly held against a hot radiator.

The girl, who was treated at Mercy Hospital, suffered first-and second-degree burns to her left forearm, police said.

Attack of girl probed at Southside School

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South Park community high school debated

Councilmember Kearns drew a harsh response from Buffalo School Board members when he suggested new students to South Park High School take an entrance exam or get there straight from the successful South Buffalo Discovery School. From The Buffalo News...

Some board members bristled when Kearns turned the discussion specifically to South Park High School, which has been identified by the state as persistently low-achieving. He said that it should be changed into a school that students have to test into, or it should become a school that serves graduates of Discovery School in South Buffalo.

“You need the change in South Buffalo. What about the rest of the city?” board member Mary Ruth Kapsiak, who represents the Central District, said to Kearns. “You’re talking about the bottom-tier five [high schools]. You’re addressing one. What about the others?”

Florence D. Johnson, an at-large member of the board, also spoke passionately on behalf of struggling schools in areas of the city that are predominantly minority. If South Park becomes a school that serves its South Buffalo constituents — who are predominantly white — then other schools will become less racially balanced than they are now, she said.

“If we have one school that is majority children and majority race, what is going to happen to [schools in predominantly minority parts of the city]?” she asked.

I can't believe how distorted things have become. We have someone calling for a school to return to it's neighborhood roots. God forbid, a school trying to have community ties anymore. The current result is a school where people come from all over and their is no sense of community. How many times have you heard old timers talk about how great of a school South Park "used to be"? I wonder how many South Buffalo residents have fled to the suburbs over the past few decades, so their kids could get a decent education.

Busing was a noble experiment that failed miserably. Here's an interesting concept. How about holding families in all neighborhoods accountable for their kids at school? Regardless of their skin color, start creating some academic and behavioral expectations for all students when they enter Kindergarten. I'd love to see South Park become a community high school. Then, despite the fact that he remained silent throughout the whole discussion and never challenged Kapsiak or Johnson, Lou "Pinocchio" Petrucci can stand up and say it was his idea all along. You know he will. That's what self promoters do.
Kearns urges School Board to join summit in push for improvement

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Bus accident on Perry Street

In the same day, we have a school bus in Buffalo getting struck by a moving car and a 3 year old boy being left on a bus outside Rochester for three hours in near freezing temperatures.Expect many more stories like this as the school year continues...

A driver fleeing from Lackawanna police at a high rate of speed crashed into the back of a school bus at Perry and Louisiana streets Wednesday afternoon, injuring himself and a child, according to reports.

The bus was on Perry taking children home who were released early from school when the crash occurred just before 1 p.m.

At what point do people recognize busing as the huge failure it is and go back to neighborhood schools? It obviously hasn't worked, as the cities are more segregated now than they ever were. Take all the money we're wasting on gas, bus drivers, and aides and put it into the classrooms. I heard Buffalo School Board member Lou Petrucci talk about busing when he was running for office. Haven't heard a word about it from him since.

Drive by Notre Dame Academy during dismissal. You'll see parents and grandparents picking up their kids. You'll see older brothers and sisters walking the younger ones home. There's a word for this scene. It's called a community. The schools used to be the center piece of the community. Not any more. We need to go back to the way it once was...

Fleeing driver crashes into school bus - City & Region - The Buffalo News

Cops: Boy, 3, left on NY school bus for hours - 24 Hour National News - The Buffalo News

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More free stuff

Schools already provide free breakfast and lunch to their students. Now, this charter school in Lackawanna is giving the kids food to take home for the weekends. Remember the old days when people actually went out and worked to put food on the table? Not to sound cruel, bit it's no wonder people expect everything for free nowadays. I just wonder what life skills we are teaching these students....

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Stay home

The Erie County Health Commissioner thinks schools should stop giving out "perfect attendance awards" to students who don't miss a day during their school career. He believes these awards encourage the nerds, I mean students, to show up to school even when they are sick...

"The issue really is that, while we want to encourage children to come to school, it's very likely that over 13 years of school, a child is not going to be healthy every single day," Dr. Anthony Billittier explains. "While a child may come to school sick on a given day and increase their attendance by doing that, in reality they may infect a bunch of other children, who then can't come to school. So it the big picture, it may actually decrease attendance."

Not only is Billitier right, I think the school districts should take it one step further and start giving out awards to kids for staying home. The less students sneezing and coughing on each other and me, the better.

Read full story here:
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Letter to the editor- Publicity seeking principal

A letter to the editor today from a school principal defending himself for allowing to be "slimed" by one of his staff members:

Creative principals inspire their students to succeed

Buffalo News

Principals in today’s educational system build relationships with their students, teachers, support staff, parents and community members. They are no longer contained to their offices and discipline wayward students. Principals today know their students’ names, shake their hands, have conversations with them, read, tutor and counsel them. They build a mutual respect with their school community. Students do not need to fear their principals in order to respect them.

Setting goals, working toward those goals and having an intrinsic or extrinsic reward for meeting these goals is part of life. Students today are not always motivated intrinsically to complete their schoolwork with all of the other activities surrounding them. Principals have adapted and found ways to encourage academic performance. If being slimed is one of those ways, then more power to those educational leaders.

One of the side effects is an expanded feeling of respect from the student body toward their administrators. The kids will aggressively work toward the set goals because their principal is willing to do something so non-stereotypical. I appreciate every effort made by my students to surpass our educational goals. I will not stop, nor should the other educators who find creative ways to inspire children to succeed.
John F. Diodate
East Amherst

Spoken like someone who is completely out of touch with the youth of today. Principals have adapted and found ways to encourage academic performance? I don't think so. Being slimed by your students or painted by your students is a publicity stunt. It is not going to benefit the students one bit. All it is doing is saying "Look how much I care about these students!" "Look at me!" I hate to tell you but the staff members are not impressed either and view it as grandstanding on your part.You can know the students' names and their interests and help them reach their goals without making yourself look like a publicity seeking idiot. You want the students to reach their goals? Why don't you try doing something "non-stereotypical" like acting like a leader. That doesn't mean you have to be mean, just fair and observant. Students can tell when someone is on the ball or not. Engaging in some ridiculous stunt is not going to change their attitudes one way or another.

Going green for reading » Local News » Lockport Union-Sun & Journal Online

Cultural Differences-Saudi Arabian and Bflo Schools

A student in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to 90 lashes after assaulting a teacher. The teacher had confiscated her camera phone...

Caught with a camera phone at school: student sentenced to 90-lash flogging
January 25, 2010

Associated Press

A female student has been sentenced to a 90-lash flogging and two months in prison as punishment for assaulting a teacher, a Saudi judge says.
Human rights group Amnesty International said the assault happened after the student was caught with a camera phone at school.
The student, whose name was not released, was sentenced on Tuesday.
She could be spared by a pardon from King Abdullah, said Judge Riyadh al-Meihdib in an interview published on Sunday.

This policy, which is obviously extreme and ridiculous, contrasts sharply with Dr. William's policy of taking kids who assault teachers to the Buffalo Chophouse for a free dinner. That's what happened a few years ago when some students at Performing Arts High School assaulted a teacher. And people wonder urban schools are in the shape they are.

In a related story, Anne O'Connor of Buffalo wrote to The Buffalo News wondering when the Buffalo School Board was going to start holding the principals accountable. I hope she's not holding her breath...

Why won’t board hold principals accountable?
January 25, 2010, 6:44 am /

Oh honestly, we’ve been reading about this kind of nonsense for so long! Whether it’s Crystal Barton or Fatima Morrell, the bottom line is that it’s an injustice to our kids and an outright disgrace that these principals are continuing in their positions. Where is the accountability for these supposed leaders of our children?
Is it any wonder families choose to send their children to charter schools? I’m so ashamed of our public school system and our School Board.
Anne O’Connor
Buffalo

It's Bring Your Mother to School Day at Seneca Vocational

It's really nice to see parents getting involved in their children's education these days. Nothing says,"I care" like showing up at Seneca Vocational High School and punching another student in the mouth. Can we get a tax refund on the school supplies check this woman was probably awarded last September?

Mother of student sought in assault : Police Blotter : The Buffalo News

Seven Buffalo Schools Earn Distinctive Recognition

Seven Buffalo Public Schools were honored as "persistently lowest achieving" in New York State on Thursday. Bennett, Burgard, MLK, School 45, Riverside, Lafayette, and South Park High School made this exclusive list.

Officials at Grover Cleveland and East High School were said to be outraged at this obvious snub. "I don't understand it. We have all the things these schools have. Low test scores, kids roaming the halls, violence towards teachers, students bringing drugs to school... The whole selection process is unfair. Hopefully we'll lower our standards next year and catch up to these seven other zoos", an official at Grover stated.

Dr. Williams is on to the problem and will solve it the same way he always does, by changing the names of the schools involved. South Park will now be known as the Lynn DeJac School of Excellence. We tried to contact School Board President Ralph Pornandez for comment on this story, but he was too busy downloading filthy movies onto his district issued laptop.

One of the state's reform recommendations is for each of the schools to replace the principals and at least 50% of the current staff. How about replacing 90% of the students? It's not the staff's fault. Riverside's Principal Mike Mogavero, for example, does a terrific job. but his hands are tied. He can't help it that a large percentage of his students come to school with all the problems associated with poverty. Buffalo school officials need to stop dancing around the issues and hire the guy seen in these videos:

7 Buffalo schools on state list face reforms : Home: The Buffalo News