Kriner's Crash Course

Buffalo School Superintendent Kriner Cash has virtually everything he claims he wants in order to “turn Buffalo's schools around.” He has the authority to move staff around, change the length of the school day and year, and increase training for teachers, among other plans and ideas.

Without addressing the issue of poverty that nearly 50% of Buffalo's students face on a daily basis, none of this will work. You can't learn when you don't know or aren't sure where home will be tonight. You can't learn on an empty stomach, though many students receive free or reduced breakfasts and lunches at school. For some students, that is all they receive.

Nonetheless, Cash is intent on pushing his receivership powers as far as he can as fast as he can to go. And he will most likely go nowhere and do nothing. At most, he will achieve superficial successes.

Very little if any research shows that longer school days and a longer school year achieves anything. Strike one.

It takes about four to five years for teachers to develop rapport along grade levels, so moving faculty around won't achieve much immediately. Strike two.

He plans on having more administrative observations and checks on lesson plans. Are the administrators expert teachers? How many years have they taught? More importantly, how many years have they been out of the classroom? Teachers keep on on the latest methodologies and get to know the students in ways that administrators can't and never will. These evaluations are going to accomplish what exactly? Next strike.

At the high school level he wants more alternatives to the state mandated Regents Diploma, A diploma that nobody outside of NY even knows about or understands. (I used to work with a teacher that graduated from Pennsylvania. Students asked her about her Regents scores. She told them that she never had to take them. NY is the only state with so many mandated tests.) It used to be voluntary. The state thought it could improve education by making it mandated for everybody. That was a big mistake and increased the failure and drop out rates. Kriner's going to be able to change a state policy? Another strike.

A focus at the elementary level on literacy and math skills is good and important. Reading and math are the basis of all academic areas. Look at Buffalo's poverty rate and student mobility. It takes relationships with students to be able to teach them. If students are moving around because of a lack of a stable housing situation. Another strike.

Kriner has noble intentions and has sought input from various groups on what and how to change Buffalo's schools. Sadly, checking the strikes, he went out a long time ago. Mostly to things that are out of his (and at times, teacher's) control.

There are structural problems in society that have deep impacts on a student's ability to learn. Cash has no ability to control, or even mitigate, those factors.

So, where will this bus that Kriner is driving go?

He needs to be careful when driving.

He needs to look at who his passengers are.