Look Behind the Curtain

We all remember the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” Perhaps you've read the book by Frank Baum. Perhaps you've even gone to Chittenango, NY (Read the spell checks on that name) to see all the tributes to the local boy gone big.

We all remember the scene where Toto pulls back the curtain and the big wizard is shown to be this small man. All the special effects and he is really…..

So it is with the “Parent Power” school board movement. In principle, I like the idea. It sounds very good. In the different districts a parent is running for the Buffalo School Board. As opposed to some of the sitting candidates, they actually have children that are in the Buffalo CSD and not some elitist private school. They have something real at risk – the future of their child's education.

Now, I agree with their idea – They want the best possible school system for their children. They aren't some sort of elitist that is going to tell the people of Buffalo how to run their schools and then put their children elsewhere,

So, why the Oz opening?

In the Buffalo News article, as in any newspaper or magazine article, you have to read to the end.

In the second section of the article (Page A2), in the second to last column at the bottom we find that three of the candidates (at least, possibly more) are being supported by “Grassroots.” An innocent sounding name if there ever was one. And positive sounding too, given the nature of the candidates.

My concern? Grassroots is the organization that is run by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.

His agenda? Like NYC, he wants mayoral control over the school system.

No more democratically elected school board (which gave Buffalo Carl PaladiNO!). Instead all of the board members would be appointed by the mayor and serve at his discretion.

So basically, it is a back door attempt by the Mayor to take over the school district.

So, the people of Buffalo are caught between a rock and a hard place. They have a group of people that want to privatize the district and hand their hard earned money and their students' educational future to private charter schools – where they have no voice in how the school is run or anything that goes on. Or they can have their school run by an elected mayor who will put people in charge that cater to his personal agenda. So if he wants to privatize the schools, there is nothing to stop him.

What the people of Buffalo need to do is wake up to what is going on and see how the political and economic (mis)leadership are trying to destroy whatever democratic stakes they have in how their schools are run and how their children are educated.

The people of Buffalo need to stand up for democracy and democratic control over their schools.

Anyone that advocated privatization – from the Superintendent to any School Board member needs to be removed and replaced by someone that will keep the schools under public control.

Let's face the facts: There is little to any proof that private charter schools are any better than public schools. They can remove troublesome or failing students and send them back to public schools. Public schools have to take and educate all students that enter their doors.

This School Board election is about the control over the future of their children's lives- They need to vote against privatization and privatizers and for those people that want to strengthen public education.