Buffalo News Injects Politics into School Board Race

The Buffalo News is injecting and infecting the Buffalo School Board Race with politics.

Plain and simple.

Anyone that is opposed to their pro-privatization schemes are political agents that are working against the “best interests” of the students, parents, and taxpayers.

So the people that have challenged the petition signatures of several board members are working against the best interests of the community. So laws and democracy don't count? If the signature challenge would have removed someone that was opposed to the privatization of the Buffalo School system would the Buffalo News still be crying tears?

So there is a faction of candidates running that is looking to put Buffalo Schools under the control of the mayor – in this case Mayor Byron Brown whom the News skewered when he gave his “State of the City” address. Read the analysis. 

If the Buffalo News is opposed to mayoral control,  then they need to say why and with specifics.

The Buffalo News is a pro-PaladiNO publication. Their articles on the Buffalo Schools are nothing more than PaladiNO talking points. Quite honestly, I have looked at his credentials and nothing in them says that he has any knowledge of how to run a school system, let alone one school. If he wishes to dispute this, then let him earn a Masters in Education Administration and run a public school with all its problems.

Never mind that there is not one study that shows that private charter schools succeed better at helping students learn or that they are serving the students any better.

And if private charter schools are so great – then why isn't the News advocating that they be required to take the lowest achieving students in the district rather than the highest?

If the Buffalo News was serious about improving Buffalo Schools for the students, they would be highlighting the high levels of poverty that the community faces and the problems that follow that.

If the Buffalo News was serious about education they would be looking at all the tax breaks that we are giving companies and corporations and asking them “Where are the jobs?” Carl PaladiNO! Received $1.4 million in tax breaks from the state on the premise he would create jobs. He created one (1) job.

Let's give $1.4 million to BCSD and see how many teachers they hire. How that drives down class sizes. And – by the way – studies show that smaller class sizes increase achievement. Even among the poor.

If the Buffalo News was serious about education they would be asking teachers what they need to succeed in the classroom. And work to provide it.

If the Buffalo News was serious about education they'd be taking a critical look at private charter schools and the turnover that they have in teachers. A fellow teacher that I work with that came out of a charter school says that all the teachers that they knew were trying to get out and into public schools because the environment was better. And the pay as well. (Even with the so called “performance bonuses.) Almost every teacher worked a night job to pay their bills and make ends meet. I'll bet that tired teachers improve student achievement.

So, injecting politics into the School Board race means being anti-Buffalo News.

It also means being pro-student and pro-teacher.