Hometown News: Back to School in Buffalo

It’s back to school in Buffalo. School Superintendent James Williams gave teachers a pep talk yesterday in a message broadcast on closed-circuit TV. Williams told teachers to set the bar high and not to expect or settle for failure. The superintendent added that the district is on the rise and moving in the right direction.The city’s graduation rate stands at just 52-percent, well below the state average. The message came on the same day President Obama gave students across the country a pep talk.

Obama’s Brainwashing Revealed!

I have a brood of four kids, and two of them are school aged: fifth and first grade. Here is how our dinner conversation went tonight:

Mom: Did you guys watch the President at school today?

Kids: Yes, we did.

Me: What did he say?

First Grader: He said his dad left him when he was little then he moved to Indonesia.

Fifth Grader: Then he said he didn’t have a lot of money for good schools, so his mother tutored him on Friday’s, and he would fall asleep at the kitchen table, and then his mother would yell at him and say “This isn’t my idea of a picnic either.”

Both: (much giggling)

Me: Did the President say why that was important?

Fifth Grader: I don’t know. Can we have ice cream after dinner?

_____________________________________________________________

This proves:

a) Obama is an egotist

b) This whole blow up was much ado about nothing

c) Most kids don’t pay a lot of attention to the things we think they are going to, and they miss the fine points of policy brainwashing

d) All of the above

I think we all know the answer.

HTN: Niagara Catholic Students Start 4-Day Weeks

Kids at Niagara Catholic High School won’t have a case of the Mondays anymore. That’s because the school has shifted to a four day school week with longer classes Tuesday through Friday. It is believed to be the first school in the state to try such a method. The school says it will save upwards of ten-thousand dollars on transportation and utility costs. Critics question if kids will have the attention span to sit in class from 7:45 a.m. until 3:35 p.m. More than 100 public school districts in 17 other states have made the switch. Niagara Catholic says it is committed to the plan for at least two years.

HTN: School is In, a Bit Early

Schools around Western New York began opening today, nearly a week before Labor Day. Schools in Grand Island open today followed by a handful of others on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Typically schools wait until after Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer. However, educators say the holiday falls late this year and they are concerned about running out of instructional time should there be the need for snow days or closures due to flu. The bulk of area schools will open next Tuesday, while Buffalo and others will wait until next Wednesday.

HTN: Lew-Port Looking for Buses

Enlightenment in Lew-Port

The Lew-Port School Board President thinks racist, misogynist emails are hilarious. Like most people over 50, he takes glee in forwarding them to a lengthy list of email recipients. Problem is, many of them don’t think “negro” jokes and black-people-hate-to-work jokes are all that “funny”.

When interviewed by the Buffalo News, Robert Weller defended a right to free speech that no one said he didn’t have, and suggested that those offended “lighten up”.

“The president of the School Board is no more holy than a minister, and a minister probably sends a lot more stuff than I do,” Weller said. “These are just jokes. If somebody wanted to take offense, they had the opportunity to shut if off, just like a radio.”

Mr. Weller misses the point in its entirety.

It would seem to me that Robert Weller is a deeply disturbed person who not only has a deep, unrepentant hatred for black people and women, but also is completely oblivious to just how offensive and improper the forwarding of these emails is. It doesn’t matter what email account he sent them to, or the fact that he has a fundamental right as an American to hate blacks and women. What matters is that he is entrusted with helping the education of children, and is frankly undeserving of any position of authority in education.

Public Meetings I Missed and Went To Monday

Did you know there was a county legislature-created commission to examine how county government might further reform itself? One of the items being considered is whether the legislature might be reduced from 15 to 9 members.

I was unable to attend because I was busy attending a budget workshop at the Clarence Board of Education asking them not to cut one of the most respected and beloved programs in the school system – a program that enhances the learning for every student in the school district. The savings to the budget would be $200,000 – a pittance in the large scheme of things, but you only get one chance to educate your kid. It’s counterproductive madness to futz with a curriculum that has been produced excellence in a cost-effective way. People move to that district because it’s so well respected. If they drop this important component of the school curriculum, the district will see its results adversely affected, and it will see enrollment drop.

So, I had to skip the 21st Century Commission’s public hearing, but Paul Wolf attended, and he eloquently spoke in favor of an idea that I’ve advocated for from time to time – a wholesale abolition of county government.

County government is a relic from the past that does not make sense in the 21st Century.

My understanding is that 88% of the Erie County budget is mandated by the state. We simply do not need 15 legislators, a County Executive and their staff to make decisions on the other 12 % of the budget.

When you look at the agenda for a County legislature meeting what you see is a large number of resolutions honoring and thanking individuals. While such resolutions are nice in my opinion they take up a significant amount of staff time and are simply not an appropriate use of legislative time. In 2008, 349 of these congratulatory resolutions were introduced compared to 5 local laws.

In addition to resolutions honoring individuals, what you will see on the County legislature’s agenda are what I call symbolic resolutions. Resolutions where the Legislature calls upon the federal government or state government to take action on an item that they have no power or say over. I don’t believe such actions are essential and nor would they be missed.

My request is that this Commission look beyond debating incremental changes such as reducing the size of the legislature, the length of terms and term limits. Reducing the size of the Legislature or changing the length of terms will not result in bold and meaningful change that makes a difference to our community.

The services provided by County government could easily be transferred to and absorbed by the state, Cities, towns and villages. County government was successfully eliminated in Connecticut in the 1960’s, and eliminated in Massachusetts in the 1990’s. The state of Rhode Island does not have county government. A movement of local citizens is growing in West Chester County, New York to eliminate County government.

The pointlessness of county government? Consider for a moment the fact that we revised the county charter a couple of years ago, and it was accomplished by a 70% “yes” vote via referendum. The charter mandates performance based budgeting be implemented. It’s an innovative way for a governmental entity to provide services in as cost-effective a way as possible. The last two county budgets have not been performance based, and therefore have arguably been illegal. With its implementation, that 88% Wolf talks about above – the part that’s mandated by Albany – could be reduced, as well. After all, it’s not the expenditure that Albany mandates without funding, it’s the service provided.

Kevin Gaughan is right that we have too many taxing governmental entities, but we have to decide whether we abolish small governments and roll them into a unified regional metropolitan entity, or whether we abolish county government and roll its functions into the state or local municipalities.

Or we can dither about, cajoling towns to drop a board member or two, and have Chris Collins asking all and sundry to put up their dukes. Either way.

Clarence Schools & Cuts

I’m sure you’ll forgive me this, but I’m going to use my bully pulpit, however small, to discuss cuts being proposed and discussed in the Clarence School system, because it affects me personally and twice.

There have been rumors lately that budget cuts will force teachers to be let go, and more critically, an end to the “Clarence Enrichment Program” which not only runs the morning program at our daughter’s school, but is also the nouveau term for the, I guess, exclusionary “gifted and talented”.

This article appeared on the Clarence Schools website:

The Clarence Board of Education will preview proposed cost-saving measures contained in next year’s preliminary budget at a public forum on Monday, March 23 at 7 p.m. in the Clarence High School auditorium.

Grim economic conditions have forced the board to make some tough but necessary decisions. Facing a likely $2 million cut in state aid, the school board sought to develop a budget that keeps expenditure and tax levy increases under 2 percent. To achieve that goal, the board considered several cost-saving measures.

The board finalized those plans during a budget workshop this past Saturday. Among the proposed cuts is a two percent reduction in staffing including 10 full time teaching and 6 full time support positions. It is anticipated the cuts could be achieved through attrition and retirements.

The budget draft also includes a 20 percent cost reduction for supplies, materials, equipment and conferences, modification to the elementary and middle school summer programs, and the elimination of the elementary enrichment program.

Monday’s meeting will include an overview of the anticipated cuts and time for comment and questions from the public.

The Board of Education is set to adopt the proposed 2009-10 school budget at a 7 p.m. school board meeting on Monday, March 30 at Clarence Middle School. A public vote on the budget is scheduled for May 19, 2009.

With New York State poised to receive over $2 billion in direct education funding through the stimulus bill, the fact that my school taxes routinely go up, and the importance of the schools to the people in this community, I’ll be writing about this from time to time. The test, for me, is governmental. Ok, so my county legislator is Ray Walter, my assemblywoman is Jane Corwin, my state senator is Mike Ranzenhofer, and my congressman is Chris Lee. Republicans all. I will be contacting all of them and asking them why this funding, of all things, is being removed, and report on their responsiveness. If they believe that good schools are a hallmark of life in Western New York, and important for the future of not only individual kids, but the region itself, then I’m sure these elected officials will be super-responsive.

Because I don’t mind paying taxes if I’m getting a good product back. Clarence’s schools provide an excellent service, and I still pay loads of taxes to the state, to the county, and to the district itself. If cuts are to be had, they should be spread out across the district’s service offerings. Killing CEP wholesale hurts the kids, but will also hurt the system’s reputation over time.

More Disruptive than What Went on at McKinley High?

Try this on for size.

Some total dick who graduated from Saratoga Springs High School last year disrupted this year’s graduation dressed as a …

To round out the costume, he sprayed silly string at the audience.

His motive? “He thought it would be funny,” Briscoe said.

Morett was ticketed for disorderly conduct, a violation, and will face the charges in City Court on Tuesday, Briscoe said.

Morett graduated from Saratoga Springs High School last year. He tried to streak away from law enforcement, but could not.

“Once I stopped laughing, he was pretty easy to catch because he was tripping on the lower portion of the costume,” said Briscoe, who made the arrest.

In other news, Jayvonna Kincannon graduated yesterday without incident, and the McKinley High alumni association gave her a leadership award.

Suozzi Commission Report on Property Tax Cap

From Politics on the Hudson:

[T]he state Commission on Property Tax Reform, headed by Nassau County executive Thomas Suozzi, is recommending a school property-tax cap of 4 percent annual growth, tying property taxes to incomes (called a circuit breaker) and relieving schools of state and local mandates.

“There are only three options to address the ever increasing cost burden of the New York State education system: 1) decrease expenses (or at least decrease the rate of growth), 2) increase state aid, or 3) increase property taxes,” the report reads.

“These options involve hard choices, but this Commission concludes that, regardless of any other factors, it must be a priority to limit property tax increases above a capped amount.”

The entire – yet preliminary – report is here (.pdf).

It’s 112 pages long, so no I haven’t read the whole thing yet. But this stood out within the first few pages:

High property taxes have the most negative impact on low and moderate income working families, seniors on fixed incomes, and small business owners, who must shoulder this burden regardless of their ability to pay. Whether your concern is decreasing education costs, or increasing education spending, or addressing inequities in school funding, or improving programs, virtually all agree the answer cannot be to continue to increase property taxes at the current rate. The rate of increase in property taxes over recent years is unsustainable, and simply unfair to those who cannot afford to pay.

and

Expenses are high. New York schools outside of New York City spend more per student than any state in the nation – an estimated $18,768 in 2008-20091. New York’s per student spending is more than 50 percent above the national average. New York is a proud state with a progressive history and a social compact devoted to improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers. Generations of New York’s leaders, committed to maintaining its status as a national model of social responsibility, have adopted laws and regulations that require local school districts and local governments to provide certain functions in certain ways. The unintended consequence is government that is very expensive. The thorny challenge is to help school districts and other local
governments reduce these expenses, while remaining faithful to our social compact.

State aid as a percentage of total cost is below the national average. It must be noted that New York State spends a great deal on public education, well above the national average. In fact, the State has dramatically increased spending over the past several years and intends to do even more over the next several years, which the Commission applauds. However, the State’s contribution represents, as a percentage of the total cost, only 43 percent, which is below the national average of 47 percent.

In addition to the property tax cap on the rate of growth and the “STAR Circuit Breaker”, which ties STAR property tax relief to one’s ability to pay, the commission suggests changing state mandates that help drive up the cost of education throughout the state, including salaries, pension, and health care costs.

Take a look at the report and report your thoughts in comments. This might be one of the most significant reform efforts in the state in decades. Is it enough? Is it a good start? Will it help?

Good? That it’s being considered at all, and some solutions are being proposed. Bad? I don’t really know. I’m mostly concerned that it’s a Spongebob Band-Aid being placed over a gaping wound.