Education commissioner to Buffalo: Fix your schools, or I will
State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia isn’t buying excuses for a lack of solutions inaction
If there was any question how serious the state is about taking control of Buffalo’s schools, new Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia made clear her intentions to Buffalo School Board members late last week. ¶ “Rest assured,” she told them in a meeting in Buffalo,“that if the schools do not show demonstrable improvement, someone will come in under my authority and fix those schools.” ¶ The state Education Department already is taking steps to do just that. ¶ A year from now, five Buffalo schools are headed for a takeover by someone outside the district. ¶ Twenty more city schools are on the same path for the following year. ¶ At that point, the state has within its power to place any city school it deems failing in the hands of someone outside the district. And as it stands now, just 15 of the district’s 56 schools are in good standing with the state. ¶ That means, unless significant improvement is made in student performance, someone other than the Buffalo superintendent or School Board will be in charge of nearly half of Buffalo’s public schools in just a couple of years. ¶ When Elia demanded that the School Board fix the city schools or she would act, she was referring
to a new state law that allows for the appointment of receivers who would have unprecedented powers to make sweeping changes at failing schools.
A receiver, appointed by the district from a list of candidates selected by the state commissioner, would have the authority to circumvent the voting power of the School Board and force changes to union contracts.
The receiver could lengthen the school day, require staff members to reapply for their jobs and implement academic programs.
The new commissioner has been on the job just two weeks, and already it is clear she intends to be an unquestionable force in a district that has consistently failed to improve student competency scores and graduation rates.
Elia’s authority and intent became clear during the meeting with the board, when in a no-nonsense tone, she several times reinforced her message that, if the district cannot figure out how to fix its schools, she will.
Attempts to explain
Some members on both sides of the usually bickering board attempted to explain the district’s past failures and plans for the future. She rejected each attempt.
The scenario that played out between the commissioner and the board members smacked of students sent to the principal’s office to explain their misbehavior. Elia’s tone became increasingly more direct as the meeting progressed.
Wearing a serious face with hands folded in front of her, Elia wasn’t buying excuses – from anyone on either side of the divided board.
At one point, board majority member Larry Quinn suggested the high schools on the receivership list were beyond repair and the district should focus its effort on elementary schools.
“Let’s be honest, you’re only looking at Buffalo,” Elia said, referring to possible solutions. “There are high schools in this nation that have been turned around. It’s going to be a huge Education commissioner to Buffalo: Fix your schools, or I will - City & Region - The Buffalo News: