By Paul Wolf:
Dennis Galucki, Founder of the Center for the Study of Art, Architecture, History and Nature sponsors a monthly speaker series at the downtown Buffalo Library the second Tuesday of every month from 12:15 to 1:00. The theme of the speaker series is Imagine Buffalo Niagara in the 21st Century.
Buffalo School Superintendent Dr. James Williams was the feature speaker the other day. I have seen Dr. Williams speak before and find him to be an interesting and engaging speaker, so on my lunch hour I went and listened to what he had to say. Dr. Williams pointed out that that since the federal Department of Education was created there have been six U.S. Presidents and nine Secretary's of Education, serving an average of 3.4 years. Part of the problem with providing a quality urban education, in Dr. Williams' opinion, is the constant changing of policy direction every few years.
Dr. Williams stated that more money is not the answer to providing a quality education. The structure of how education is provided needs to change. The school schedule and calendar is still based on when the U.S. was a farming nation. The world has changed but the structure of how education is provided has not changed.
To bring Buffalo schools into the 21st Century Dr. Williams mentioned five points that he supports:
1) A Longer School Year - The current school year consists of 182 days, at 6 hours per day. Dr. Williams would like to see 240 days of school at 8 hours per day. In addition to students needing more hours of learning, teachers need more mandated days of training to increase their knowledge and teaching abilities.
2) Mandated Preschool - Too many children come to school unprepared to learn from day one. Preschool programs are critical to preparing children for school.
3) Accountability System - Teachers and Superintendents should be held accountable. Under New York State law it takes about 200 days and thousands of dollars in legal fees and administrative hearings to terminate incompetent teachers/superintendents. State law needs to be changed. New York City spends millions of dollars paying incompetent teachers to sit in a building and do nothing while on administrative leave from teaching which is a disgrace.
4) Establish A Curriculum - As policy/political directions change due to new Presidents, Governors etc. establishing an agreed upon curriculum continues to change. The current manifestation of a curriculum is several years away from being completed by New York State.
5) Align The Buffalo Public School System With Higher Education - Not everyone is capable of or desires to obtain a Regents education. Not everyone is capable of or desires to attend college, but the skills and knowledge necessary to do so need to be aligned so that students are prepared to perform college level work.
Some additional thoughts expressed by Dr. Williams were that arts and humanities are important. A big difference between private and public schools is the emphasis placed on the arts in private schools. Dr. Williams would like to expose Buffalo students to more arts and culture in and outside school settings. I found it interesting that, according to Dr. Williams, after-school programs are not put out to bid. Dr. Williams would like there to be competition and a selection process for after school programs. I am unclear how after-school programs are selected, but apparently a public bidding process is not involved.
What do you think about the ideas expressed by Dr. Williams to bring Buffalo schools into the 21st Century?
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Dennis Galucki, Founder of the Center for the Study of Art, Architecture, History and Nature sponsors a monthly speaker series at the downtown Buffalo Library the second Tuesday of every month from 12:15 to 1:00. The theme of the speaker series is Imagine Buffalo Niagara in the 21st Century.
Buffalo School Superintendent Dr. James Williams was the feature speaker the other day. I have seen Dr. Williams speak before and find him to be an interesting and engaging speaker, so on my lunch hour I went and listened to what he had to say. Dr. Williams pointed out that that since the federal Department of Education was created there have been six U.S. Presidents and nine Secretary's of Education, serving an average of 3.4 years. Part of the problem with providing a quality urban education, in Dr. Williams' opinion, is the constant changing of policy direction every few years.
Dr. Williams stated that more money is not the answer to providing a quality education. The structure of how education is provided needs to change. The school schedule and calendar is still based on when the U.S. was a farming nation. The world has changed but the structure of how education is provided has not changed.
To bring Buffalo schools into the 21st Century Dr. Williams mentioned five points that he supports:
1) A Longer School Year - The current school year consists of 182 days, at 6 hours per day. Dr. Williams would like to see 240 days of school at 8 hours per day. In addition to students needing more hours of learning, teachers need more mandated days of training to increase their knowledge and teaching abilities.
2) Mandated Preschool - Too many children come to school unprepared to learn from day one. Preschool programs are critical to preparing children for school.
3) Accountability System - Teachers and Superintendents should be held accountable. Under New York State law it takes about 200 days and thousands of dollars in legal fees and administrative hearings to terminate incompetent teachers/superintendents. State law needs to be changed. New York City spends millions of dollars paying incompetent teachers to sit in a building and do nothing while on administrative leave from teaching which is a disgrace.
4) Establish A Curriculum - As policy/political directions change due to new Presidents, Governors etc. establishing an agreed upon curriculum continues to change. The current manifestation of a curriculum is several years away from being completed by New York State.
5) Align The Buffalo Public School System With Higher Education - Not everyone is capable of or desires to obtain a Regents education. Not everyone is capable of or desires to attend college, but the skills and knowledge necessary to do so need to be aligned so that students are prepared to perform college level work.
Some additional thoughts expressed by Dr. Williams were that arts and humanities are important. A big difference between private and public schools is the emphasis placed on the arts in private schools. Dr. Williams would like to expose Buffalo students to more arts and culture in and outside school settings. I found it interesting that, according to Dr. Williams, after-school programs are not put out to bid. Dr. Williams would like there to be competition and a selection process for after school programs. I am unclear how after-school programs are selected, but apparently a public bidding process is not involved.
What do you think about the ideas expressed by Dr. Williams to bring Buffalo schools into the 21st Century?
This is a good start, at least it is good to know that he is starting to "get it". There are still many issues that have yet to be addressed from the Great Cities study (2000) that are holding back the academic progress of our students.
The Great Cities study highlighted the inefficiencies of the heavily bureaucratic and compliance oriented management of the school district. They advocated for more decision making at the local school level, and more outreach from local schools and the surrounding communities. This hasn't materialized yet, as Dr. Williams has assured all involved that this is "his district" and he makes the final decisions on even some of the most mundane matters with the local schools. To his credit, this has improved over the past few years, but still has a lot of room for improvement.
Curriculum development was a major point of the 2000 study, yet most of the recommendations from that study are being repeated above. There is no reason that the Buffalo Public Schools should have to wait for the President or Congress to determine what the curriculum should be today. This should have been established and altered as needed, but instead it is an never ending cycle of excuses as to why we don't have this for our children. Our President and Congress change every 2 - 4 years, using Dr. Williams' excuses, we will never see a stable or formal curriculum for our students. Other districts have this, why not the BPS?
Dr. Williams has yet to define a strong mission statement for the school district. Right now the message it "putting children and families first to ensure higher education for all", but the mission statement is inconsistent with the actions of the school. Right now the teachers and administration have put themselves first, building and infrastructure second, students third, community and families fourth. You might want to add political jockeying in there as 2.5. This is evident in the recent issues with the Charter Schools and Dep't of Education funding.
One issue with a 240 day school year is the lack of air conditioning in most of the schools. It is difficult to teach and learn in a 80 degree classroom with windows that don't open for security and safety reasons. This is something that should be looked into before a statement like his is made.
Isn't there already such a thing as "summer school" for failing students? Apparently any lack of air conditioning has never been deemed an insurmountable problem before. And I know when I was attending BPS schools in the '80s, the windows did open (using those long poles to open the upper window sashes). Perhaps that's changed since.
Summer school only takes place in select buildings, not the entire district. Windows in many of the buildings were replaced during the recent upgrades done by LP Ciminelli. These windows included stops to prevent them from opening more than a few inches, sort of like a hotel room window. This isn't the case for all schools, but for the majority.
Another thing to keep in mind that summer school is seen as a punitive session, not an enriching one. Teachers and administrators have viewed the hot classroom conditions as a just punishment for the student who did not meet standards during the year. This is a flawed perspective on education, but none the less it is one that is shared in many districts around the country.