What the Student Attendance Clause means for Buffalo Schools

"Blame is usually assigned to parents, poverty and the environment in which these children live. We know that these problems exist within our community, but instead of solving them, we assign blame, and perpetuate the problem instead of taking responsibility to fix it". Ok lets not assign blame then, lets focus the ACCOUNTABIITY where it should be focused in these situations...on the parents and the students, especially the older students who know what they're doing! Lets not kid ourselves into thinking a 15 or 16 year old in HS doesnt realize that skipping school just to blow off class is wrong. I knew it already back in elementary school. I 100% support the BTF on this one. Teachers in Buffalo city schools have enough to deal with and should not be faced with getting a black eye for students and parents who dont value education. The neighborhood drama invades the schools on a daily basis in those schools. The way some of those kids operate, teachers would probably good to have a minor in jail corrections. Even the weighting proposal will hurt a teacher. Do you think a student who shows up 50% of the time will result in good grades? I think not and even a weighting system drags the teacher down. Then I ask myself who in their right mind would want to teach in a school like that when the teacher ends up being the target of whats wrong with the world. Who wants that added stress? Sure, I get holding teachers accountable for poor performance but to lump bad students in the mix and bring the teacher down is insane. Bad students bring other students down, they bring tecahers down and their ability to teach, they bring the entire district down and give the district a bad reputation. And then the state has the nerve to threaten to withhold funding on top of it, essentially threatening to make the situation worse in City schools by drawing down financial resources that woudl support teachers? A blackmail system. Sure, thats what buffalo needs, less teachers in problem schools.

What you are saying is teachers should actually be accountable for those students who are incarcerated the whole year? What about the student who chose to stay home for three months straight? You said the clause provides an "innacurate picture of what's going on in the classroom." The kids are not in the classroom!!!! So actually, with the clause, the evaluation is a pretty accurate picture of what is actually happening IN THE CLASSROOM, where the kids belong.

I COULD NOT AGREE WITH YOU MORE! Thank GOD there is someone out there that agrees with me! I have dedicated the last six months of my life to working on the way the teachers are being blamed for the atrocious behavior of the students that cause this problem. I am in awe of the ability of the general public, and the school system in particular, to deny the obvious truth. NO ONE seems to have the stones to say that the kids are unteachable, and are ruining this city. If our education system doesn't improve, this city is going to become a jungle. I said it! I'm allowed! The teachers may think that having unlimited plastic surgery will improve their lot, but I think someone needs to grab these kids by the scruff on the neck, and sit them down to explain what effect this wreckless attitude has, on the people, the economy, and most importantly, to their own damn futures. I will let you know how I fair, as I am close to getting the cooperation of -some- of the interested entities.

I knew it wouldnt be long before the Nichols grad would be on here spouting her nonsense. Just because Nichols is in the city doesnt mean it qualifies as an urban school.
How about you go and work in a BPS and see what real life is all about. Until you walk the walk, keep your mouth closed.
Thanks.

Why aren't the Attendance Officer jobs back?

It's mind-boggling how horrible the Buffalo School District is at everything. But it's pretty funny how City Honors is a top ten in the country. By pretty funny I mean very sad.

I find it pretty slimy that charter teachers & admins will be exempt from the new teacher evaluations, yet they accept public tax dollars. This is all part of the grand scheme to destroy public education with the goal of privatization & guess who's leading the charge in that? All the Bushitas & ultra-right republicans, oh yeah... Buffalo Rising too. Better start brushing up on creationism & having kids listen to podcasts of Russ Limbo as part of the curriculum.

Did any of these commentators take the time to READ? This author is saying the teachers concerns are valid, but the only way out of this is to compromise. The compromise is to WEIGHT student attendance so that teachers are not penalized for absences, but still have incentive to teach to every child there because all kids count.
@Bufflove- again take the time to read, in the system the author proposes, teachers would not be held accountable for such extenuating circumstances as you describe ( being incarcerated).

70 million dollars over one small part of a larger agreement is ridiculous, leadership needs to get their heads out of the sand and face reality.

Thank you for this refreshing article! The bottom line is that we need to put our students first. The BPS knows it has an attendance problem, with both teachers and students. The BPS must address that attendance problem by instituting policies to fix it. As Ogilvie said, attendance doesn't just happen, the school needs to make sure it happens. If we know that students in Buffalo have certain challenges, then we must take ownership and address them.

I could not agree more! I'm not familiar with Buffalo Reformed, but thank you for this breath of fresh air

U dont have to read this whole article and or the article in the paper to know that the Public Education system is so flawed and it doesnt have a clue on how to fix it...To tell teachers that they are responsible for not only the kids that are attending school and many of them already half assed, but you are now telling them that they will be evaluated on the ones that are chronically absent? Its a joke, why would anyone want to become a teacher? Teachers go to undergrad, then their masters to teach, where they are underpaid and now are asking to become not only teachers but parents to the thousands of children that have parents that suck at life and parenting...I know the saying is," its not the kids fault" that their parents are awful at their jobs but then, what are they acutally accountable for? Kids come into school dirty, with no money, tired, unprepared, depressed, sick, malnurished, pyshically and emotionally beat up....How can they expect teachers to fix this? Teachers have their own families and lives to deal with.......

"A child absent because he or she is balancing school with paying the bills or tasked with raising younger siblings serve as two possible circumstances."

If you really believe that most kids are skipping because of these reasons you obviously have a lot more research that needs to be done before you can even go about trying to fix this issue

Sweet Lincoln, read--- it says 2 possible circumstances of extenuating situations, not the two most common, or the only two. I think those qualify as extenuating.

Yes, parent involvement is important to a student's success, but shouldn't every child be entitled to a sufficient education regardless of their background or upbringing? By saying that parents must be held accountable for their child's education you're basically saying that the student is to be punished and must suffer because their parent is not as involved or engaged as other students' parents. I believe that the schools must work even harder for these students who need the schools the most. Unfortunately, that problem is even more pervasive in urban school districts. Instead, the 'hold parents accountable' argument punishes the students who need our help the most.

Yes, our schools certainly would perform better if all parents were involved and educated. This is not the reality of any urban district, especially Buffalo. So instead of calling for 'parent accountability' and blaming the pitfalls of society, we should be focused on what we can impact and improve right now: our schools and their staff.

WHEN THE HELL..is the system...govt leaders, school activists, and the SChOOL BOARD going to hold the PARENT(S) accountable and responsible for their childrens' actions. Perhaps putting a parent in jail for a weekend whose son or daughter habitually skip school, will send a message that "we mean business".
Blaming and holding teachers accountable for their students performance(ABSENTEEISM), when the parent IS FUNDAMENTALLY ..AND BY LAW...responsible for their childrens behavior is asinine, ....and those "politicians" certainly dont want to be accused of being politically incorrect or bias of teling the way it really is. HOORAY for the BTF for holding their ground and using common sense...that many dont seem to have!

What a mess this whole thing is at all levels.

Although as Hannya's article says the 20% is "arbitrary", the teachers union position on this clearly makes more sense compared to the state ed dept saying lack of attendance shouldn't be considered at all.

The state ed dept invented a set of rules (also arbitrary) for evaluating each local district's teacher evaluation process. Think about that for a moment. So we have evaluators in Albany evaluating how the local administrators in each local district say they'll evaluate teachers.

Okay, now who should evaluate the Albany-based evaluation evaluators? Maybe one answer might be Cuomo if he hires/fires the ed commissioner or can order him to do things. (Or does the gov just appoint regents who in turn hire/fire the commish and order him around?) Or do state legislators have a role in that? What expertise do Cuomo or legislators have in this?

Who's to say any of those people in Albany are more competent and qualified to decide about teacher evaluations than local district administrators? They might be, or not. Simply because they're at a more powerful level of govt doesn't make it so.

And that isn't even the whole picture. Albany bureaucrats & politicians are doing this in the first place to try to pleasing D.C. federal ed dept bureaucrats & politicians to obtain so called "Race to the Top" money (still more layers of many arbitrary things imposed from another 1,000 miles away). So the feds are evaluating Albany and the other 49 state capitals for all this, in how many different ways, and with what qualifications themselves (no evaluating of anybody at fed level since it's the top of the hierarchy - it's just a given that what they say must be smartest), and causing spending of how much money and effort every step of the way and at every level?

That all adds up to cause dopy nonsense that otherwise wouldn't happen, like somehow punishing a few Buffalo teachers as individuals for absent students they can't force to attend school, or cases discovered of teachers (in Atlanta maybe? probably happens all over) caught cheating to get correct exam answers onto their students papers… so the teachers will be positively evaluated.

The first step in reducing the worst of the craziness should be (but probably won't be) to admit Bush-Kennedy-Santorum were all on the wrong track with No Child Left Behind, and Obama is too with Race to the Top.

Both programs expanded federal regulation of local eduction with countless unintended consequences, not to mention spending inefficiencies with having so much $ flow through D.C. and so much time spent in state and local levels to fill out federal paperwork, etc. How many extra administrators have to be hired in every local school district and state capital just to keep up with it all?

Roll back federal involvement to how it was during the Clinton era as a first step, then keep going back…. not reducing overall ed spending but pushing that spending and full accountability all down to state and local levels. Then there won't be nearly as many federal matters for Albany to so mess up and use as a reason for forcing dumb things like this onto Buffalo, Atlanta, etc.

Of course, problems with some parents and some students themselves make a big difference in attendance, etc. - but what's any good reason to think all these extra bureaucracies doing extra evaluating of arbitrary rules they've all invented are making that any better?

To be or not to be . . . there are some questions . . .

The attendance problem has two components. Namely, students that are often absent from school and those that are chronically missing from certain classes. The Regents ones most likely have the empty seats majority.

The Board of Regents has mandated the infusion of more academic rigor. Two-fold, that’s supposed to benefit grammar and high school students and to reduce the amount of college students requiring remedial classes which ─ surprise, surprise ─ cost big bucks.

Sounds good, just like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top which have inflexible strings attached. Unfortunately, increasingly, more students are falling farther behind.

Has the Regents consulted any experts on how to make learning more enjoyable in public schools, especially the grammar schools? (Suburban schools admirably incorporate it.) If pupils, especially young ones, looked forward to school they would potentially propel their parents toward their attendance.

Not to be dismissive of curriculum rigor, it deserves a top slot. But, it must be acknowledged that one-size does not fit all.

Let’s keep it real ─ every student does not need Regents science and math to be gainfully employable, self-supporting or successful. (The addition of more Regents courses is a contributing factor to students not graduating within 4 years.) However, they definitely need to be good readers, writers, articulators, computer savvy and to excel in people-skills.)

College is an excellent goal and should be strongly encouraged. But the truth is a sizeable number of students don’t desire to go to college. They may lean toward the vocational side, but they are not allowed that choice.

If there was a survey of the tens of thousands of downtown office workers, those using Regents science and math are probably few. (The Medical Campus employees are excluded.)

Furthermore, just imagine a glut of college graduates in the US, as there are in some Arab countries. Increasingly, they are displacing maintenance workers and re-training for other lower-end employment. (I mention that merely to raise this question ─ does the US really want the majority of its citizens to be college degree recipients?)

For struggling public schools, if improving the quality of education is truly America’s mission, shouldn’t there be: More schools to allow smaller class sizes? More teachers? Varied choices for students? A longer school year? Uncut music and art classes? More than 17 percent of Buffalo’s school budget directly benefiting the students? Etc???

Great article, Hannya. You're weighing both sides of the argument and proposing a solution that is mutually beneficial: teachers shouldn't be penalized for low achieving, chronically absent students & the state should be satisfied that every student is accounted for. It might not be THE answer, but it's a good idea that I'm sure people can get behind. I'm not sure how someone can read this:

"rather than discount students entirely, evaluation systems can find ways to account for attendance that is fair to both the educator and student. This can be done by weighting students towards a teachers evaluation score in proportion to the number of days they were enrolled, or in attendance. For example, a student in class for 180/180 days would get double the weight towards a teacher's student growth score as a student who was there 90/180 days. What works about this proposal is teachers have the same incentives to teach to each student present in class each day. Weighting attendance in this manner gives teachers incentives to encourage attendance, but it also means a teacher whose students are chronically absent in a way they can't control won't be penalized."

and respond with this:

"I knew it wouldnt be long before the Nichols grad would be on here spouting her nonsense. Just because Nichols is in the city doesnt mean it qualifies as an urban school.
How about you go and work in a BPS and see what real life is all about. Until you walk the walk, keep your mouth closed.
Thanks."

Thank god we have an educated and passionate woman working for the betterment of our schools. We should be celebrating that fact and encouraging anyone who has good ideas to bring them to the table. As a young, recently married woman, who currently resides in the city of Buffalo, I am hopeful that things will improve by the time I have my own children to send to school. That hope exists largely in part because I know that people like you, Hannya, are working tirelessly day in and day out to make things better. I hope that people take the time to read what you're saying and engage in an intelligent discussion about what we can do to improve the situation in our city schools. Simply working to tear you down, without putting any energy towards moving in the direction of a common good is nothing but destructive. Please don't let these bullies drown you out. I really appreciate your focus on finding a solution, working to see both sides of the argument and trying to come to a compromise. We can point fingers and assign blame all day long, but that won't get us anywhere. Thank you for staying above the fray and trying to bring the conversation back to taking positive action. Buffalo is lucky to have you on her side.

i side with the teachers on this one. i wouldn't consign large numbers of our kids to the "unteachable" bin, since that is a self-fulfilling prophecy, but as long as teachers cannot force kids to attend school (and i am not sure we want an educational system that is that coercive), then teachers should not be downgraded based on kids who don't show up.

What I can't understand is why every other city in NY state has this figured out, but Buffalo doesn't? Rochester had the clause in their teacher evaluation plan and removed it. We must hold schools accountable for all students. Otherwise it is too easy to completely disregard an entire segment of students, or encourage kids not to come to school who aren't passing. Why do we continue to blame parents? Generations of parents have been disenfranchised from their schools. How can we expect parents to know how to navigate the system, get involved with their schools, etc. when they have been kept out of participating in any meaningful way for so long? There are great teachers in our schools and others who shouldn't be teaching, and currently there is no relevant evaluation plan in place that holds teachers accountable for student learning. Every student deserves a highly effective teacher in the classroom. We must start putting the needs of students first. This district is run on fear, and the teacher voice (not the union voice) along with the parent voice must be valued and honored. Relevant, engaging curriculum is essential. Great principals and great leadership at the top are critical in making it happen.

@ jtrzewitcowski: Charter schools DO have evaluation plans that are approved and mandated by the state and have had them for years. Charters, by law, are considered their own school district so each one has its own evaluation tool in place ... just like Buffalo designed its own plan, charters have done the same.