Hosted by The Center for
Education Reform
Hosted by The Center for
Education Reform
VOUCHERS AND CHARTER SCHOOLS MIGHT NOT SAVE BUFFALO
KIDS; BUT THEY'RE WORTH INVESTIGATING
By Dale L. Zuchlewski, Buffalo Common Council
The Buffalo News, February 20, 1997
I have spent nine years working to change and improve the public educational system as Buffalo students experience it. And, after experiencing growing frustration, I have now worked with seven of my Council colleagues to suggest that Greater Buffalo Partnership study a voucher system and charter schools for Buffalo and weigh the pros and cons.
Will vouchers or charter schools work? Quite frankly, I don't know. That's why we suggested a study. We want to see the facts on what has been tried in other communities around the country and the proposals being studied by many more.
As a product of Buffalo Public School 79, Cardinal Dougherty High School, Daemen College and Buffalo State College, I have personally experienced both public and parochial education. In addition, my three children attend Buffalo public schools. My wife and I have both been involved in improving them since our first daughter attended kindergarten. We have served as volunteers and board members of the school's parent group. I am the founding member, first chair and current member of the Common Council's Education Committee. I have successfully lobbied and organized other parents to lobby for increased aid for Buffalo public schools.
I served on the Buffalo Financial Plan Commission that studied the operations of the schools and made recommendations for improving their operations. I am currently a member of the Buffalo Public Schools Strategic Planning Central Team.
I sit here as a parent who has struggled for nine years to effect change and as an elected official overwhelmed by the recent Court of Appeals ruling that may leave us bankrupt. Let's be completely honest here. There is a distinct possibility that of the next $ 200 million in resources allocated to the Board of Education, not one penny may ever end up in the classroom to improve the performance of our children. As a parent and an elected official, I find that thought frightening.
Over the years I have had conversations with literally hundreds of parents, teachers, principals and administrators who are equally frustrated with the bureaucracy of the Board of Education.
This is no reflection upon Dr. James Harris, our superintendent. He inherited a tangled web of red tape, and some of the tape reaches from Albany and Washington and back.
One of the most common concerns expressed during the discussions on the Strategic Plan was the fact that there was a lock of accountability throughout the system. It seems the chain of command is unclear, mediocrity has become acceptable and non-performers are transferred or pushed aside rather than disciplined or fired.
Who is to blame? The answer is simple: We all are; elected officials for not providing adequate resources, School Board Members who protect the entrenched status quo, employee unions for putting their interests above those of the children, administrators who fail to provide leadership and innovation, parents who have allowed all of the above to get away with this for too many years.
I can't say that private or parochial schools are better at educating our children, but I can say they provide a decent education without the bureaucracy. There is also more emphasis on discipline and values.
Do vouchers take resources from public education? There is that possibility, but that doesn't mean we can't structure a program that doesn't hurt the public schools.
In Buffalo, we spend almost $ 9,000 to educate each student, but parochial schools do it at a fraction of the cost.
Would vouchers take the "cream of the crop" of students out of public schools? If the program isn't structured properly, it can happen. But, aren't the Buffalo schools already "creaming" children at the various magnet schools?
Cardinal John J. O'Connor has repeatedly offered to take the lowest-performing 5 percent of children presently in the New York City schools and put them in Catholic schools at no charge. Can we receive the same offer from Bishop Mansell?
As for charter schools, they have the possibility of offering one thing I would treasure the most: accountability. Imagine taking Grover Cleveland High School, already cited as being at risk by the New York State Education Department, giving it its own charter, finding a dynamic person to run the school, untying their hands from all the bureaucracy and paperwork, letting them use their creativity and energy rather than stifling it and then holding that person accountable for turning the school around. Could we possibly fail the children of Grover Cleveland more than we already have?
When the Common Council adopted the proposal to study vouchers and charter schools, we knew some would criticize us. We knew some would praise us. But, most important, we knew a study would stir a public debate on how we can best educate our children.
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Dale L. Zuchlewski represents Buffalo's North Council district.