Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Charter school proponents invitation to present controversial proposal to school board gets little support

I strongly urge the Buffalo Board of Education to NOT allow Chameleon to present at the Executive Affairs meeting on September 19th as it is in my opinion a violation of the well prescribed method by which we select partners for our schools and as such, I submit that we are exposing the district to liability on a variety of fronts from the litigious to the potential loss of funds for improper practice. I am not anti-charter school and believe that under the present methodology used to select models for our low performing schools, a charter may be our only option. That being said, we are allowing a group to present to the board and we have not presented that opportunity to all the other parties that were previously interested, much less those that may have an interest now. That is why we use an RFP/RFQ so that individuals know that we are seeking partners. We have not issued either to my knowledge. I have had conversations with SED. SED will only approve a charter school or EPO that the board has approved first. BY going directly to SED, Chameleon is not complying with the established protocol. The prescribed method is to gain local approval first. They applied and were rejected. Unfortunately points were not awarded for persistency. Furthermore as Chameleon was not approved previously by the method the Buffalo Board of Education established by permitting them to present directly to the board, we undermine our own actions. I cannot support this as currently presented to the board and urge in the strongest terms possible that my fellow board members do the same. Sincerely, Lou Petrucci


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1 comment:

  1. Richard L. KinneyNovember 8, 2012 at 12:36 PM

    I take issue with your position that converting over to a charter school may be,
    "...the only option in some cases." Charter school education is an anathema to public education reform and success. Government officials, education professionals, parents and the community all share a responsibility for ensuring our children attend a vibrant and successful public school. Charters take public funds, cherry pick their students and assume no accountability to the public for their performance or operation. Charter schools reduce the public funds available to the systems that need it the most. Charter schools have been shown to do no better than public institutions except when it comes to securing private corporate funds to enhance their programs. Why won't corporations show this same civic responsibility and generosity toward the many public school systems in the U.S.? How is it that charters are viewed as a better alternative? They do excel at exploiting their faculty and staff (just look at the teacher turnover rate at charters) by requiring staff to function as robots and be on call 24/7. Neither my wife nor I are teachers but we recognize the privatization of a public responsibility when we see it. You should be anti-charter. Charters are part of the problem, not the solution.

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