CPA: Community Health and Education Day
Last night’s session was really informative. We had the opportunity to hear from Dr. James Williams, Superintendent of the Buffalo Public School District. He shared the accomplishments since he’s been in office and the challenges he faces.
Specific things I learned:
- $28,000 was paid last year in 2005-2006 in Overtime to School Administrators. Dr. Williams said this was the only school district in his 38 years of experience where administrators are paid over time. That is ridiculous to me, but a good testament of what’s broken in the system.
- All school administrators - not teachers - have the regular school holiday breaks (Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter). Additionally, they have 15 sick days, 5 personal days and 24 vacation days. This amounts to a total of 70 days of paid time off for administrators…I am certainly not saying they don’t deserve it, but to also be collecting overtime, well…
- Going forward, all 9th graders will be taking the PSAT to find where they lie academically.
- AP classes until now have only existed at Hutch Tech and City Honors. Dr. Williams has raised the number of AP classes from 16 to 46. 2 AP classes will be offered in each school.
- School 44 - the alternative high school - is using thematic based learning and it’s working…
I don’t want to even mention the whole health care thing because it’s out of hand as I know my good friends BP and Geek have already posted in the past. Let me just say this…if the system goes back to multiple health carriers (as it appears will occur from the court’s ruling), the AP classes will be gone and the 200 teachers that were hired this year will all be laid off or fired. This is symptomatic of a town that doesn’t know how to get out of its own way…we are famous for it…and the school system is just another example.
We also heard from one of the school board members who talked about her role…and that was interesting and not nearly as exciting.
Phil Haberstro spoke…he is the Exec Dir of the Wellness Institute. He talked about the different models of a community and how the only truly successful communities include citizens in every aspect - business, government and non-profits. And he’s right…which is why this academy is so important…and why I’m so glad to be part of it.
