Voice of Revolution

Refuse Receivership
Picket Says: Hurricane Andrew
Keep Out of Our Schools

Teachers, parents and people concerned about defending the right to education from Fredonia, Brockport and Buffalo organized a picket targeting Governor Cuomo for his attacks on public schools August 4. The call to Refuse Receivership was prominent. Governor Cuomo is responsible for the state takeover of 25 Buffalo public schools and 144 statewide using receivership — a term normally reserved for corporate bankruptcy, not public schools.

Receivership takes power from the public and elected governance and puts it in the hands of appointed individuals, the Education Commissioner at the state level and for now the superintendent at the local level. State takeover keeps parents, teachers and students from playing their rightful role to decide matters of education.

Participants targeted Cuomo as he is the one imposing this attack while refusing to fully fund the schools based on their needs. For Buffalo this includes at least funding to ensure music and physical education for all; an increase in English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, translators and coaches as many schools now have large immigrant populations; and improving the working conditions of teachers, which are the learning conditions of students.

The picket occurred despite last minute changes to the time Cuomo was to arrive and then the announcement that he would not appear but Lieutenant Governor Hochul would. Given she is local and represents the governor, the picket proceeded. It also went forward as it is clear that receivership — with the superintendent’s powers to fire without cause some or all teachers and staff at a given receivership school, impose individual contracts that will decimate the district and greatly narrow curriculum — is an approaching hurricane. We cannot wait for it to hit full force. We have to organize and take actions now to REFUSE!

[TOP]

School Board Holding Community Meeting August 13

Public Control Solution, Not State Takeover

The Buffalo Board of Education is holding a Community Meeting August 13 about the state takeover of 25 Buffalo public schools, using receivership. Receivership is a takeover by the state, yet the state has provided no evidence, information or even rational argument for why this takeover will in any way deal with providing the equal right to education for all. The public on the other hand, at board meetings, rallies, forums and elsewhere has shown that it has solutions. More than this, that it recognizes poverty and inequality as key issues to address, issues that receivership ignores.

So the first question is: Why is a single appointed receiver, accountable to New York State Education Commissioner Elia a better solution than public control of public schools, where parents, teachers, staff and students together decide?

Commissioner Elia has been given great power over the 144 schools in receivership statewide, including Buffalo’s 25. These include the power to impose separate “receiver agreements” on each individual school, even when teachers and staff think such agreements are harmful to students and vote no. These agreements are a state effort to weaken the ability of parents, teachers and students district-wide to make demands for all children (like music and physical education) and raise the quality of all schools by defending rights.

So the second question for the board is: If Elia imposes such “receiver agreements,” will they join in opposing them as unjust and harmful to the district?

Elia also sets all the rules concerning whether a school has shown “demonstrable improvement,” and can say it has not even if only one of these rules, called “metrics” is not met. The school then remains in receivership and can have yet a different receiver appointed. The Buffalo public already has considerable experience in how arbitrary and unjust the state is when it comes to refusing to approve positive re-design plans and refusing to support students by providing the funding needed.

So the third question is: Will the board make its own assessment, based on its own metrics, worked out locally together with teachers, parents and students and demand that the state recognize it, not that of Elia?

The Buffalo School Board is losing power over these 25 schools and should be opposing this takeover. The Buffalo City Charter calls for elected governance of the public schools. The receiver is not elected. Commissioner Elia is not elected.

So the fourth demand is to call on the Board to stand up for its rights and oppose the state takeover as contrary to the law.

We urge the board to stand up for the Buffalo Charter. And if there are those that say nothing can be done because it is the law, the response is, slavery was the law, segregation was the law, denying women’s rights was the law. So those concerned about the right to education respond by saying, when injustice is law, resistance is duty. So resist!

It is interesting that the invitation by the school board is to “Parents, Guardians, and Community Members.” Teachers are not included. Yet they along with parents and students are greatly impacted by the law, have an important role to play and should not be excluded.

In addition, the invitation speaks to establishing what are called “Community Engagement Teams,” (CETs). The CETs consult with the receiver about school improvement plans, but the receiver has power to decide, with approval not from people at the schools but from Commissioner Elia. The existing School Based Management Teams (SBMTs), which at least had some decision-making powers within the constraints of very limited budgets, are being eliminated. Basically, the SMBT’s are being turned into the CET, whose job is to assist in imposing receivership.

It is not the role of the SBMT’s to join in the state takeover of our schools. Yet existing members of the SBMT’s at the 25 schools are being forced to do so. It is also the case that many of the SBMT’s do not have 5 parents participating as the law requires. And again, there is no evidence that eliminating SBMT’s and replacing them with CET’s will solve any problem. Indeed, they will likely make conditions much worse, as the CETs are forced to support the various attacks of the receiver and Commissioner on the schools.

The school board needs to address the elimination of the SBMTs and how engaging parents and teachers in supporting receivership will solve any problem. The evidence concerning state takeovers is that they solve no problem while undermining and eliminating public schools and the equal right to education for all.

[TOP]