A charter school in the town...School Supplies

[Genoobie]

In the end what is best for the kids is what needs to be focused on.

I always find it sad when you hear a group of people saying pay us MORE because it's for the children but they don't say pay us the same but hire 20 more teachers. Something that would be in the children's best interest. OR, they sacrifice their own so they can get a 3% raise on top of their 100k+ compensation package but cut a program so that's possible.

"...what is best for the kids..." is obviously the matter up for debate. Some think good test scores are what kids need. Some think children need to be educated in ways that are not easily assessed. My two teenagers got 90+ on their 9th grade biology exam. I know the test is not valid because neither of them really studied or learned significantly new material. But, because they can take a test, they were "rewarded". I put very little faith in test scores as valid measures of learning.

There does have to be a balance. Very few teachers are willing to talk about eliminating SS income and pension reform. But then corporations aren't willing to talk reform either, so both parties have sort of dug their heels in.

[Genoobie]

Teachers use the students like a shield and get the most money per student of any other state but Those teachers never say cut my pay 1% so we can have more supplies for the students, they will keep buying those supplies along with sending out list telling parents to buy those supplies and complaining about the few hundred dollars they spent from their 6 figure salary, when Jobs like a automotive technician are spending thousands of dollars per year on tools to do their job making much less.

Nobody said you had to pick your career what's stopping you from enjoying a life of leisure as a teacher?

[grump]

Genoobie, you don’t understand me correctly and as usual you put words into posters posts that they didn’t actually post. Nowhere did I say I was in favor of the same tests for everyone nor did I say I was in favor of government tests to the exclusion of all others. I said that the war against testing is really a war against accountability by teachers unions, which it is. I said I favored standards which I do. I guess you don’t remember but we’ve had this exchange before. I don’t favor the weed out and I don’t worry about it affecting my property values. I understand why the district does what it does....it’s not getting the aid that comes with the addition to the head count because the person doesn’t reside in the district. I don’t know what the district’s reaction would be were the aid to follow the student. I suppose there would come a point that space concerns would arise. Are districts allowed by law to establish branches in the territory of other districts? I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. Were it allowed I don’t imagine it would be well received by the “host”district. I say that only because of the hostility with which the notion of district merger is met by both residents and institutions.

[Electric Eye]

Nobody said you had to pick your career what's stopping you from enjoying a life of leisure as a teacher?

At my age, I have a low tolerance for bull****, and I prefer to be debt free, self employed and live a semi retired life of leisure criticizing how bad our public officials have allow the Public employee unions to screw the taxpayers and How those Union members think they are better then the rest of us and refuse to give back anything that would put a meaningful dent in the impending financial difficulties these town in this state will be facing in the coming years due to increasing rate of the population loss.

[Genoobie]

Genoobie, you don’t understand me correctly and as usual you put words into posters posts that they didn’t actually post. Nowhere did I say I was in favor of the same tests for everyone nor did I say I was in favor of government tests to the exclusion of all others. I said that the war against testing is really a war against accountability by teachers unions, which it is. I said I favored standards which I do. I guess you don’t remember but we’ve had this exchange before. I don’t favor the weed out and I don’t worry about it affecting my property values. I understand why the district does what it does....it’s not getting the aid that comes with the addition to the head count because the person doesn’t reside in the district. I don’t know what the district’s reaction would be were the aid to follow the student. I suppose there would come a point that space concerns would arise. Are districts allowed by law to establish branches in the territory of other districts? I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. Were it allowed I don’t imagine it would be well received by the “host”district. I say that only because of the hostility with which the notion of district merger is met by both residents and institutions.

Then there's a contradiction because you routinely use the results of government tests to the exclusion of all others as your metric of school success. I don't think you understand what you post.
At the moment, parents who elect to send their kids to charters have the district allotment follow them to the charter school. The charter school model has not yet been extended to public districts, i.e. Williamsville cannot yet open a branch school in Cheektowaga. Seems like they should be allowed to under the legislation that permits charters. That "hostility" to mergers is basically racism and classism and interestingly, it's not partisan. I'd personally love to see someone try and push charters in the wealthiest and whitest suburbs. I see a lot of clutched pearls.

[grump]

I know what you mean about votes against consolidation being based on racism. Those folks in Ripley simply wouldn’t mix with those types from Wellsville. Or wait, was it the other way around? And everyone is well aware of the ethnic jokes that residents in Brocton love to tell about those from Fredonia. “How many Fredonians does it take to change a light bulb?” Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was racism that led to the rejection of those mergers. And graduation rates aren’t state test results. Even with rampant social promotion BPS still trail badly. If schools in the wealthiest whitest suburbs (where most Buffalo teachers reside) had the same results as Buffalo there’d be charter schools.

[Genoobie]

Votes against mergers (also the starting of charters) have *everything* to do with people saying, "I don't want *my* kids going to school with *those* kids." I said, racism *and* classism. Students in Brocton are significantly poorer than those in Fredonia. Ripley and Wellsville? Almost double the amount of poverty in Ripley. Furthermore, Fredonia isn't a very big district, increasing by about 25% isn't a small merger.
Of course graduation rates are state test results. In order to graduate, you must pass 5 state exams thus the two are nearly mirrors of one another. I suggest you do some more research before spouting off your more of hackneyed narrative.
Regarding "BPS still trail badly", all that really reflects is that Buffalo has a population that is poorer, as a whole being less educated (i.e. diploma awards but not necessarily less intelligent), and has a legacy of being the descendants of slaves at a rate that is far greater than surrounding areas. Equalize those factors and you will have a mirror of Buffalo. Rochester, Syracuse, almost identical to Buffalo.
*Every* place in this country where this is the case, the rates of educational completion are lower. If the graduation rates get a boost it's likely because of some slight of hand that the districts are pulling with curriculum (aka credit recovery). Educating those with the least opportunity, who come from broken homes, environments of substance abuse or neglect, etc., has proved to be more difficult than anyone previously imagined.
If you farmed out all those kids to "better" homes (i.e. more money, stable, etc.) then test scores would go up. A combination of correlation and causation.
You should also note the large change in 4yr to 5yr graduation stats.

[grump]

The income/ poverty statistics between Wellsville & Ripley are minor, very minor. As for Fredonia and Brocton the village of Fredonia does have a rather higher income due largely to the SUNY Fredonia faculty/staff living there. You’re probably right, classism has an influence there. Nice to see you concede that the almost exclusively white liberal Democrats from SUNY, among the most elitist, “classist” (with little justification) of suburban Democrats refuse to mix with the “unwashed”. As for degree granting in New York, state ed has almost as many degree cartagories as Perry’s has ice cream. And all those regents test requirements, don’t forget the “local appeal” option that gives a local district carte blanche to set aside failed regents exam scores on grounds as compelling as a note from Freddy’s teacher saying “Aw, come on...”.

[Genoobie]

It was only until recently that the 5 exams were required by all students (talk to your SpecEd connection about the disappearance of RCT's) and very few exceptions were granted. Only recently (like the past two years), since Elia became commissioner after both Mills and King did the alternatives appear. So, your assessment of success and failure in districts is based on grad rates which, in turn, were based on state testing. Which you simultaneously uphold and decry so your position is one of hypocrisy. Classism and racism are non-partisan. They are generally much better represented among Republicans but obviously the trends exist in Democratic circles as well.
The difference between Wellsville and Ripley is hardly minor. Ripley has significantly more Free and Reduced Lunch Eligibility among the student population (57% to 75%). The district lines were drawn for that reason in the first place in many instances (see Maryvale and Cheektowaga Central). It's why the proposed charter is in Cheektowaga Central instead of Maryvale and the same reason there are no proposed charters in Lancaster, Clarence or East Aurora. Whatever, Cheektowaga may get its charter after all and will take money away from the home district that will continue its downward spiral.

[grump]

Please list all the districts in western New York, the district boundaries for which were drawn on racist and “classist” considerations with the dates on which those District boundaries were drawn and last modified to continue the racist and “classist” considerations underlying the drawing. Also, please identify the entity that drew the boundaries, whether local or state, and all the evidence that supports your claim that district boundaries are drawn on racist and “classist” lines. The local appeal process makes a mockery of the notion that meaningful standards exist, especially in school districts like Buffalo, a district notorious for p,suing games with standards whenever possible. The attendance game was a classic.

[grump]

Genoobie, we both know why the teachers unions and their hand puppets in the PTA oppose testing. Testing doesn’t “cause”
problems in the education system. Rather, it highlights them. Most comical is the argument that it causes teachers to “teach to the test”. If, in fact, teachers are “teaching to the test” and that effort is producing the results it has, the disarray in the schools is far greater than we realize. And if they’re not going to teach material that the very system has determined to be key what in hell are they going to teach. Whenever they’re confronted with the decline of education, apologists draw out the “free meal” statistic. They wield it like Zorro wields his sword and they use it as an all purpose cover for everything. Of course, based on free meal eligibilty statistics, every student in the NYC schools is in poverty because every student is entitled to a free meal, every one. The number of participants in these programs has increased as participation standards have been loosened to allow schools greater and greater control over the lives of students and to diminish the role of family. It’s a political program pure and simple. As with “teaching to the test” the free meal program, if meant to improve performance (and that’s the package of horse**** people were sold to support it), it has proved to be another colossal bust.

[WNYresident]

Testing isn't everything but it is a general guide to the ability of a kid to learn things. Like do basic math, understand general topics and even memorize things. Even though having a good memory doesn't mean you are a good problem solver.

[cheekman]

There are petitions all over Cheektowaga that people are signing to keep the schools out. Packers have been busy getting sigs on them. In fact some went to the meeting at the high school. All bs from these people crying that the public schools dont offer dance class in regular schools. Some of the packers brought in hundreds on signed prtitions to timmies this morning.

Whereas the CCSD currently diverts approximately $2 million annually from our school district fo CS

Whereas the addition of a CS withing our boundaries will divert another $4-5 million from our schools

Whereas this additional CS may result in a public school closing, exodus of Cheektowaga central residents, an increase in school taxes and a decline in property values. ( so loss of jobs and more people leaving the area means loss of jobs for town employees. humm reduction in cops per area because of population loss)

We the undersigned herby request that the Board of Regents reject the addition of the CS in Cheektowaga NY.

Get a hold of your area politicians to put the pressure on Albany to stop any CS in Cheektowaga now and for good. If these people want free dance classes move back to the city.

[WNYresident]

I don't care about dance class but they have to offer the basics that are required. . I think competition is good. There will less kids in one school so they will need less funding. If the new school can do it better for less we can open more and close down the other schools. IF the results are the same then it's about the money.

[Electric Eye]

There are petitions all over Cheektowaga that people are signing to keep the schools out. Packers have been busy getting sigs on them. In fact some went to the meeting at the high school. All bs from these people crying that the public schools dont offer dance class in regular schools. Some of the packers brought in hundreds on signed prtitions to timmies this morning.

Whereas the CCSD currently diverts approximately $2 million annually from our school district fo CS

Whereas the addition of a CS withing our boundaries will divert another $4-5 million from our schools

Whereas this additional CS may result in a public school closing, exodus of Cheektowaga central residents, an increase in school taxes and a decline in property values. ( so loss of jobs and more people leaving the area means loss of jobs for town employees. humm reduction in cops per area because of population loss)

We the undersigned herby request that the Board of Regents reject the addition of the CS in Cheektowaga NY.

Get a hold of your area politicians to put the pressure on Albany to stop any CS in Cheektowaga now and for good. If these people want free dance classes move back to the city.

Whereas 3.56 people permanently leave Cheektowaga EVERYDAY

Whereas: 1300 people leaving Cheektowaga every year and that is up from 1000/yr just a few years ago.

Whereas: This has left the town with 600 zombie homes up from 528 in Jan 2018

Whereas: This is increasing tax bills because the Town and the school districts fail to cut spending to compensate for the loss of revenues.