The bitter sniping that has been brewing between some parents and the Buffalo Teachers Federation turned uglier Thursday as parents demanded the union concede to some changes in its contract that are more than cosmetic.


About 30 protesters stationed themselves outside BTF headquarters at Niagara Street and Porter Avenue to insist the union surrender a rider in its contract that provides free cosmetic surgery for Buffalo teachers. The more than $9 million in taxpayer funds used to pay for those surgeries over the past two years could be applied, instead, to the cost of covering sorely needed after-school programs in the district, parents contended.


"With $9 million, we can fund an after-school program in every failing school in the district," said Samuel Radford III, who led Thursday's rally.

Radford, the president of the District Parent Coordinating Council, and BTF President Philip Rumore have been trading barbs over whether teachers or parents are largely to blame for high drop-out rates and low student performance in the district. Radford has expressed frustration both with the union and the School Board over the state's suspension of $5.6 million in funds targeted for persistently low achieving schools in the district because both parties have been unable to settle on a teacher-evaluation plan that is acceptable to the state.

Meanwhile, Radford distributed copies of a memorandum of understanding that he said the District Parent Coordinating Council is requesting the School Board formally negotiate with the teachers union.

The proposed agreement would allow for a change in the contract that currently requires the district to select coaches from within the ranks of the teachers union. The change would expand the candidate pool to include those who are not certified teachers but who possess other training and experience in specific coaching areas.

"Right now ... you have to be a certified teacher to be a coach. You don't have to know anything about the sport. You don't have to be a certified coach to be a coach in [the school district]," Radford said.

"Sometimes, the difference between whether a child succeeds in school or not is not [due to] the teachers; it's the coach."

He added that if the coach is somebody who doesn't know anything about the sport, have any expertise i the sport and "really may be doing it [only] for some extra money," then the pool of candidates should be opened to someone who knows the sport.

Barry Davis was among a few prospective coaches in various sports and extracurricular activities who attended Thursday's protest. Davis, a chess coach, said he is an assistant to the coach-in-standing at Bishop Timon-St. Jude Catholic High School and performs coaching duties for the University at Buffalo Chess Club on the UB North Campus.

"I teach a nice, large group of children at School 74 in Hamlin Park and I'm trying to go through the process of peeling the layers back so that, perhaps, [we can] do this thing throughout the inner city, because our children really need this kind of instruction and mentorship from people who are qualified," Davis said.

Asked his opinion of the BTF certified coaches currently working in the Buffalo Public Schools, Davis replied: "They're artful administrators, great organizers but in this particular area, there are few that have the expertise to do it, and I'm one of the few."

Rumore said coaches are welcome to apply for positions, as long as they're district-certified. "If they want to get a job with the [Buffalo] Board of Education, they should get certified and apply for a job," he said.

Radford maintained that the union would consider signing the memorandum of understanding proposed by the District Parent Coordinating Council, if the union genuinely cared about students instead of being concerned about their own interests.
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