Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - June 30 will mark the end of an era in Buffalo education, as Phil Rumore announced Wednesday he will be retiring from his role as President of the Buffalo Teachers Federation after 42 years on the job.
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Rumore has been at work for several months now trying to finalize a new contract for the teachers union with Buffalo Public Schools. A vote on the tentative contract is expected Friday by the Board of Education, with the ratification of the new deal by the teachers expected Monday.
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Now that a contract finally appears to be in hand for the Buffalo Teachers Federation for, at least, the next three years, Rumore is electing to retire, as he stated in a letter to Buffalo teachers.
Rumore's legacy as President of the Buffalo Teachers Federation appears to be a mixed bag, with some like Mark Bruno - teacher at Riverside High School and union rep - praising Rumore for his leadership atop the teacher's union during the entirety of his tenure.
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"Phil Rumore is a Titan, something that will probably never be seen in the city again," said Bruno during Wednesday evening's Buffalo School Board meeting at the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts. "I learned a lot from him over the years, and I want to congratulate him on his retirement and everything that he's done for the City of Buffalo, and with students and Buffalo. He will be missed."
While Bruno acknowledges he may have had his disagreements with Rumore over their 22 years of working together, they always managed to put things aside and get to work for the teachers union.
"I've been a union rep for 22 years, my entire career, and Phil has been the President for 42 years. Unions are like families: We get together a lot, we laugh together, we cry together. Sometimes we argue with each other, and then we kind of move on and do it all over again," Bruno said. "I want to wish him congratulations, and it's really actually hard to even think of the Buffalo Public Schools without him here. So a huge congratulations to him on his retirement."
On the other side of the spectrum, Rumore certainly has some critics from those he's worked with in the past. Larry Quinn spent several years on the Buffalo School Board, and didn't hold back on his thoughts on Rumore's legacy left with the Buffalo Teachers Federation.
"He, probably more than anybody, set Buffalo education back for those four decades. He's been, really, a person unwilling to cooperate in advanced modern education," said Quinn on Thursday during an appearance with Brian Mazurowski and Susan Rose on WBEN. "He's a '60s style confrontational guy, and he's amassed power politically. That's what keeps him going. He likes to say it's always about the children. I think in Phil's case, it was never about the children. It was always about his power, his political prestige. I could never see anything he ever did for children when I was there."
While Quinn acknowledges Rumore may be responsible for funding increases with some of his contacts in Albany, he criticizes Rumore for his lack of adapting to a modern system during his time as President of the BTF.
"It doesn't allow for progressive education. It's the same system that they've had for 40 or 50 years, and Phil's been the architect of that," Quinn said. "I don't want to say anything terrible about him as a person, but you asked me as a leader, I think he's been a great detriment to Buffalo."
In his time working with the teachers union, Quinn feels Rumore has done nothing to help build a good education product for Buffalo, which has done more damage for kids across the city.
"I've always been offended about the comment he always makes that it's about the kids. I can never see how it was ever about the kids. That's my big complaint that, ultimately, children need to get a good education," Quinn said. "For the last 30 years in Buffalo, we haven't provided it.