BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN).....Faced with a laundry list of issues and few resolutions at hand, it may be time for New York's Department of Education to step in and closely oversee - and, perhaps - act as a de facto board of education supplanting the existing Buffalo Board of Education.
That's the opinion of Assemblyman Pat Burke and he wants New York to use its bully pulpit of financial aid directed towards Buffalo's board of education as the lever to install a team of special advisors.
Burke has been pushing for that since early summer and, even, state Education Commissioner Dr. Betty Rosa, during a late July stop in Buffalo, said that may be a possibilty.
How the Buffalo Public Schools are run and the perceptions of the district and school board have major impacts on the city, Burke says.
"If they fail, they are failing the City of Buffalo," Burke said.
While the state takeover may be harsh and, viewed in some quarters as Draconian, it is necessary given all the issues hovering over the city school board like the sword of Damocles.
Among the issues:
* A projected $60 million budget deficit
* Naming a permanent superintendent. Buffalo has had four superintendents in the past four years.
* The locational debate centering on the Leonardo Da Vinci High School. The high school needs a modern facility and not its current obsolete East Side location.
* The pending civil lawsuits filed against Central District school board member Muki Hawkins and former Superintendent Dr. Pascal Mubenga.
The lawsuits focus on alleged sexual and personal harassment charges made against Hawkins and Mubenga from female school district employees.
An internal probe cleared Hawkins but the civil suits remain.
"Is the school board the best way to handle all of these issues? I don't think it is," Burke said.
Burke noted that school districts in Rochester, Mount Vernon and East Ramapo all have state-appointed advisors and that model is working.
"What we have now may not be the best working model," Burke said.
Assemblyman Pat Burke pushing for NYS to have a stronger oversight role with Buffalo School Board
Assemblyman Pat Burke pushing for NYS to have a stronger oversight role with Buffalo School Board
