Home > NEWS > Email from the President > Buffalo School Board Elections

YOUR VOTE for 35,000 kids and $1 Billion
April 28, 2010

Please forward this email to colleagues, friends and family, especially those who are registered voters in the city of Buffalo – and ask them to send it to others.

On Tuesday, May 4, elections for district members of the Buffalo Public School Board will be held. It’s predicted that – rain or shine – the turnout will be dismal. And while that’s in the best interest of Phil Rumore, president of the Buffalo Teacher Federation (BTF), it’s not in the best interest of the district’s students or city taxpayers.

Last May, only five percent of registered city voters turned out for the Buffalo School Board’s at large election. Given these elections are held months from “general election day”, races – especially district ones – often have been decided by a few dozen votes. And that means each and every vote can make a huge difference.

We’re supporting the following reform committed candidates (read our blog posting about why):                                                        
                                                Central: Mary Ruth Kapsiak 
                                                East: Vivian Evans
                                                Ferry: Kinzer Pointer
                                                North: Jason McCarthy
                                                West: Phil Lomax
                                                (Louis Petrucci is running unopposed in the Park district)

Click here to find out which district you’re in, and where to vote.

Why should you care? Even if you don’t have children in the Buffalo Public Schools?

1). Nearly $1 billion of taxpayer money funds the Buffalo School District, and the typically abysmal voter turnout shows virtually nobody is paying attention to how more than 50 percent of city property tax receipts are being used.

2). School Board Elections are largely ignored by registered city voters, which makes it easy for the BTF to use the phone banks and foot soldiers to have a disproportionate impact on school board elections – and thus, on how the school system operates. For many years, this meant the BTF was negotiating contracts on “both sides of the bargaining table” and that’s why, today, the school system is paying out more for the lifetime benefits of its retirees, than for benefits for current teachers in the classroom.  Read more about public employee contracts.

3). The availability of high-quality human talent is a top issue facing businesses today. Nationwide, business leaders increasingly place improving public education at the top of their list of priorities, because they believe the education system in the United States fails to produce graduates prepared to compete both locally and in a global economy. Locally, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus estimates that 5,000 people will be added to the medical corridor’s workforce by 2012. Are the Buffalo Public Schools preparing its students to fill those positions? How about positions at your company?

4). The success or failure of the Buffalo Public Schools is directly linked to how the city fares, and “as the City of Buffalo goes, so goes the region.” Currently:

• Nearly two-thirds of adults in Buffalo function at the two lowest levels of literacy, meaning they can’t function at the minimum level of literacy employers in our region require for any job higher than entry level.
• Thirty-five percent of Buffalo Public School children don’t graduate high school.
• Buffalo is the nation’s third-poorest city, according to the U.S. Census, and the Buffalo metro area has the highest black male jobless rate (51.4 percent) among American’s 35 large cities, according to figures cited by Professor Marc V. Levine of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

5). 35,000 young people are enrolled in the Buffalo Public Schools. They deserve better.

Buffalo’s young people need your help, and our employers do too. Voting in Tuesday’s Buffalo School Board election is an easy way to make a substantial impact.