Buffalo News (New York), April 14, 2005, Thursday

Copyright 2005 The Buffalo News
Buffalo News (New York)

April 14, 2005 Thursday
FINAL EDITION

SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. B1


HEADLINE: AREA GETS MAP FOR 'NEXT STEP' IN EDUCATION

BYLINE: ROD WATSON

BODY:
The Buffalo teachers union president likes to say he'll know when this area is serious about regionalism when we create a countywide school system.
The long-awaited report on "collaboration and shared services" from the Erie County Association of School Boards doesn't come anywhere close to that.
Still, it might . . . perhaps . . . maybe . . . nudge a skeptical public down that road.
Last week's report, prepared by Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, certainly lays the groundwork for looking at education through a regional lens. It notes, for instance, the link between socioeconomic status and achievement and concludes that "the success of (Buffalo's) students will make an important difference to the well-being of the region."
That's the kind of argument the Buffalo Teachers Federation has long made in calling for a countywide school system to prepare kids for a diverse world and to help erase inequities.
Even though city schools get significant state aid, they also have much higher costs because of more special education and non-English speaking students, said BTF President Phil Rumore. Those costs leave city schools strapped for basic supplies and equipment. "Walk into one of our schools and compare the schools," Rumore said. "Forget about the dollar expenditures. Just look at the schools."
The report's authors apparently didn't, citing instead the benefits of schools that are "locally owned." That means we'll leave in place 29 school districts and 29 bureaucracies -- and 29 different funding levels.
But despite that nod to political reality in Erie County, the report does call for districts to "partner" with those that are demographically different. It notes that such efforts might "lay the groundwork for regional magnet schools."
That's a lot further than the city-county consolidation panel went in its report, which conveniently ignored education.
So I guess this is progress.
Jim Anderson thinks so. Anderson served on an advisory committee for the effort. He's also part of the Alliance for Quality Education -- a key backer of the New York City school-funding lawsuit designed to help urban districts -- so he's well aware of the inequities.
Even though the report doesn't go as far as he would like, he calls it "a good road map" that "keeps the discussion of regionalism alive."
For instance, Anderson was encouraged by the group's discussions of race and wealth and the need to educate all students, not just those in affluent districts. He recalled Sweet Home's school superintendent putting things on the right track by emphasizing that "all means all."
"It changed the climate in the room," Anderson said.
Still, how that will translate into closing the funding gaps between Buffalo and outlying districts is an open question.
Jacqueline Paone, the association's executive director, points to a recommendation to change state law to let Buffalo participate in BOCES cooperative ventures as one example that should help close the gaps. But she acknowledges that "the true test will be what happens over time."
Anderson agreed, saying the call for collaborations will reveal which communities are really ready to take "the next step."
We should know soon because, unlike the derailed city-county consolidation plan, this one tries to bring in the suburbs from the beginning. And it puts equity -- not just efficiency -- on the agenda as a formal goal.
That might be a baby step, but it's a step. It inches this region toward where we need to go.
Provided there's a real follow-through, it's also proof that -- when it comes to issues of equity -- Erie County needn't always be the punch line to the old joke that "you can't get there from here."
e-mail: rwatson@buffnews.com