Williams on His Way Out?
One of five finalists looking for the Memphis job, Williams would be awarded with a salary of $260K, a raise of nearly 20 percent over his current salary.
Williams announced the potential job at a BPS Board of Education committee meeting after his candidacy was announced by Memphis Board of Education on Tuesday, along with appearing in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. Williams said that he was approached by school officials in Memphis about the superintendent's job along with the four others, all from East Coast schools.
Williams has had a challenging school year, with three separate incidents occurring in public schools that caused great public outcry, not the least of which was the seven-week suspension of a McKinley High School girl, currently being reviewed by a special investigator hired by the Board of Education. Buffalo News article here.
Some members of the school board have voiced a wish to begin a job search in advance of the Memphis BOE decision, which could come as early as May 19.
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ToughintheStreets
I must be dreaming! Not exactly what I was thinking but it's a start. Bravo!
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scottnorwood
Adios Williams! Not that being the superintendent of any urban school district is an easy job, but this guy is really bad at what he does. As someone who has had the displeasure of spending some time in the classroom of some of our schools around Buffalo, I can tell you firsthand that the leadership is just NOT there.
Nothing would make me happier than to rid Buffalo of this guy and try someone new. I'm sure that nobody can come in and change the system overnight, but small, noticeable progress would be nice.
Good students learn from good teachers, good teachers teach at schools with good Principals, good Principals are a reflection of a good Superintendent. It all starts at the top and works its way down. Let's get it right this time.
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chris_h_23
Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya!
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GDC
A Blessing if he leaves, but did'nt Memphis do a back ground check at all?
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RonR
"Good students learn from good teachers, good teachers teach at schools with good Principals, good Principals are a reflection of a good Superintendent. It all starts at the top and works its way down. Let's get it right this time."
I think that Buffalo needs a whole lot of change and I do not feel just changing a Superintendent is a solution.
Buffalo Schools have sucked for a long time. They sucked before Williams and they will suck after Williams is gone. Not sure if he will get the job, be fired or leave but removing him from the puzzle and thinking it will be solved is not logical.
Ask yourself this. Over the history of the decline in the BPS, what are the consistent items. Because it is not Williams.
The first is the parents. Not sure how to change that. The second are the principles. Not going to change when Williams is gone. The third are the teachers. Not going to change either. Funding will go up and production will go down.
I am a fan of his ideas but the last few months have been troubling in terms of his actions.
I say the city should eliminate the School Board and give 100% control over the schools to the teachers union for 5 years. If they make it work....sweet. If they can not fix it. Eliminate that as well. It is not like it can get any worse.
In 5 years, clean house. Put EVERY position in the schools up for hire. From the Super to the principles to every teacher. Do a whole new contract and eliminate tenure.
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BuffedOut
RonR, you're not being practical. Your suggestions are silly at best.The formula for good education is caring, involved, supportive parents + healthy, curious students + well-educated, caring teachers + principals who support their teachers who do the hard work of educating. All the rest, school boards, funding sources, unions, superintendents, administrative staffs, exist only to allow the four parts above to educate.
If you are a parent, go into the schools and observe. go on field trips. Offer your services in support of the classroom activities.When your child comes home, give him or her a consistent environment filled with love in which he or she can thrive.Oh, don't forget to check homework assignments.
If you are a student, don't goof off. Do your school work.
If you are not a parent or a student, be a sensible critic.
PS: Correct your spelling. A "principle" a rule. A "principal" is a person.
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chris69
Money is not why Williams is leaving.
Buffalo minority public school students are just as stupid and uneachable waste products as they are in cleveland if not worse.
Buffalo teachers union, teachers and leader Rumore contol the school board and the school system more than Williams could accept and Williams reallized that if he didnt leave then he would get blamed not for his lack of leadership, or his mismanagement but for peripheral control by the teachers union obstructing him.
WILLIAMS KNEW BUT REFUSED TO DO WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE. WILLIAMS NEEDED TO PERFORM TRIAGE ON THE BUFFALO PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM BY CLOSING ATLEAST 1-2 PUBLIC SCHOOLS PER YEAR.
WILLIAMS NEEDED TO STARVE,EMACIATE AND DISMANTLE THE BUFFALO PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR THE UNTEACHABLE CESSPOOL OF TENURE AND INCOMPETENCE AND UNTEACHABLE UNDISCIPLINED RETARDS UNTIL THE ENTIRE THING WAS SMALL ENOUGH TO BE FLUSHED WITH THE REST OF THE MANURE THAT IS THIS CITY GOVERNMENT.
The closing of public schools would have expanded charters, private and parochials.
THERE IS MORE INTELLIGENCE IN THE LOCAL MEAT COUNTER OF STERILIZED AND SANITIZED MEAT PRODUCTS THAN THERE IS IN THE AVERAGE BUFFALO PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASS ROOM THANKS TO THE TEACHERS UNION.
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Hoss
I don't know much about Williams, but I hear he is a thug. But tell you what, I wouldn't want his job.
I don't like all the unfunded, No Child Left Behind mandates. Focusing on reading and math, while cutting sciences and arts is extremely short-sighted. Hopefully this will change come next January.
The heavy discipline, baptist style of education is dysfunctional at best. Make the kids excited. Make them want to learn. Make them crave and demand it.
The reason many of the schools perform so badly is because 40% of the children in this city are living in poverty. Those who aren't, often send their kids to the privates, or move to the burbs. I don't blame them. I don't want my kid in gladiator academy either. Then all you're left with is a more concentrated group of impoverished children. Of course the system is going to falter. Fix the cycle of poverty, and the schools will improve.
Get the kids some real lunches instead of the processed meal in a can crap and there won't be as much need for discipline. That's a proven fact.
Let these kids outside too. They need air. They need to blow off pent up energy. They need to move around so some blood can get to their brains. Half of schooling is learning how to interact with society. Encourage that. Not just the top down approach either. Engage them. Adding 12 extra minutes a day to language arts isn't going to do squat. Not for a 10 year old sitting 7 hours at a desk with a belly full of nitrates and preservatives it isn't.
All I hear is that many of these schools are tuff on discipline. What does that do? Sure doesn't create innovators. Just creates automatonic factory workers with a contempt for authority. Come on already.
It seems as if he wants to leave. It seems as if he probably should leave. If he does, here's to hoping he is replaced by a true visionary. Hopefully the whole system will become a little more transparent as well.
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RonR
My point was to sound unpractical. Just as unpractical as saying "Maybe the next guy can fix it".....
I agree with your formula for success. Under that formula, Buffalo is 0-4 a lot of the time. 2-2 most of the time and rarely 4-4.
A lot needs to change in the system but you can not fire parents or teachers and principAls are almost as hard. That is 75% of the formula and you can not really change them. That was my point.
Here is a nice read about the decline of the public education system in NYS based on a conversation with Tracey Bailey, who was the national teacher of the year in 1993. http://www.city-journal.org/html/7_2_how_teachers.html
Fix some of the stuff mentioned in that and you have a MUCH better chance of success.
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iamBuffalosfuture
obviously williams is a clown, but anyone would be in over their head. Simple problem is money. Money gets thrown around in huge development projects for the schools while the average school is falling apart inside and out. High school sports teams have to share worn out equipment (many footballs teams switch helmets with teammates, and my cross country team wore uniforms from the 70's) with eachother and play in shitty facilities for coaches who dont give a rats ass. Above all the sheer number of degenerates who attend these schools discourage learning from those who may have a chance to get somewhere in life, a good system to weed them out would be nice.
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blackrocklifer
Hoss- you are right on, its really all about the money. Until there is some basic fairness in the distribution of wealth in this country it will be just more of the same.
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fredrico
I am ALL ears. Can anyone out there name ONE thing this guy accomplished?
I knew his ideas stunk when he suggested as a solution to students poor grades and attendance - that the school year be extended by 4 weeks. I assure you that the same kids that miss 50-60 school days a year will not hesitate to miss a few more weeks. These kids are out on the streets all day hanging out together and they could care less if school is four weeks longer!
It used to be my "specialty" to create or correct programs in the community that were facing citations/closure and from what I see Williams did not have the skills required for this kind of position. You HAVE TO be a uniter, you must have absolutely fantastic people skills, you have to have the ability to problem solve, . He set up school 44 for troubled students in the worst possible way ( I wish I could explain/get into the details of how he did it - too long to explain here).
Its not just my opinion - look at the lack of outcomes. What has changed? I know it's a hard job - but surely he could contribute something! I don't see any positive changes. In fact, I think things overall (in MANY areas ) were getting much worse - he knew it- and that is why he agreed to talk to the headhunter from Memphis.
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critt
...peace Mr. Williams. Good luck.
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ECB
I casually talked to Mr. Williams once concerning something that he felt very strongly about, and it sounded like a fantastic idea. He wanted to separate regents and vocational training. He said that not every student is regents material, and that the kids in vocational training still had to fulfill their regents requirements while pursuing a vocation.
Those students are then faced with an even larger schoolwork burden, and it shows in the drop-out rate. Williams figured that if a vocational path didn't involve regents, the Buffalo Public Schools could keep more kids learning what they were most suited for, thus graduating and joining the job force.
Not everyone is college material, but that's a hard thing to get across. Parents don't want to hear it. Just imagine how it would change the face of a classroom and the work force if vocational ed was considered as important as regents.
Senator Schumer was just in town talking about joblessness among African-American men. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24246886/ If we could keep all kids in school without overburdening them, we could turn out more workers. Vocational ed could take over the role of apprenticeships (there's a blast from the past) and put skills into the hands of young people who are not college bound.
If Williams stays, I would love to see a push for this. Like Schumer said, baby boomers are retiring. I'll add that craftsmen are a rare breed and there are green jobs on the horizon. We need state reform before the local schools can fix things.
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Balth
Its not easy controlling a district with over 5,000 employees. Try accomplishing anything when you have to run things by 10 people first.
And by the way, you people make it sound like EVERY teacher in the Buffalo Public Schools is there just to collect a paycheck, while they sit idly by, and watch kids fail. TRY DISCIPLINING THESE KIDS! These children are veritable monsters. They sit in classrooms swearing, spitting, throwing things, disrespecting adults, being insubordinate, running amok, (shall I go on?), what are teachers supposed to do, bring in weapons to combat the weapons that the kids bring into the classrooms? You people have this idealistic view of happy children coming to an empty classroom, and not learning while the teacher is in the faculty lounge. You come into these classrooms and see for yourself.
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eliotspitzer
I can't think of a more unappealing figure in recent Buffalo history- and that's one hell of an accomplishment.
When it came to being notified of possible sexual abuse at a school, Mr. Williams said he never opened his mail. But I guess he opened the letter from the headhunter trying to fill the Milwaukee vacancy. And praise God he did.
Let's all pray that Milwaukee trumps us in the stupid sweepstakes and hires this clown away from here. Better yet, let's hope the Milwaukee teachers union brings in Phil Rumore to run their organization.
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sbrof
who really knows what the hell they want to do in high school. Sure not everyone is college material.. but a regents diploma is FAR from anything close to college level material. I think regents is a very good standard that we should want all citizens to be at whether they are auto mechanics or politicians. A good base provides you with the information and history to make better judgments today.
Should we not teach children about WWII because they want to be a mechanic or a cook. Come on. That isn't a good idea but a scapegoat for improper parenting and a culture of where education isn't considered important or necessary. Sorry, the days of button pushers at the factory are gone. And while I think specialized training and vocation is necessary and a fantastic thing for the system. They are good discipline tools like sports etc. It should not be in lue of a good base. Especially when passing is something ridiculous like 55.
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RisingDamp666
Goodbye, jerk.
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gaustad
wow, Williams is really taking a lot of abuse. Too bad....How in the world does his salary pay over 200k in Buffalo?
Guess, there is merit to what Paladino said.....now we just have to get Brian Davis out .....reverse descrimination at its best.
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Dakovich
first, there are teachers all over Buffalo crossing their collective fingers hoping this guys leaves. Second, No Child Left Behind is a joke, the only reason it exsits is because it is called NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND! not that that program has anything to do with Williams, but its also a major problem with education today. Tests will not make a child or adult learn. we need to focus on analytical thinking and making sure these kids can think on their own and not just memorize enough stuff so they can pass a test one day and forget all of the info the next. third, parents are to blame, and their parents before them are to blame, and their parents before them are to blame, so on and so on. we need to break this chain. why don't we hear more about helping out these parents? people just want to blame the parents, and they are of to blame, but just doing that won't help them or their children. home life has much much much more influence on a childs development than anythng their schooling can teach them.
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scottnorwood
Balth,
Buffalo is by no means a big district when you look at a city like Los Angeles. LAUSD consists of approximately 704,000 students, 33,529 teachers, and a few more cultural problems than we have here in Buffalo.
We all agree NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND is a joke, we all agree that a good number of schools in this city are in bad shape, and it seems we all agree that Williams pretty much sucks. That being said, there are great teachers, great principals, and great students in this city that would all benefit from a superintendent with some fresh ideas who was willing to create a relationship with the teachers which might actually allow him to understand what is going on in his/her schools.
I had the pleasure of spending some time teaching in Leonardo da Vinci high school on the west side and found it to be one of the most diverse, wonderfully run public city schools I have ever seen. The teachers were motivated, the students were committed, and the principal was impressive. My point being, it is not impossible to create an environment that promotes learning, even with all the current problems in the district.
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onestarmartin
wow, this will enhance the South's "Redneck" jokes even further if they hire him. This is one case of Buffalo's population depletion we can live with.
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onestarmartin
...plus whar an arrogant picture
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RonR
ScottNorwood,
First they were good teachers, good principals, and good students and now they are great teachers, great principals, and great students. Do they exist? Yes!
However, simply placing the blame on one guy and thinking that changing out that part is going to do anything or to "try someone new" as you put it is silly.
The way I see it, until people want to talk about the bad teachers, the bad principals and the bad students AND the bad parents, it does not matter who is the superintendent.
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the BPS going through a massive renovation which will bring up the facilities to proper standards? Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the funding per student some of the highest in the nation? Because I think they are.
There was an extensive study done in 2000 by the Council of the Great City Schools which is before Williams and when Canedo was superintendent, that defined a lot of the problems and issued some advice.
Here is the link: http://www.cgcs.org/pdfs/BuffaloPublicSchool.pdf
A summary of the message: The message for the Buffalo Public Schools is that greater payoffs often come from choosing the path of most resistance.
Why did I mention this? The first reason is to show the schools were broke before Williams. As I have said before. I also feel that the school board brought in Williams because he was viewed as a change agent.
What I am hearing is people want the next superintendent to not be so abrasive, to not create as much resistance and to smooth things over. People view that as the path to success. However, those saying this are not the experts. WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: is to run into incoming traffic. To find the path of MOST resistance.
So, did Williams f*ck things up on some individual situations? Hell yes. Bringing in those kids back from suspension, the whole McKinley situation and all of the other black eyes in the last 12 months were colossal mistakes. However, those mistakes had very little to do with the day to day education of kids.
In my opinion, and I am sure I am going to get tagged with multiple 1 stars for saying it and called names, is the BPS needs to find someone "LIKE" Williams the next time around but with the ability to not make the mistakes in the micro that prevent a wholesale change of the macro and how the BPS are run in the future.
Playing nice, holding pep rallies and being a motivator can only get you so far. To use a sports analogy, a coach can only do so much with the talent they have. You can swap out coaches all you want, but if the owner (school board) is not really committed or the players on the field (parents, teachers and principals) do not have "it", the coach does not matter.
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scottnorwood
RonR, Tell Phil Jackson that. Your coaching analogy is as wrong as your position about Williams in my opinion. If you honestly don't think personality plays a part in the culture of a school, you've obviously never spent much time in a classroom.
Good, great, wonderful, fantastic, what the hell difference does it make what adjectives I use to describe them? The point is that something positive exists in our schools and we need a superintendent who can harness the positive and make it contagious, and Williams just simply does not possess that quality. For whatever reason, he is not respected or liked by most in the district, and that creates a poisonous environment. So to my original point, i'm glad to see him go.
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SLEEPL8
Awesome. Go waste someone else's money.
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Lifer
Anyone else find it interesting that if you comment on development on BRO, the first thing thrown at you is what have you done for your neighborhood... but a topic like this pops up and everyone is an armchair parent, teacher and administrator? Its a touch job - and one that most would not want no matter what the compensation. (And yes, I think that he is not particularly good at his chosen profession.)
But why doesn't this site stick to things it knows - like complaining about the waterfront or the shape of bike racks on Elmwood Ave... or better yet, the Cultural Walk of Fame... or the decripit state of affairs on Grant St... or lamenting the downfall of Millionaire's Row on Delaware...
Hey Carl - any idea on what Memphis may be looking for in a superintendent? (Look everyone, its a big white elephant in the corner...) Here's some advice (free and unsolicited), don't say it - what ever you do - don't say it...
Maybe if we are lucky, Al Coppola could threaten to tear down his Pan-Am House unless Buffalo spends more money on their schools... (oh wait, he already used that card for an awning...)
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Dakovich
i'm not so sure about that coach analogy either. hell, look what Ruff did and continues to do with a bunch of kids. maybe no playoffs but its a damn good team for what we have. you could name a hundred different companies, teams, and towns that had to be dragged to greatness. greatness, heck, even average doesn't just happen. it takes a strong leader to shake thngs up and make it work. a strong leader can make a weak employee, teacher, student, or athlete reach their full potential. they can motivate the troops, and they surround themselves with the people that can get things done. thats another thing, a good leader doesn't just surround themselves with friends and known associates. they find the guys/gals that can fix the problem and have the skills and knowledge needed for the battle.
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RonR
Norwood,
The same Phill Jackson who has had some of the best EVER on his teams when he won? The same Phil Jackson who has night and day success depending on if Jordan is on his bench in Chicago and won in LA only when he had a young Shaq or a supporting cast for Kobe? All three by the way were considered the best in the league in their prime and all played for him. Yea, his Zen has more to do with the rings v. having the best players..... Next.
Going back to Williams. I am NOT saying he should stay or that he is the solution. What I am saying is he is a change agent. A bad one but still one. BPS needs someone who wants to shake things up NOT smooth things over. That was my point.
People who are wanting to see him go, want IMO the next person to be a "warm and fuzzy" type person. When, again IMO, the BPS needs a stern super who is going to shake things up without f*cking things up like Williams has.
I am talking about the next not the current. I really do not see anyone who could support Williams today.
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RonR
Dakovich:
Seriously? What was the record with Biron to spell Miller and Briere and Drury on Offense? Now what was the record when they were gone? Yea, talent has nothing to do with success.
I am not saying there is not talent in the BPS, because there is. But to say that there is not dead weight or that a new Superintendent is going to be able to make progress with the same supporting cast is not likely.
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buffaloteacher
Although I can't say that I'll miss him when he is gone, I think ECB has a good point. Our school system is not a disaster due to solely one individual. Much of the problem does stem from NCLB. Why can't there be vocational training opportunities that don't require Regents college prep classes? Why does everyone have to be proficient in the exact same way every other student is? Face it, not all children can read or do math or write at the same level at the same chronological age. What ever happened to teaching to student's individual needs? Why are we forcing second language learners to be tested & proficient in all content areas of their peer age group in only 1 year when study after study states that language acquisition itself requires around 5 years to happen? Thank you NCLB!!! Students want more education than what is offered in a constant testing environment. Teachers want students to have more opportunities...BPS's success or failure is not simply the result of one individual. May we head towards ever improving it together as a school, as a community, as a city!!
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chris69
until this country starts cutting off welfare for parents who refuse to parent
until this citizens demand an end to the teachers union and the liberal indoctrination of our children to be communists whores and effinized faggots
until this nation agrees that the public school systems all across this nation are little more than warehoused cesspools of waste and filth
as long as we keep allowing immigrants to come in and do low wage jobs while poor american children are allowed to loaf off welfare, food stamps, medicaid, municipal housing and heap
Rumore should be treated like Mussolini...dragged down Main street by the hair, beaten and hanged!
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RisingDamp666
Whee! Chris69, just they way we like him!
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