Mayor Brown Cares Deeply About Education

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown

(The Niagara Falls Reporter has expanded its distribution into Erie County and Buffalo in the last month. We believe that important issues, especially those of regionalism and issues that affect the greater Western New York area are topics that all our readers might be interested in. In this exclusive report, The Reporter took on a question much in the news lately in Buffalo as to whether Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is suitably involved in the Buffalo School District.)

Recent published reports have suggested Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown is indifferent and uninterested in the fate of public education within the city of Buffalo. One article cites the efforts of other chief executives in what they have done to address the issue. Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City is frequently touted for inserting himself into the education system.

While no one can doubt the significance of public education in the fate of any community, the role of any particular individual in its delivery can certainly be questioned. Though a mayor has much to do with the tone and delivery of services within a municipality, is it fair to saddle him or her with every burden?

Section 2553 (10) of the Education Law of the state provides that the Board of Education is a separately elected body. They are the ones duly empowered by law to set policy, hire the superintendent and guide the philosophical direction of public education within the city of Buffalo. Any mayor, no matter who he is, would be limited in his influence.

Mayor Brown himself believes he has done much for education. He told the Reporter, “Of course, I feel education is critically important to the health and future of the city. I think it is hard to have a great community, if you don’t have great schools.”

“There’s only so much you can do on the sidelines of that issue,” notes Common Council President Richard Fontana. He points to the fact that the Board of Education is an elected body that exists to direct the educational system and was purposefully designed that way within the law. “I know the Mayor has called for having more say with the Board, but we haven’t gotten that.”

Representatives on the School Board also recognize Mayor Brown’s contributions to education. “He’s done the forums; he does his mayor’s reading program, which is very well attended. Don’t underestimate the Joint Schools Construction Board; he serves as the co-chair of that, which is the most effective building project when it comes to urban education in the nation," said Lou Petrucci, a current member and former president of the board.

Petrucci thinks Mayor Brown’s influence on the Joint Schools Construction Board, and his work to bring Say Yes to Education, a national non-profit educational support foundation that will help pay for post-secondary education for high school graduates are examples of the mayor’s commitment to education.

Brown gave many examples of what he has done for the schools from the $1.4 billion school construction project, his creation of a police chief of school safety and security to work directly with the superintendent and numerous programs. One of the main things is funding.

“Fifty-one percent of the City’s property tax levy goes to the Buffalo public schools,” said Brown, “… It is over $70 million dollars. We raised the commitment from the City to the schools by about $2 million. The Council supported my proposal; it was untouched in the budget. After about seven budgets I have put together, it has been an increase, no decrease whatsoever from what they were getting previously. It’s been an increase of almost 12 million dollars.”

This raises a valid point as to who should be assigned responsibility for the condition of the educational system, both presently and into the future. The City of Buffalo directs over $70 million into the Buffalo School District every year. As required by state law, it cannot drop its level of support at the risk of losing crucial state financial aid. From a governance standpoint, that hampers city government from influencing school policy directly. If it cannot withhold funds, what hammer does it have?

In light of the fact that the City of Buffalo recently came out from under the oversight of the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority, a state-created entity to monitor and control City finances, it may not be fair to suggest that the City should (or could) provide more financial assistance from its own coffers.

With such constraints, does the Mayor properly have a role with regard to the administration of public education? While any mayor possesses a bully-pulpit, is it not his or her prerogative to determine when and how it should be used? Silence could be interpreted to mean “minding my own business” as opposed to “I don’t care”.

Brown said, “I could be railing against the schools and talking about what I don’t like about the schools, but generally, the approach that I have taken has been to try to work with the school board members, to work with the appointed superintendent, to work with parent groups. My approach has been to work as cooperatively with the schools as I possibly can.

“I don’t have the Charter mandated responsibility of managing the public schools. I care deeply about the public schools and try to do everything that I can in a cooperative and collaborative way to try to improve educational outcomes and make the environment around the schools, and in the schools, safer to the extent that I can with city police."

Fontana, as an elected official for his council district, recognizes that everyone has a role. “If a school board member came talking to us about City issues, we’d be receptive and I’d take note of it. But if a school board member wanted to do something in my district that I wasn’t supportive of, it’s not going to happen if I thought it was detrimental to my district.”
“We have a different structure than a lot of other cities,” Petrucci says. “We are elected officials. Other cities have mayoral appointed boards and the mayor has more say in education because there isn’t that separation.”