RIT Alumnus Bob Duffy ‘93 (Multidisciplinary Studies) enters a crowded city council chamber on January 19, following his announcement of his intent to take control of Rochester City Schools.
Michael Conti

President William Destler drafted a letter, which was signed by 18 other Rochester area college presidents, endorsing Mayor Robert Duffy’s proposal to become chief executive of the Rochester City School District (RCSD). This step would eliminate the elected school board already in place. The letter, sent to Ali Zoibi, president and publisher of the Democrat and Chronicle, was in clear support of a political move that has been openly criticized and protested by concerned parents, educators and union officials.

Fixing A Failing System

“Someone has to be willing to say, for the sake of the kids, the current system is not working,” said Destler. “They [the school board] haven’t been particularly accountable for change ... it’s too diffused right now.” The 2009 Rochester City School District’s high school graduation rate was a meager 46 percent, which Destler cites as contributing to the violence and crime that has grown in Rochester’s urban center.

Destler and the other college presidents have called for “a major shake-up,” to reverse the downward trend of graduation rates and literacy levels in the RCSD. The specifics of this reorganization in Mayor Duffy’s bill are pending the approval of the state assembly. New York Governor David Patterson, mired in controversy of his own, has expressed his support for Mayor Duffy.

Duffy’s plan for the school district is summarized in the document, “Serving Children and Parents First - Implementing Mayoral Accountability.” Inside, he outlines his intentions to drastically improve graduation rates, create more community centers, and improve vocational training, among other measures. The document closely resembles other plans produced by Superintendent of Schools Jean-Claude Brizard and the School Board, but emphasizes notions of “Change” and “Accountability.”

Eduardo Merida of Andrew J. Townson Elementary, School 39, comforts a despondent student during a period between classes. To Merida, teaching is a partnership with parents, no matter who is in charge of the governance system.
Michael Conti

A Lack of Trust

“[The mayor’s plan] truly was a skeleton with no meat,” said Howard Eagle, a RCSD history teacher of 23 years who has retired and become a political activist. Eagle and others opposed to mayoral control see the “first draft of several formal reports” as only a vague idea of what needs to happen. “It’s madness… the man is saying ‘just trust me,’ and as a parent, an educator and an activist, I don’t trust him,” said Eagle.

Eagle’s booming voice is well known at meetings and rallies. These events have become more frequent and more attended in the downtown area since the proposal was handed down early this January. The protests consist of concerned parents, union members of many trades, and outspoken high school students. Dominating the rhetoric at these rallies are accusations that the mayor is infringing upon the voting rights of Rochester’s urban population by eliminating a democratically elected school board.

“I’m not saying we have a school board that’s functioning, but you don’t get rid of the process … You don’t take it out of the hands of the people,” said Michelle Calogero, a teacher at School 52 and member of the Rochester Teacher’s Association (RTA). Calogero was among hundreds of other RTA members who protested outside the 2010 Mayor’s Ball on March 20.

The school board has been under criticism for failing to cut down on administrative costs, and members of the RTA, BENTE (Board of Education Non-Teaching Employees), and the police and firefighters unions have come out in force. Because Duffy’s plans have not been communicated in their entirety, some employees fear that their roles may be minimized — or that their jobs will be eliminated entirely — when Duffy takes the reins.

The concept of mayoral control in itself has also received harsh criticism. Despite Mayor Duffy and Dr. Destler hailing the switch “successful” in places like as New York City, the opponents of mayoral control are not convinced. Long time Fairport school superintendent and former Rochester interim superintendent William Cala, Ed.D. wrote a blistering editorial in City Newspaper, condemning the mayor’s attempt to control the schools. Cala claims that the apparent success of the New York City Education Department is more related to the mayor’s manipulation of what statistically counts as a “dropout.” Former Rochester mayor and current RIT distinguished professor of public policy, William Johnson, is also openly critical of the current mayor, describing Duffy’s move as “biting off a lot more than he can chew.”

Can’t Get Any Worse

President William Destler calls the decision to endorse Duffy as "a coalescing of a lot of pent up feelings, that we needed to do something."
Michael Conti

“There’s no downside risk,” said Destler. “Because the situation is so bad, it certainly couldn’t get any worse.” The only thing that both sides seem to agree on is that there is a need for drastic change in the way education is delivered to students. Now, debate concerning what and how children are being educated is starting to return to the conversation.

“My students have many challenges,” says Eduardo Merida, a sixth grade teacher at School 39. “Poverty is one of them.” Merida’s strategy is to respond to the behavioral problems and learning disabilities that are indirectly caused by poverty by trying to get to know the child’s family as best he can. “It becomes a partnership between myself and the parents,” says Merida.

“If the mayor takes over, so be it,” said Tamara Sprague, single mother and community organizer. After being invited to participate in the activities of the school board, Sprague sees an opportunity for parents to take a more active role in their child’s education. “You’ve got to get involved. You can’t point the finger at everyone else… We have to form our own community [in Rochester] and light a fire in our children to make them do better.”

To download the mayor’s framework, see http://cityofrochester.gov/schoolgovernance.