The current Buffalo school board majority may be losing power at the end of this month, but it is certainly going down fighting. A budget measure to be voted on Wednesday calls for some basic changes in spending, even cutting $5 million set aside for the district's well-known cosmetic rider for teachers. The goal is to cut spending outside of the classroom so the budget does not need cash from reserves.
"So we can hire the additional teachers to lower our class sizes and so we can start moving toward a community, neighborhood school district rather than this nonsense that we try to maintain today of absolute choice schools which does nothing for the kids," said Board Member Carl Paladino, who is a member of the current majority.
"We haven't been able to work out an agreement with the BTF. The BTF was waiting for this election because they think that the people that are coming in, that are newly elected will give them a much easier time on some of the provisions necessary in order to reform our schools, reform essentially a dysfunctional district," Paladino said.
Buffalo Teachers Federation President Phil Rumore says the union will give up the cosmetics rider, but only as a piece of a complete new contract and that may be a while away. There is no bargaining session set on replacing the contract, which expired 12 years ago.
Rumore calls Paladino's reading of state law on bypassing union contracts "absurd."
