We are now down to five weeks before Election Day.  The race for Mayor of Buffalo is getting more intense.  Sound-bite politics and TV ads (just from Brown so far) are starting to drown out any serious discussion about important issues. One of those issues concerns Buffalo public schools.

Over the years there have been various attempts to involve the mayor and the Buffalo Common Council in the management of the Buffalo School District.  The efforts have mostly gone nowhere.   The city government role in the District, of course, already exists through the city’s financial contribution to the operations of the system.

The major player in district finances is the State of New York, which during the current fiscal year provides $810 million – approximately 83 percent of the $972 million annual budget.  With that money come myriad responsibilities imposed by the State Education Department.

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Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon

Going to the candidates’ debate

Laugh about it, shout about it when you got to choose

Every way you look at it you lose.

                              “Mrs. Robinson” – Simon and Garfunkel

After the mayoral debate on September 9^th that tune may seem apropos for some Buffalonians.  The debate informed or swayed few among the even fewer who even saw or heard it.  The main event, India Walton v. Byron Brown, was just a series of talking point re-runs by the candidates.  The other two men on the stage added nothing of any substance.

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