BTF STATEMENT RELATING TO UNLOCK THE CAGES DEMOSTRATION

BTF President, Phil Rumore released the following statement in reference to the Unlock the Cages Demonstration.

Phil Rumore, President of the Buffalo Teachers Federation, who is not in New York, asks that the following be read by BTF Vice President, Rebecca Pordum at the Unlock the Cages Demonstration:

To the person temporarily occupying the White House and all those following his immoral, vicious, callous and un-American, yes, un-American actions, against those who, as did our ancestors, seek freedom in our country:

You dishonor our Country.

You espouse hate and bigotry.

You attempt to divide our Country.

AND

You Will Not Succeed

Those here and across the country have joined together to fight against yourimmoral, vicious, callous and un-American actions:

 AND

    We, not you, will prevail.

    We, not you, will prevail.

     We, not you, will prevail.

BTF DECLARES IMPASSE AND FILES IMPROPER PRATICE CHARGES AGAINST DISTRICT

The BTF today, in addition to having filed a Declaration of Impasse between the BTF and the Buffalo School District, filed an Improper Practice Charge with the NYS Public Employment Board for failure to bargain in good faith.

“We have attempted to begin negotiations since April 2, 2019, yet, the District has not even responded with a date to complete negotiations on the ground rules and contract proposals.

Indeed, at our first meeting on April 2, the District unequivocally and adamantly refused to consider a critical ground rule establishing negotiating sessions that states “the parties will schedule, in advance, a minimum of two tentative negotiating sessions with agreed time limits” (emphasis added)!! stated Philip Rumore, President, BTF.

Since April 2, 2019, the has attempted to resume negotiations (see attached Improper Practice and Exhibit C).

“Incredibly, in response to our August 12, 2019 request to resume negotiations, we, on August 15, 2019, were informed by Nate Kuzma, the District’s General Counsel and negotiations spokesperson, “Please let Phil know that we have a couple of team members out on vacation until early next week. Once they return, I will discuss the dates with them and respond to Phil” (emphasis added).

 “As of today, August 27, 2019, we still have no suggested dates. They have had since April 2, 2019 to coordinate dates for negotiations”, Rumore concluded.

Click Here to view a Copy of the I.P. Charge

BTF PROTEST RALLY SCHEDULED

Buffalo teachers will be holding a protest rally before the next Board of Education meeting on September 18, 2019.

The rally will be to display teacher anger that, while giving significant raises to some City Hall senior staff, the District has, since May, refused to meet to negotiate a new contract with teachers.

The BTF has taken legal action against the District for refusing to negotiate.

In the Improper Practice Charge filed with the NYS Public Employment Board, the BTF lists all the correspondence to the District attempting to begin negotiations.

“Instead of starting the new school year on a positive note with a new contract in place, the District has in effect given the back of the hand to teachers and insulted them by giving raises to senior City Hall staff but refusing to negotiate with their teachers. We will not be insulted and demeaned” stated Philip Rumore, President, BTF.

BUFFALO TEACHERS PROTEST RALLY

Teacher representatives from the Buffalo Public Schools will be holding a rally to protest the Superintendent’s and School Board’s refusal to negotiate a new contract.

“Under our contract, negotiations on a new contract were to begin in January 2019.

On April 2, 2019, when we first met, after agreeing to some District changes to the ground rules that govern negotiations, incredibly, the Superintendent’s and School Board’s negotiating team adamantly refused to agree to the ground rule that would have each side agree to two tentative future meetings.

Realizing the District was intent on delaying negotiations, the BTF returned to BTF Headquarters to allow the District to reconsider its detrimental position.

Since then, we have been attempting to resume negotiations.

Incredibly, on September 9, 2019 the Superintendent and Board agreed to resume negotiations beginning on September 25, 2019; however, they have refused to negotiate the ground rules for the negotiations!

In a slap in the face to Buffalo teachers, since April 2019, the Superintendent and School Board have, however, given substantial raises to the senior City Hall staff.”, stated Phil Rumore, President of the BTF.

Teacher representatives from some of the Buffalo Schools will be rallying to protest the Superintendent’s and Board’s actions.

Some teachers will then go into the Board meeting where BTF President Phil Rumore will address the Board.

WHEN:           Wednesday, September 18, 2019

WHERE:         Waterfront Elementary School – 95 4^th Street Buffalo NY 14201

In the front, on the sidewalk. Teachers will then group together and hear from Rumore. Some then will attend the Board of Education meeting that will be held in the school auditorium.

TIME:             4:00 – 5:00 p.m. (Note: Board meeting starts at 5:30)

PR:su

Teachers and Parents Take Action Against Buffalo School District for Depriving Students of Required Art and Music Instruction

BTF RELEASES DISTURBING DISRUPTIVE STUDENT BEHAVIOR SURVEY

The responses of one thousand, two hundred and seventeen (1,217) Buffalo Teachers to a BTF online survey relating to disruptive student behavior/discipline in the Buffalo Public Schools is a cause for great concern.

The complete survey can be found at www.btfny.org/press/disruptive_behavior_results_2018.pdf

Teachers from sixty-five of the sixty-nine schools and twelve “other sites” responded.

The questions and responses were:

• Disruptive Student Behavior in my school is:

8.6 % Dealt with quickly and appropriately 

37.4 % Dealt with inconsistently and as such is problematic leading to continued disruptive student behavior and unacceptable learning conditions.

22.9% Is not dealt with appropriately leading to increased disruptive student behavior and unacceptable learning conditions.

17.5% Is almost out of control leading to increased disruptive student behavior and unacceptable learning conditions.

13.6% Out of control

Note: Only 8.6% of the respondents report that disruptive student behavior is “Dealt with quickly and appropriately”.

31.1% of the respondents report that disruptive student behavior “Is almost out of control leading to increased disruptive student behavior and unacceptable learning conditions” and disruptive student behavior is “Out of Control”.

• I Believe That Discipline and Suspensions Are Under Reported in My School.

80.9% of the respondents agree.

19.1% of the respondents disagree.

• An Administrator Discusses How a Student's Behavior Can Be Expected to Improve Before Returning The Student to the Teacher's Class.

23.4% of the respondents reported agreed.

76.6% of the respondents disagreed.

The number of respondents and very troubling teacher statements from each school are listed separately.

The survey was done over a one month period.

“Everyone should be shocked and concerned with the results and teacher statements in this survey.

We must work together to ensure that our students’ learning environment and safety are not compromised by disruptive student behaviors, while also working with the disruptive students to find the cause of and how to correct the disruptive behaviors.

What we are seeing is a directive from the District to lower the suspension rates. This directive is being implemented by some administrators not reporting suspensions, not suspending students for serious and disruptive acts, and insufficient support personal assigned to schools to determine and correct the source of the disruptive student behaviors.

The issue of disruptive student behavior as it impacts on student learning and school safety has no simple answer.

Everyone wants to reduce suspensions; however, just sending a student back to class after the student has started a fight, threatened to hurt a student, bullied a student, cursed at the teacher, hit the teacher, continued to disrupt the class, etc., sends the message to the other students that the behavior is acceptable. This invariably leads to other students adopting the disruptive behavior and most feeling unsafe. Ultimately, someone gets hurt – usually a student.

On the other hand, in many cases (not for me with my mother or probably for most) just suspending a student will not ameliorate the disruptive behavior. We need the resources and support personnel (including City, Count and State resources) to determine the cause and/or how to correct the disruptive student behavior.

In short, while we must continue to find ways to determine the causes of and ways to correct disruptive student behavior, we can not allow it to go unaddressed and uncorrected to the detriment of other students’ education and safety.” stated Phil Rumore, BTF President.

Note: A program called Restorative Justice/Practice has apparently been implemented in other school districts and has apparently been found to lessen disruptive student behavior and the suspension rate in some schools. 

It has begun to be implemented in the Buffalo Public Schools; however, teachers are concerned that there is insufficient training, insufficient principal support and insufficient time in the day to implement it with fidelity. It is also but a small part of ensuring a decrease in disruptive student behavior and not a solution to the more serious acts of disruptive student behavior.

Teachers believe it should first be implemented in a limited number of schools to ensure proper training and implementation.

However, this program is just one part of a comprehensive action plan needed to reduce the incidents of disruptive student behavior.

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Philip Rumore at Buffalo Teachers Federation or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..