Buffalo Is Canceled: Larry Scott
For our special blizzard-impacted issue, we asked the community for wide-ranging responses to a general question: “Where is Buffalo now?” Below is one such submission.
Under the “Education Bargain with Students & Parents,” Buffalo Schools are on the rise. Nevertheless, we have much more work to do. I have been very involved in public education for a long time, and I am ready to take my experience and apply it as board member. I attend all the board meetings, read all the board meeting packets, and work hard to represent parents through the Buffalo Parent Teacher Organization. It is time that we have a strong parent voice on the board.
We need a central registration office that is transparent, accessible and responsive to parents, and provides timely placement determinations.
We need adequate, timely, and safe transportation for all of our students- elementary and secondary, public, private, and charter.
We need safe and inclusive schools that educate the whole child, including their social-emotional needs and mental health.
We need adequate funding for our city schools and a real investment in art, music, libraries, mental health, reading and math specialists, accelerated and advanced placement courses, trauma informed care, restorative practices, culturally and linguistically responsive teaching, and innovative career and technical education and trades.
We need to foster relationships between educators, parents, and families, and be sure we are including them in critical decisions involving our schools and students. Our children are better served if our teachers and staff, are valued, supported, and included.
We have prevailed many battles, but the war on public education still rages. We must move forward and continue the important work to provide a public education that provides quality, access, and opportunity for all. We must keep racism and the exploitation of our public tax dollars and our children for profiteering, away from our Board of Education.
Larry Scott, 41, candidate for school board.
If you’d like to submit an answer to our question to our readers—”Where is Buffalo now?”—email your response, in whatever form it might take, to info@dailypublic.com.