35° and Patchy rain nearby
I like Sharon Bailey, the Gazette columnist but a couple times in recent weeks her column irritated me.
First, it was telling us how important the wilting Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls were to our local economy without telling us what the annual tax revenue is that is paid to the host municipality. She didn’t even bother to post what municipality the mall is located in (the Town of Niagara, the same municipality whose tax base will eventually suffer the loss.)
I let it slide, but this week, she opined on Niagara Falls Schools.
I have long posited that Niagara Falls High School offers everything you could ever want as well as nightmares.
That means multiple ways to earn college credits or learn a trade or graduate into an apprenticeship. It also means a chance to graduate without being able to read or write.
It’s a nature/nurture argument. Does a student from an engaged, involved home with an educated and successful or parents make a difference or is it up to the school district?
What was missing from Bailey’s takedown is that the affable Mark Laurrie is leaving the superintendent’s position after 40 years as an educator and the school board has announced an internal search for his successor.
Laurrie is a master politician, congenial to a fault, groomed into the job and happy to tell you about his victories. Say Yes Niagara Falls is just the latest, offering Saturday Academies and, eventually “last dollar” tuition coverage for every graduate wishing to pursue college. Taking over Head Start was another huge step in then right direction.
Poverty, and a paucity of a way out, is usually cited as a big reason for continued failure. When mom or dad graduated from high school unable to read, chances are good the school system is not going to do much better for their children.
Here is where Bailey failed in her column:
She didn’t mention the search for a new superintendent includes no search for an outsider led by an external firm, no requirement for a PhD and, most importantly, a residency requirement for all applicants.
This comes at a time when Lockport Schools are showing signs of improvement under the leadership of an African American superintendent who came from outside the community. Event hoity-toity Williamsville now has a PhD level Black man as a leader.
Not opening the search to outside the district immediately narrows the applicant pool to a small handful of qualified applicants charged with rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, doing what they have always done and expecting different results. In other words, it is the definition of insanity.
As Sharon’s most recent column identifies the academic failings with a flourish. 9 of 11 schools in the district are failing so severely to be “targeted for support and improvement” by the State. The school board needs to rethink the search process and demand better.
Here is her column:
By Sharon Bailey
As published in the Niagara Gazette
I recently met a young Army veteran, Jay, a native Niagaran, in his 30s, who had just finished his enlistment. He told me a story I cannot shake.
“The recruiter told me to pick my dream — intelligence aviation, anything, he said. Jay scored an 85 on the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), the standard proficiency exam for all U.S. military branches.
His expression darkened. “I met a young woman who took the test the same day. Sweet person. She scored in the mid-40s. Told me she studied for the test.”
The ASVAB generates an AFQT score (Armed Forces Qualification Test) that measures basic math and reading proficiency on a scale of 1-99.
Score below 31, you cannot enlist. A score of 31-49 indicates middle school to freshman high school skills, potentially qualifying you for jobs with minimal technical requirements, such as infantry, food service, or janitorial duties. Candidates who score 50-64, reflecting a solid 10th or 11th-grade proficiency, are suited for mid-level technical roles, including combat support, artillery, or communications. Score 65 or above and you’ve shown college readiness and can access advanced positions in intelligence or engineering.
Jay successfully completed his bachelor’s studies and is looking for a job.
Same test, same day, same future on the line. His 85 opened almost every door. The young woman testing alongside him that day? She was handed maybe five options, all entry-level, a list that could probably fit on a Post-it note. It’s the difference between following orders and giving them.
With 9 of 11 schools failing in Niagara Falls (seven schools with Targeted Support and Improvement and 2 with Comprehensive Support and Improvement) — where diplomas come easy, but skills don’t — how many kids are walking into their futures with 40-something scores and Post-it note options?
The military is often these kids’ opportunity at mobility, and they can’t even access that. The military — the everyone-gets-a-chance institution is telling our kids they are not qualified to serve.
Whether our students dream of college, building trades, entrepreneurship or yes, military service, they need career currency: the measurable skills, credentials and achievements that make them valuable in any market. Without it, they are not choosing between options. They are hoping someone takes pity on them instead.
