Archive: Opinions

Monday's Lansing Board Of Education meeting underscored an unusual state of affairs, at least for Lansing.  In a decade of covering the Lansing school district I have observed rancor among teachers, board members and administrators, especially attacks aimed at superintendents.  At least two of those superintendents told me they left because of negativity and professional and personal attacks. 

So was notable at Monday's school board meeting when the president of the teacher's union thanked the school board and the superintendent for their support.  Later a board member also praised the administration and teachers.  Over the past couple of years it appears that all three of these constituencies have gotten on the the same page about how education should be delivered in Lansing, and all seem to be happy about the people they are working with in the school administration.

Part of this new found synergy is a rallying of the divergent groups within the district against a shared perception that Albany in general and Governor Andrew Cuomo in particular has declared war on educators.  Uniting against a common enemy, so to speak.  As the school board struggles with its budget, administrators struggle with increasing mandates that are costly both in money and school resources, and teachers with a litany of new requirements and measures both of how they are required to teach and how successfully they teach (which seem to be at odds).

School board members and teachers who were highly critical of past administrators now seem very happy with the district administration.  That makes sense from the standpoint that Superintendent Chris Pettograsso came up from the ranks -- she was promoted from within the district where she had been the elementary school principal.

The superintendents I have observed over the past decade were forced to oversee program and job cuts, in part because the economy tanked and in part because New York State instituted the oddly named Gap Elimination Adjustment.  It sounds like a good thing -- and it did help to remove the gap in the overall state budget.  But for schools it was a disaster, taking state aid away from school districts at a time when they could ill afford it.

Pettograsso has taken a different approach.  She figuratively took a "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore" stance this year and rather than proposing more cuts to close an admittedly smaller budget gap than the district suffered in the past half dozen years, she proposed program additions.

She has also been a strong advocate for the Lansing school district specifically and state education in general, lobbying in Albany on several occasions, especially to restore GEA monies and reduce unfunded mandates.

Pettograsso was singled out twice in Monday's meeting for strong leadership and support of those working under her.  The recently passed state budget suggests that she may be banging her head against the proverbial cement wall, but these efforts have united the school district dramatically, which is a good outcome in of itself.  It is heartening to observe a united district, for once, focussing on education together.  I would like to think that it is not just the circumstances, but that Lansing finally enjoys a combination of the right people running our schools.

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