Is it time for Williams to go?

   James A. Williams has been controversial since he became Buffalo school superintendent three years ago.

   He gets widespread credit for launching initiatives to end social promotion, lengthen the school day and school year, expand Advanced Placement courses and improve the district's athletic program.

   But he tussled with Buffalo Teachers Federation President Philip Rumore right from the start, calling him a "snake in the grass" and talked about taking Rumore out in the alley to kick his rear end. More substantively, Williams has failed to hammer out new contracts with eight of the nine district unions.

   For several months, he has been embroiled in controversy over allegations of wrongdoing or heavy-handedness at McKinley High School, Discovery School 67 and City Honors School.

   On Wednesday, it was learned that Williams is one of five finalists for an opening as school superintendent in Memphis, Tenn.

   Is it right for Williams to seek a new job with three years left on his contract here and so much unfinished business? Should he stay and pursue his agenda in Buffalo, or has he burned his bridges here? What are James Williams' report card grades after three years on the job?

   
   -- Peter Simon

Comments

[harry]

Let's hope the fools in Memphis hire this guy. Should never have hired this bozo in this first place, especially considering the mess he left in Dayton.

[Tom]

This guy is all hot air and noise. He has a history of taking off when the going gets tough. Real leaders don't jump ship when everything around them needs their attention. Williams always jumps.

[sammy]

I say that this is a hint and a half that he is not truly invested with the students and community of Buffalo. The Board of Education should release this so called "leader" from his position. He has been here for 3 years and it is evident that he is not rational enough to negotiate contracts with the various unions. Let the loose canon go before more trouble ensues.

[Margaret Mary Moll]

Dr. Williams -- here's your hat -- hope you hurry out of Bflo! And Please do let the door hit your tush on the way out!

[Matt]

Let him go and tell him "Don't let the door hit you in the --- on the way out." The people who are running Buffalo -- government, schools, infrastructure -- have been failing its citizens for decades now. This joker is just the latest manifestation. No responsible superintendent would allow the "wrong-doing or heavy-handedness" that's been going on in the district to continue. But it's obvious he wants to let district employees keep or build their own little fiefdoms ... no point rubbing any employees the wrong way when you are planning to blow town ASAP anyway.

[Ralph]

All his Posse on the Board will now, ram through another extention for him..with big pay raise...Does that sound about right...
Mary R Kupsiak, please keep your comments to yourself, you sound as lost as Doc Willie.
RALPH HERNANDEZ for Superintendant

[notsolonelyattop]

Hope he takes Crystal and Daye and anyone else who needs to be promoted to their highest level of incompetence with him. Godspeed.

[Barton Keyes]

Superintendent Williams was the instrument not the cause for the internal warfare on the School Board and between the administration and the unions. The majority of the Board selected Williams because they agreed that school reform required two basic tactics: new programs and brow beating the union into submission. Hence, the new initiatives as well as endless contract disputes.
The result has been sporadic and inconsistent progress and expensive litigation over contract issues that eventually ended with predictable losses before abritrators.
And that situation will not change if the majority of the Board chooses a Williams' clone to carry out the Board's aggressive, scorched earth agenda.
There are two fundamental realities the Board has to come to terms with: 1) There are no simple, quick solutions; 2) State law and the arbitrtation process makes battling school unions a probably futile process.
What is needed is a strategy that makes the union buy into the solution and take responsibility for its implementation. And that may require giving them the power to help design the solution as well as assume part of the liability for its success or failure.
And everyone also needs to be honest with the public. We will NOT be able to turn the schools around in two or three years. What we can due in that time is to put the schools on the road to recovery. And if that won't happen unless the Board starts to soend more time on doing what is needed instead of bashing each other in front of microphones and cameras.

[Ray]

“I feel like I was punched in the stomach,” Jacobs said. This quote was found in this morning's news article. The Buffalo teachers have felt this "punch" when we watched the first closed circuit video of this guy three years ago and it has been that way ever since. Dr. Williams is a snake-oil salesman without a covered wagon. Some members on the Buffalo Board of Education have no clue what it takes to lead a city school system. I know, I've taught there for 33 years. The schools need a leader who supports the teachers. So when you interview for a new superintendent ask them, "how do you plan on supporting our teachers?" If they hesitate for a split second or sound like a snake-oil salesman, then please this time move on to another candidate. The teachers will thank you.

[Bob]

Since he is under contract until 2011 IIRC, as long as hey makes good on any ramifications for cancelling that contract with city I'm happy to see him go. What are the stipulation(s) of him leaving his contract? I hope there are monetary penalties, reimbursements of any bonuses, ...?

[Troy Cumbo]

In a word, yes.

Hasn't Buffalo embarrassed itself enough with its Special Ed politics?

Fighting the growing reach of unions, especially teachers' unions, is an admirable goal but ultimately futile, because you're fighting a labor monopoly that can engage in monopolistic behavior without the fear of a glamorous lawsuit from a philandering would-be governor.

Buffalo does not need a superintendent who bows and scrapes before the teacher's union, and his tack with them was commendable, but neither does it profit from one who lets the board waste time ( = taxpayer money) on political intrigue and coverups, and whining about who gets what time in front of the august body.

The unions however are not blameless in this fiasco, and for you folks hoping for a figurehead who bows and scrapes to their every capricious demand, just remember the story of Cary Hershkowitz, for whom the union scored a mere suspension after he openly admitted in writing to having tried to seduce and court a 16-year old student with explicit references to oral and group sex. These unions you praise are concerned with power and survival, not your children's education. They're no better than Williams, and if he's got to go, have the decency to pick a replacement with a spinal column.

[pst 22]

Williams has made his mistakes, but he has done an above average job in a terrible time in Buffalo Schools history.

It would be shame if we went.

But if he does go, make sure he takes the true "bozo" Phil Rumore and his "hot air and noise" with him.

Phil Rumore and the BTF give unions everywhere a bad name.

[pst 22]

"I say that this is a hint and a half that he is not truly invested with the students and community of Buffalo".

And the Teachers are? Maybe instead of getting free cosmetic surgery, they could put that $$$ towards the kids? But no, it most be "negoitated" out along with a single health care provider. So the teachers will sign up for single health care and no cosmetic surgery as long as they get 10k in raises?

A job that averages 50k or more in salary with great benefits and a pension are few in far between in this area. You don't like the job and the pay? It's real simple. Quit. Go find another job in another district or profession.

[Ralph]

pst, give back your welfare check, then lets talk.
Willie Boy needs to go. He hides behind his POSSE, and does not have a backbone. I almost agree with the post who says,give the Unions a voice, on how to deal with problems,.But as a Bully,who picks on women and children, the unions will just show him a Finger. He was a failure at his last district, in Columbus, hes a failure here, and will be in Memphis, and LIFE. He respects no one.
Bye Doc Willie Boy, and dont look back, or you might see some fingers waving you G'BYE

[Jay]

I actually believe Phil Rumore when he sounds regretful over Williams leaving. Williams is the first person in a long time who made Phil look halfway reasonable.

It really is a shame the Buffalo teachers still don't get it. They could be viewed as heroic people who are valiantly trying to help our children and our city. Instead, they keep voting for a nimrod union president who all can see is obstructing any meaningful reform in our city school system. No one believes the teachers care about the kids because their union actively hurts the kids. Do all the smart teachers keep leaving for the suburbs?

[hate me now]

How about we hire a new leader that just says forget the teacher's union. Do we need one? NO! These people just make it harder to do business in an efficient way. Teachers should not remain because of tenure. They should have to make sure that they perform, year in, and year out. "There are no bad students, just bad teachers" Let's hold them to this standard. We should not have to negotiate the single healthcare idea. The company I work for has one. If you don't like it, don't take it.

That being said, if the teacher's union does not like it, go ahead and strike. Better yet we should just dissolve their contract. I know plenty of teachers that are trying to get into the Buffalo School System, or have moved because the jobs just aren't there. The cureent teachers would have the option, leave behind the union and keep your job, or stick with the union and lose it. There would be plenty of teachers lining up. Obviously there would be litigation, but if the contract would be allowed to expire, no contract would mean no guarantee of employment.

We need a new leader. Someone that will lead, and run the school system like a business, where excellence is the standard, and employment is a right, not a priveledge.

[The Relocated]

Yeah, he needs to go. The district is in no better shape now than it was prior to his arrival. There is just another set of problems. We've gone from grossly incompetent leadership to belligerent and tacitly corrupt leadership. I'll accept the fact that he meant well but his tactics only serve to alienate the people he's supposed to be working with.

The hatred of the BTF is really ridiculous. The BTF didn't set the standards in the disctrict, the superintendent did. While many balk at the unions contract it was a negotiated deal which the district approved. The most ridiculous thing is to repeat the same mistakes that cost the taxpayers money in the first place. When a court of law has judged that the district did not bargain in good faith you don't demand concessions from the aggrieved party. Teacher's don't have the right to strike under the Taylor Law. If they do take a job action the penalty for it is 2 days pay and if the judge is involved they might be held in contempt. (As if the community doesn't do that allready). You want a reason why nothing gets done look no further than Williams. Contracts that have not been honored, threats of violence against union members,and grand standing with the health care coverage to elicit a negative public response; would you want to work for this man?

[Jay]

Relocated, your response is a good example of why people view BTF so negatively. When people discuss that there are major problems with the schools, the BTF responds, "It's not us, it's Williams and don't hold us responsible for our contract, the district approved it," etc. Do you wonder why they are perceived as whiny people who won't change? If BTF ever sat down and said, "how can we be part of the solution?" (and backed it up) it would change perception overnight.

What have similar cities who have made successful changes to their schools done? They've changed the school year, changed the school day, started rewarding meritorious teaching and getting rid of poor teaching. As long as BTF says they will never consider such things, they are a big part of the problem. They see themselves as victims, but the public's ire is well earned.

[The Relocated]

Jay
Imagine this scenario, you negotiate a contract with your employer. A contract which you expect him to honor. When he does not honor the contract you take him to court. When things don't go your employers way he starts spinning you as selfish

[Karen]

Don't let the door hit you in the dupa on the way out.

[Nothing But The Truth]

Williams is too good for a racist place like Buffalo. The white old boys club dug a ditch so deep over the last 50 years that it would take a Marshall Plan to fix this dump. Williams is getting looked at by Memphis, a superior city by any measure. Buffalo gets what it deserves again. Go ahead and turn the job over to a political appointee as usual Buffalo. You will be worst off and deserve it. People, get smart and move to a normal place and let the thugs who run this town sink further!

[yadayadayada]

Funny how people in "high" places tend not to stay on the job very long. A lame duck board grants him several more years, and now the guy wants to leave.
It's a good thing teachers stay on the job far longer than superintendents do. No school system can survive the revolving door. That's it, in a nutshell. It would be hilarious if Memphis decided not to hire him after this guy leaves Buffalo.

Why does he deserve severance pay for voluntarily leaving?

[Youcanthandlethetruth]

Whenever a black person is criticized in Buffalo it seems it's considered "racist."
Everywhere else it's called "just not liking."
Labeling is a cheap hit and dignifying racial accusations with rebuttals only causes disbelief for such an insult to those that aren't.

[yadayadayada]

Another thought on this Williams guy. Isn't he the one who insulted some of the principals a few years back and uses obscene language against those who don't do what he wants? He shouts at people, or stuff like that? Why wasn't he fired when he publicly belittled some of his staff?

[John]

Williams is currently being evaluated by the board. His raise last year-$15,000. He may or may not be planning on leaving. One thing is for sure. ..A 40,000 potential raise as being a member of the short list in Memphis sure helps his chances in scoring a raise from a board that favors the man. Word has it that his evaluations have been favorable.

Lets see how this one plays out. I forecast Memphis taking a pass, and the good man Williams getting a healthy raise????