END EDUCATIONAL APARTHEID IN MONROE COUNTY SCHOOLS

Building upon the efforts of the Great Schools 4 All organization and based on the Raleigh, North Carolina example, push for a countywide school system that breaks apart the city-suburb divide and de-concentrates poverty. If there is a Monroe County Jail and state-of-the-art county Crime Lab, there ought to be a county-wide education system.

FACT: The Urban-Suburban transfer program only affects 1% of the city student population. Racial segregation has increased in Rochester in the past 25 years.

• Push for a referendum vote for a county-wide education system. In the interim and absent an immediate referendum on this issue, the next bullet point is applicable:
• Push for a residence requirement for school teachers in the RCSD. It is common knowledge in the Rochester city schools of a 85-15 rule, which means though the district is 85% African American and Hispanic, only 15% of its teaching staff is from that ethnic background. Teachers need to have “skin in the game” and take more ownership over the educational outcomes of their students. Example: Buffalo Public Schools has a residency requirement for teachers where the hiring policy stipulates: “Pool number two (Non-City of Buffalo residents) shall not be utilized until the pool of those domiciled within the City of Buffalo and certified has been exhausted.”
• End the Digital Divide; invest in a a countywide municipal fiber system and extend, not limit, hours in all Monroe County Libraries.