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Artvoice Weekly Edition » Issue v9n45 (11/11/2010) » Section: Letters to Artvoice


Build Places, Not Things

What has been going wrong with waterfront planning up to now, besides the knee-jerk, top-down, anchor-tenant approach, has much to do with how we think and talk about building.

Those Libraries Are Ours

Last week if you read the Buffalo News or passed through Lafayette Square, you would have read about or seen the protest occurring to save our Buffalo and Erie County Public Library system. Erie County Executive Collins has proposed in next year’s budget to cut the funding to the library by $4 million along with the cuts to our great cultural organizations. This would mean that along with the proposed cuts to the hours in the branch libraries, the library system would lay off 250 workers, and dismantle or decimate the Central Library. The Board of Directors of the library have proposed the following:

Cut Charters, Fund Publics

It’s time to cut public funding to the charter schools. It is proven that they are no more effective than public schools at retention and graduation. (Most charter schools lack critical supplies and qualified staff) Pull the money back into the public school system. Create a governing/school board with hired (read: not elected or appointed) individuals with a track record of success and experience in the education field. Have them search out and implement curriculums that have a successful track record of maximizing the potential of the students. Make provisions in the union contract that will allow for immediate dismissal of teachers and administrators who are ineffective. Until people realize that student success is not solely dependent on a teacher or administrator’s skill, unions will be necessary. Demand the proceeds from the lottery system and federal funding.



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