Williams Plans No Half-Measures, Saying, ‘I Know How to Do This’

Academic performance in Buffalo schools "can’t get any lower," incoming Buffalo School Superintendent James A. Williams says, and he plans to address that situation with some dramatic measures.

Those measures include:

Lengthening the school year for many struggling elementary school pupils.

Ending widespread social promotion of eighth-graders.

Narrowing inequities among city high schools.

Williams, who takes office Friday, is appealing for public support and said his experience as an educator prepares him to head an ambitious reform effort.

"After 36 years, I know how to do this," Williams said in a 70- minute interview with The Buffalo News. "I’ve figured it out. My job is to give the school system more direction. Give us a chance to educate your children."

While projecting a sense of confidence and fresh thinking, Williams paints a stark picture of Buffalo schools.

He said 75 percent of this year’s eighth-grade graduates are unprepared for high school work, 40 of about 60 city schools are on a state "watch list" for poor performance, and many students are falling behind in the earliest grades and never catching up.

"These kids are suffering in this school district," said Williams, a former school superintendent in Dayton, Ohio. "They’re dying intellectually. It’s very painful."

He said his reform plan will revolve around these key initiatives:

Working immediately with the Board of Education on a plan to provide assistance to 2,400 eighth-grade graduates — or 75 percent of this year’s elementary school graduating class — who are performing below grade level and are not ready for high school.

"We’re not just going to move these kids to ninth grade," Williams said. "That’s social promotion. We’ve got to stop the bleeding."

Beginning in the 2006-07 school year, adding about 80 hours of summer instruction for prekindergarten through third-grade students working below grade level at 20 low-performing schools. While attendance would be voluntary, parents will be strongly urged to have their children take part.

"We have to teach students how to read, write and compute," he said.

Phasing-in honors and Advanced Placement courses at all 17 city high schools, including many that have not offered such instruction in decades, if ever.

"We have more high schools than Hutch-Tech and City Honors," Williams said. "We need to talk about equity."

He promised decisive action on a set of clearly defined goals.

"One thing you will find is that I will make a decision — I don’t process things all day long," Williams said. "We’re not going to be all over the place trying things. We’re going to be focused."

District officials and parents said Williams faces enormous obstacles.

"The man has a difficult job," said Philip Rumore, president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation. "You’ve got a Board of Education that’s split, nine unresolved union contracts, a control board, a desperately underfunded school district, and some of his top people are retiring."

In addition, a state judge this week temporarily halted the district’s money-saving move to switch the bulk of its employees to a single health insurance carrier. That raises the strong possibility that Williams could face a $10 million budget deficit shortly after taking office.

But the district may benefit greatly from the independence Williams brings to the job, said Donald A. Van Every, the newly appointed North District representative who previously served eight years on the board.

"He’s unfettered by any loyalties," Van Every said. "He can say: ‘This isn’t working. This is what we need to do. I’m in charge.’ "

In a wide-ranging interview, Williams said he hopes to negotiate new contracts with nine district unions within a year. He disagrees with contentions by Rumore and other union chiefs that the wage freeze imposed by a state financial control board leaves the district with nothing to offer.

"Phil and I will talk about that," Williams said. "I have more to give than he may realize, and he has more to give than he’s giving."

Williams also said that:

Other than filling five key vacancies caused by retirement, he will keep his top staff intact for at least a year.

"I believe in giving everybody an opportunity to buy into our vision and our plan," he said. "I want to see for myself. Everybody’s starting out with a clean sheet of paper."

He’s a strong supporter of Junior ROTC, which serves more than 500 students at five city high schools and has come under criticism from local peace groups.

"I would love to see more of it," Williams said. "It’s the best character education program I have seen in this country. It teaches discipline."

He views student behavior as "good overall," but said he is concerned about five or six high schools. "We’re not going to have students disrupting school," Williams said. "That’s number one."

The district has to be more creative in finding ways to engage struggling students.

"I believe poor minority kids who are acting-out are smart," he said. "Some of them are not comfortable in large classrooms and big schools. Some are not comfortable in classrooms with girls or boys. I want to change their behavior because we are able to get their attention academically."

Despite his reputation for outsourcing, private firms will not be hired to run academic programs.

"That’s my job," Williams said.

He already has met with community, business, religious and parent groups, and intends to visit every city school this year and be highly visible in the community.

"I plan to spend as little time as possible sitting in this office," he said.

Widely viewed as a "change agent," Williams said reform results from a series of coordinated efforts, not one or two blockbuster moves.

"I’m not coming in to knock anyone out," he said. "I’m coming in to hit a single, another single and then another single, and to drive a few runs home."

Williams described his style as focused and disciplined. "I listen very well," he said, "and I believe in data."

Williams said that public confidence of the school system is shaky and that he has to earn trust.

"I don’t think the broad-based community is in the boat yet," he said, "because we haven’t given them a plan."

e-mail: psimon@buffnews.com