Plan Floated to Turn Troubled Schools into Charter Schools | News

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Two troubled Buffalo schools, Waterfront Elementary and East High School, have been chosen by a restart program to possibly become part of a total school reform plan and to reopen as charter schools.

It's not a done deal at all.  the group called Chameleon Community Schools Project needs the permission from the State of New York for the schools to close and reopen as charter schools.

Recently we reported that the Buffalo School District spends $27,000 per student, third highest among large districts in the country only to see hundreds of students drop out before tenth grade and half of the students unable to graduate.  Attorney Steven Polowitz says this is a crisis that requires implementation soon to give the kids the education they deserve.

"Not being subject to the existing collective bargaining agreement, we are in a position to implement changes, longer school day, year, and double time periods, these are things that cannot be done under existing collective bargaining agreements," said Polowitz.

The proposal before the school board now is a plan to restart the schools in the fall of 2013.