Mission: Reform
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 9:32AM 
A group of Buffalo Public School Parents, organized as the District Parent Coordinating Council (DPCC), issued a call to action to boycott the Buffalo Public Schools on May 16th, 2011, in an effort to demand an emergency intervention to address the 25% graduation rates for black male students, 13 state-designated failing schools, and low academic achievement across the board for most minority students. The parent group kept their children home on a half-day of school and organized a rally in front of City Hall to call attention to the educational crisis of the Buffalo Public Schools and demand that the elected leaders of Buffalo and New York State take responsibility and initiative to address the crisis.
The District Parent Coordinating Council (DPCC) has become increasingly organized and is leading the reform movement in Buffalo. On May 3rd, the group brought local, and state elected officials including Buffalo Superintendent James Williams, Mayor Byron Brown, and representatives from Governor Cuomo’s office together to address the systemic failure in the City’s schools, as defined by Superintendent Williams in a television interview in February 2011. The government officials did not adequately address the problems or identify the solutions to improving Buffalo’s failing schools; consequently, the DPCC voted to hold a boycott to express the importance of the issues facing schools, and the urgency with which these issues must be addressed.
The DPCC’s passion and depth of knowledge about the history of the Buffalo Public Schools and the current issues that we are facing, as well as the mobilization of parent representatives at each of Buffalo’s 59 schools is unprecedented. An overwhelming majority of parents are fed up with a system of schools that is persistently failing their children and Buffalo’s future.
The DPCC has spread their message and engaged the community primarily through church and community organizations, local elected officials, and community leaders.
Supportive organizations include: Buffalo ReformED, True Bethel Baptist Ministries, Community Action Organization, the local chapter of Alliance for Quality Education, Citizen Action, United Outreach Ministries, Youth Planning Council, Buffalo United Front, WNY Charter Schools, The Jeremiah Partnership, St. Philip’s Church
For more information about the May 16th Boycott and the District Parent Coordinating Committee, please visit: www.districtparentcouncil.com and www.BuffaloReformED.com
