By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – Business First newspaper Wednesday released its annual public school district rankings. There were few surprises. Clarence is once again the top ranked district. And Buffalo is still placed last on the list of 97 districts.
It's been a neck and neck race between a handful of schools for the past several years. This year, Clarence came in the winner -- just as it has for five of the last six years. Orchard Park traded positions with Williamsville this year, taking over the number two spot. Fourteen districts coveted a place on Honor Roll, scoring at least 90 out of 100 points. That's based on the newspaper's own complicated formula with 129 indicators.
Buffalo once again ranked dead last at 97. Buffalo School District spokesman Andy Maddigan says all the rankings really measure is affluence. And he says that's not an inaccurate reflection of how the schools are performing.
"The wrong types of issues and problems are going to be identified as being associated with urban schools and it's going to suggest that there are few or no problems in suburban schools," said Maddigan. "That's not true in either case and it's also not likely to lead to any meaningful educational reform."
The superintendent for the top ranked Clarence school district agrees there's always room for improvement. And Thomas Coseo agrees that they have an advantage over Buffalo because of affluence. He says their students come to school ready to learn. Nearly four-fifths of all Clarence students graduate with a regents diploma. But Coseo says being successful presents its own challenges.
"As a community grows and schools are labor intensive, the more students you have the more teachers you're going to need and the more classrooms," said Coseo. "That places a tremendous burden on the local taxpayer to fund the programs that are going to be necessary."
Despite dwindling state aid, Business First reports that students in all school districts are scoring higher each year.
Thursday, the newspaper releases its rankings for individual public schools throughout Western New York.