Mr. Paladino, Becomes An Equal Opportunity Bully

It's been no secret that the majority Board members have become disillusioned with Interim Superintendent Donald Ogilvie and look to replace him sooner than later.  Originally I planned to examine the plans of the majority to hire a Deputy Superintendent from the rank and file, who would be anointed Superintendent upon Mr. Ogilvie's departure.  However those plans were torpedoed when Carl Paladino decided to go off script and demand that Mr. Ogilvie resign immediately prior to the selection of a successor; The Next Superintendent or Super Pretender?

In an unprecedented display of arrogance and audacity Paladino met with Mr. Ogilvie at noon on March 20th and demanded his resignation by 4pm the same day!  In an ironic scenario, Paladino has accused Mr. Ogilvie of having many of the same failings as Dr. Brown, e.g. Incompetence.  But Paladino also bemoans what he terms the "betrayal and treachery" on Mr. Ogilvie's part.  Mind you he's not complaining about this on behalf of the children, but on the behalf of himself and his colleagues.  It seems they expected Mr. Ogilvie to shake the District up by closing school buildings, creating charter school opportunities to take over prime Buffalo school real estate, down size central office staff, bottom line -- to Follow Instructions.

To Mr. Ogilvie's credit he has the educational knowledge and professional integrity to know that pushing the majority's agenda, in total, was not only impossible but detrimental to the children and the entire school system.  Not only did he push back, he did the unthinkable!  There were times he agreed with the minority Board members.  For this he’s labeled a "traitor" and threatened with termination from his job, and less than 24 hours to get out of Dodge.

And what about Mr. Paladino?  Did he cross the line?  Sorry for the rhetorical question. He has expanded his bullying from African American women to a white male. He is one Board member, with one vote. Yet he made a unilateral decision to demand Mr. Ogilvie's resignation.  It's clear that he intends to dismantle the school system one way or another.  And to punctuate his intention, he has even threatened to reach out to his arch enemy, Governor Cuomo to join him by having the State take over the District.  There's nothing left to say!

Paladino's repeated protestations that he cares about the 34,000 "poor, suffering children trapped in failing schools" rings hollow.  Instead they sound like a burglar alarm, shrill, loud, annoying and warning of the entry of a potential thief.  People of ethical and moral character, who are repulsed by injustice, who believe that silence in response to outrageous behavior is not acceptable and amounts to condoning that behavior, who believe that our children are being harmed and deserve much better, should speak up and demand that the Board take action in this matter.  The Board needs to address the breach of its own code of conduct and the deplorable actions of one of its members.  We owe it to the children.