Housing Authority

Despite ‘suspension’ Mascia to run for reelection as a BMHA tenant elected commissioner

BY FRANK PARLATO Joe Mascia, 71, the disputably suspended tenant-elected Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) Commissioner, is running for reelection. He has filed more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot for the June 14, 2016 election held by

Education

Harris gears up for school board run

Adrian Harris is a passionate advocate for public education and a well reasoned critic of the school board’s majority bloc led by Carl Paladino. He is a professional educator with the Lancaster School District and holds a Masters Degree in

Education

Mascia may run for school board

BY C.B. MILLER Housing Commissioner Joe Mascia is considering a run for the Central District seat on Buffalo’s Board of Education. Dwayne Kelly, an activist who once circulated a letter in support of Carl Paladino under the pen name “Herman,” has already announced

Common Council

Mascia blasts Council’s Development Committee

BY TERRENCE ROBINSON Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) Commissioner Joseph Mascia, who is currently suspended from acting in an official capacity by order of Mayor Byron Brown, is outraged that the Development Committee of the City of Buffalo Common Council

Education

In open letter, Nevergold urges responsiveness from Cash

BY BARBARA NEVERGOLD, PHD Over the last few months I have raised a number of questions, in written and oral communications, about the use of the NYS ELA/Math standardized test scores as part of the admissions criteria for Criterion Schools

Education

Union goons line up behind Mecozzi

BY C.B. MILLER Jennifer Mecozzi has announced her intention to seek the Board of Education’s West District seat currently held by James Sampson, a member of Carl Paladino’s majority bloc. The education activist Adrian Fitzgerald Harris, who is not aligned

Education

County Executive Poloncarz must hold ECC accountable

BY TONY FARINA Erie Community College has gone into damage and spin control now that the state audit has confirmed what I’ve been reporting for several months about how President Jack Quinn and his crew have run the college into

Housing Authority

Mascia may base reelection bid on bold proposal

BY T.W. HEWITT The high profile elected Housing Commissioner Joe Masica is likely to seek reelection to his office this May, in a campaign intended to draw a sharp and compelling contrast with the administration of Mayor Byron Brown. At the same time,

Housing Authority

The Mascia transcript and missing witnesses

BY TERRENCE ROBINSON When the public hearing on Mayor Byron Brown’s attempt to remove Joseph Mascia as Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) commissioner concluded December 30, 2015, the City of Buffalo had 60 days to present a transcript of the

Housing Authority

BMHA’s lead paint scandal to explode

T.W. HEWITT The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority has been ignoring complaints from tenants for years about the lead paint that coats the interior of many older units. A source inside the housing authority speculates that as many as 1,200 of

Education

Quinn leads $100k-plus earners at ECC

BY TONY FARINA If there’s a financial crisis at Erie Community College, as certainly appears the case, there’s no sign of it if you take a look at the salaries at the college headed by President Jack Quinn at $192,500

Education

Quinn’s top aid is first casualty of ECC audit

BY TONY FARINA The first major casualty of the scathing state audit of Erie Community College is Kristin Klein Wheaton, the $116,000-plus vice president for legal affairs at the college who has served as embattled President Jack Quinn’s chief advisor

Education

Nevergold’s open letter to Commissioner Ellia

BY BARBARA SEALS-NEVERGOLD, PHD I have been writing about the problems of standardized tests, specifically the tests that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards and administered by the New York State Education Department.  Components of the State’s accountability

Civil Rights

Buffalo parents asked to join civil rights lawsuit

BY CAROLETTE MEADOWS As a parent of a Buffalo Public School student, I have filed a breech of contract law suit on behalf of my child in U.S. District Court regarding the Board of Education’s failure to comply with the Office

Education

Will politicians really fix ECC?

BY TONY FARINA So what’s next for Erie Community College now that a state audit has confirmed much of what I’ve written about over the last year about the unauthorized spending and job creation at the public college under the

Education

Confidential report downgrades Quinn’s effectiveness

BY TONY FARINA As we have reported for some time, many at Erie Community College have questioned the commitment and leadership of President Jack Quinn who earns $192,500 to run the school but has several outside assignments not related to

Education

Nevergold: “The majority says No”

BY DR. BARBARA SEALS-NEVERGOLD By this time, many of you know that in December 2015, the Governor’s Common Core Task Force released a landmark report condemning the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and its aligned curriculum and standardized tests.  In

Education

Scathing State audit hits ECC hard

BY TONY FARINA, The Niagara Falls Reporter The long-awaited state audit of Erie Community College (ECC) has now been released and it confirms much of what we have reported over the last several months about the management problems at the college

Education

Mike Deely shows teachers how to waste $1.4 million

Mike Deely is the regional director of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the political arm of the state’s public teachers’ unions. He is tasked with spending million of dollars — from the paychecks of hardworking teachers in the classroom —