Dixon heading to Albany over funding

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Buffalo's Interim School Superintendent Amber Dixon is heading to Albany this week to plead for millions of dollars in state aid, even though teachers have not agreed to new job evaluation standards.

Another deadline came and went. The Buffalo Teachers Federation did not sign off on the teacher evaluation, making Buffalo one of three districts in the state who have yet to do so. Now, in hopes of convincing the state to release the $5.6 million in funding to the district regardless of the failure to agree on an evaluation plan, Dixon and three other administrators will head to Albany to plead their case.

The hearing will take place on Thursday. Dixon says she will try and present why the funds should be restored. The fight over evaluations has been ongoing since January. Dixon says without the funds, six schools will lose out on programs and around 50 jobs.

But without an agreement by July, next year could be an even bigger dilemma. The district could lose over $50 million.

Monday night, union president Phil Rumore told News 4 he can't sign off on the agreement because teachers voted the plan down. The union believes teachers should not be evaluated on students that are chronically absent, emotionally disturbed, or speak little English. However, Dixon says the agreement is approvable and the union should sign on good faith on behalf of the children in Buffalo.

"It's just a failure of this union to reach an agreement and take a chance that we can make this work correctly. The downside of not taking this chance is that we've lost millions of dollars in funds," said Dixon.

News 4 tried reaching Rumore for comment on Tuesday, but was told he was tied up in meetings all afternoon.