Education

This past month, a golden opportunity opened at Herman Badillo Public School 76 to hire a Puerto Rican as the school principal, but unfortunately, the school will continue to be led by a non-Latino in a school that is 90% Puerto Rican/Latino. The candidate many community people expected to see selected, was Maria Rosario Cala, who served as their temporary principal for eight months from 2017 to 2018 and did an exceptional job! When this vacancy became available, people thought she was the obvious choice. According to many parents, she is the unofficial voice of the school, always reaching out and working with the Puerto Rican/Latino parents and students, communicating both in English and Spanish, and serving as the unofficial “Community liaison.” For the past several years she has been the school face at the Puerto Rican/Latino Day Parade, representing Herman Badillo. She also represents the school at community functions involving the Puerto Rican/Latino community. She has had an impact on developing a positive link between the school and the community. In this role, she has helped solve potential problems with teachers and students. While not part of the job requirements, translating or interpreting has become part of her role at the school. All morning announcements, 5 days a week, are done by Maria – in English and Spanish. According to her colleagues, Maria has taken the lead in supporting cultural diversity. She led and promoted Multi-cultural Ecology, School Climate, and understanding the different cultures. She is the one that coordinates and initiates cultural school activities for students, teachers, and parents. All this is important considering that 90% of the students at Herman Badillo are Puerto Rican/Latino and there is an absence of Latino administrators or Latino role models at the top chain of the school system – not only at Herman Badillo Public School 76. The voice of the community must come together and put a stop to this obvious case of discrimination against the Buffalo Puerto Rican/Latino community and take the opportunity to meet with the Board of Education to develop a “Puerto Rican/Latino Affirmative Plan” to identify, recruit, and hire Latino Educators/Administrators to address this problem. But first, let us make sure Maria Rosario Cala is given her date in class, and move to hire her for the position she proved, repeatedly, to be able to lead with flying colors. This problem is not isolated to Herman Badillo. There are 6 Bilingual Schools in the District; only 3 of them have Latino Principals: Frank A. Sedita Community School, BPS30 – Principal, Rafael Perez; D’Youville-Porter Campus School BPS3, Principal; Freddy Barrera BPS48 @ 39 – Principal, Miguel Medina; Frederick Law Olmstead, BPS64 – Principal, Marquita Bryant; Bilingual Center, BPS33 – Principal, Hadassa Bachelor; and Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy, BPS76 – Principal, Kathryn Foy, who is leaving this July. We have more related facts, but we want you to do your research to learn the numbers of schools with a predominantly Latino student body with no Puerto Rican/Latino principals or administrators. The Buffalo Puerto Rican/Latino community is not the same community of yesterday. We have the numbers, we have the education, we have the professionals, and we have the educators/administrators to lead many of the Buffalo Public Schools. The Buffalo Latino Village challenges our Puerto Rican/Latino community and Educators, to raise their voices and make sure that the Buffalo School system will do the right thing, not for you or me, but for our children and our young people. Groups like the Hispanic Heritage Council (HHC), Hispanic Women’s League, Puerto Rican Latino Committee (PRLC), and the Hispanics United of Buffalo (HUB) must demonstrate their community leadership and say: “enough is enough!”  The Puerto Rican/Latino community has an opportunity to let the School Board know how it feels about this issue. The next Board of Education meeting (virtual) is scheduled for Wednesday, June 17th. Community leaders must support this committed and qualified woman for the principal position. 816-3568 is the number to sign up to speak. Looking at her resume and years of teaching, combined with her many years of student and community service, Maria Rosario-Cala has paid her dues. 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