In the September 13 Democratic primary, four Democrats are
seeking the three Rochester School Board seats: Tom Brennan, Cynthia Elliott,
Jeff Henley, and Darryl Porter. Only Porter is an incumbent; board members Rob
Brown and Jim Bowers are retiring.
In deciding who of the four would best serve the needs of
the district and the community, we looked for an understanding of both the
district and the enormous challenges of urban education. Our endorsements:
Porter, Henley, and Brennan.
• Porter is an extremely likeable man with a long history of
community service related to schools. He is completing his third term on the
School Board and was previously active as a parent. He has chaired the Council
of the Big Five, an organization of School Board representatives from New
York’s largest city school districts. He knows the district well and is both
street smart and politically savvy. With Brown retiring, the board will need
Porter’s history and familiarity with the district.
• Henley is a bright, talented candidate who for his age —
28 — and non-incumbency, has a strong understanding of both urban education
and the Rochester school district. He and his wife are the parents of twins
born this summer, and he talks excitedly about sending them to public schools.
He would bring not only his experience as a teacher (in the Penfield district)
but also bright ideas. He wants the school district, for example, to put far
more effort into promoting the excellent successful programs it has.
• Brennan is a longtime Democratic activist who knows school
district challenges like the back of his hand. Head of Brennan &
Associates, a marketing and consulting firm, he served on the Hilton School
Board in the 1980s, has served on the BOCES board, and has been active in
Rochester’s Maplewood community, where he lives. He would be a compassionate
advocate for Rochester children and the school district.
• Cynthia Elliott has many qualities that would make her a
good School Board member. She is assistant to the executive at Baden Street
Settlement and has worked at Lewis Street Center and the Westside Health
Center, giving her a first-hand look at the issues facing Rochester’s poorest
children and families. She is obviously concerned about the school district and
its students and is concerned about the low achievement of many students.
But we’re concerned about her hostility to the School Board,
the district, and Superintendent Manny Rivera. Asked to cite the district’s
strengths, she wasn’t able to think of any. She worries that teachers shouldn’t
be getting the raises they’ve been getting. “Would that make it hard to compete
with the suburbs in attracting and keeping teachers?” we asked. Her response:
If money is what’s attracting them, “let them go.” In the past, she said,
African Americans “have educated doctors and lawyers with little or no money.”
Elliott supports Wade Norwood’s proposal to have the
superintendent report to the mayor, something that would effectively emasculate
the body she wants to join. She says, correctly, that the School Board must
provide checks and balances for the superintendent, but we’re concerned that
she would provide more heat than light.
This article appears in Aug 31 – Sep 6, 2005.
