Cala is a good man with a great idea, run up against greedy school districts entrenched with ‘lifers’ bent on wringing every dollar intot tehir own pockets at the expense of student education!
Written by Erica Bryant [answering to the district heads?]
Since 2006, William Cala has constructed more than 30 classrooms for schools in Kenya and Tanzania and built two schools from scratch. During the same six years, he has not been able to get the Rochester School District to agree to a potential location for a regional public school that would serve both economically needy and privileged youth.
“The bureaucracy and politics are brutal,” said Cala, wearing the shell-shocked look often seen on the faces of people who have spent time at 131 W. Broad St….
A good plan, that has gone nowhere.
District leaders, to be fair, have had their hands full. Since 2006, the Rochester School District has seen four superintendents, and is in the process of choosing another. Schools are kept busy testing students every 15 minutes? [a bit biased missy?] so that “failing” schools can be “closed.” Then to satisfy state and federal demands for “accountability,” district leaders must open numerous “new” schools, keeping the same concentrations of Rochester’s neediest students in the same buildings.
Cala says that there are a couple of points of disagreement with the district, including the location of the school. The district wants it to be in the city, but Cala wants to consider a building close to Nazareth. Proximity to college resources and the opportunity to take college classes would be a draw to suburban families, and he would like the school to resemble the Metro Early College High School, which sits on the campus of Ohio State University and draws students from many districts.
After six years, Cala is losing hope. “How long can I beat my head up against the wall?” he asked Thursday. He hasn’t given up yet because he wants kids growing up on Hempel Street, like he did, to have better educational opportunities. [as always, the RCSD outwaits good iseas to keep control of a failing school district so the $$ keep flowing to them, not the students]
Cala just got home from a month’s stay in Kenya, where he and his wife run the nonprofit organization Joining Hearts and Hands. On this visit they arranged an eye clinic for people who needed cataract surgery so they could take advantage of the nonprofit’s adult literacy program. One hundred and ten operations were performed for about $7,500.
“I want to go back,” he said. “Over there, I know I can get something done.”
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