You say that your plans cater to students and parents -not the special interests of adults. That sounds anti-union. Are you against unions? Also, are you going to work with the current teacher corps or against it? Can you be specific?

Where is the Plan?
How will Mayoral control address Mental health issues of our students?
How will their health issues be handled better?
What is the bridge he will create with the city and schools?
Will he use city money to create school jobs?
Will he use school money to hire more cops to fight crime, where is the separation of power?
Will he increase security around schools?
What are the Corporate interests driving this major change?
How will Mayoral control and a corporate board function differently then the currant board?
Would the currant superintendent be needed?
Will teachers be fired and have to be rehired?
What changes will be made to the discipline policies?
What curriculum are you going to bring in?
How will busing be paid for?
Will schools be closed and which? or will more be built to reduce class sizes?
How will teachers be protected? How will the mayor address the Hillside waiting list and suspended or violent children?
Why has Duffy not tried to run for school board before?
Why does he think it is necessary to bulldoze this radical change before he has proven himself in the field of education.
What are his qualifications and training?
Will he bite off more then he can chew with the management of two offices at once? What are his political aspirations for the future?
Why not Try running one school with his idea's first, a charter school for 5 years and see if his model is successful?
Why is it all or nothing?
Does he have any plans to work with the RCSD if NY doesn't approve his plan?
He is a democrat so why does he want to remove the democratic process that is in place with Privatization and corporate interests?
( That sounds Republican.)
How will he retain teachers, fight abuse of power, and design contracts for teachers. Has he thought to have some of the surrounding suburbs take control of some of the schools?
What will happen if he is not re-elected as Mayor? Republicans didn't run anyone against you last time as part of this big plan but if they did do you think your popular enough to have a public vote on weather or not this plan should go through?
As Mayor alone what partnerships or programs can he create to help families if he doesn't control the schools? What is his Plan B?
Why did Joe Morelle go to the State Assembly with a proposal to approve this major change before anyone in the city has a chance to see the plan. Has Duffy even drafted a plan?
How are Rochester inner city issues unique to any other inner city?
Why have we had no discussion of the shame of this nation that the real problems are behind white flight, and educated people segregating them selfs from Blacks? How will he get the white wealthy suburbanites to come into the schools to care? What programs will he create to change the black culture that feels it is a "White thing to learn and why should I if I only end up in jail", mentality?
What tried and true programs does he think will work?
Does he see any of his short comings as Mayor as part of the cities problems?
What will his pay be if he takes on both jobs?

These are questions for the mayor from parents gathered by the Flower City Parents Network. We have sent them to the mayor, but received no response, so perhaps you can ask some of them at the forum. Thank you!

1. From Anna:
You have publicly supported Supt. Brizard and his strategic plan and have pledged to keep him in charge under mayoral control even though Brizard's tenure so far has not come close to producing the improvements you want to see. What specifically do you think has stopped him from being able to succeed so far and what will change to enable him to produce the results you want under mayoral control?

2. From KateK:
1. What would you with mayoral control do that you cannot do today, and how would that improve educational outcomes?
2. What safeguards would there be so that the city could not divert school funds to other city needs?
3. I think I have heard that this is proposed to be a temporary thing, for your term only. What would the process be for evaluating what to do at that point?
4. What mechanisms would there be for parental input and feedback?

3. From Patid:
What are three things you would do differently to increase the graduation rate? Who would make the decisions on what is educationally appropriate for the current students of the district? Who would advise you on these decisions?

4: From lisa b:
I'd like to know details of his plan. Period.

I'd also like to know - if board members could be re-elected without a political party attached - as is done with electing board members in other districts - if we took the politics out of it, would that be a huge step forward in a more functional governing body?

This is an aside...I can understand his frustration in the dis-function we see sometimes with this school board. But to just grab power, without a plan, does not best serve our students, or schools. Are there other things we can do to make improvements, without losing our voice?

5. From RocketSt
The RCSD has a parent involvement policy that I have heard they are not in compliance with, even though the RTA, board members, the media, etc., continually declare that lack of parent involvement is among the biggest problems with the school district. What steps will you take to make the District accountable on parent involvement and what creative and/or non-traditional improvements will you try?

6. From Elizabeth:
What does Parent Involvement mean to you? Will RCSD (city school) parents be part of your advisory board and how?

7. From Santosha:
How will you make sure that students across the city get fairly equal access to a high-quality elementary school education? (Especially if mayoral control involves more support for neighborhood schools and schools with an opt-in component like charter schools and citywides?)

How will you, as mayor, help guarantee good customer service to parents who might not have access to information and assistance through their social networks and who might not have learned to make their demands heard and navigate the educational system by watching their own parents do so?

What kind of direction will you set for handling disciplinary problems in the schools? Will mayoral control mean improved strategies to minimize disruptions to instruction time?

How, specifically, will you bring the social service and law enforcement capabilities of the city to bear on issues that affect high-school students? Elementary-school students? How will you utilize city resources to offer teachers more support when they are working with students who have emotional issues, behavioral issues, or family difficulties (all the factors that critics of mayoral control point to as immutable when they advocate for a continuation of the political status quo where schools are concerned)?

How will you use the city's resources to help outstanding students remain intellectually challenged and engaged in school? At the elementary-school level? At the high-school level?

What level of parental dissatisfaction with a program or policy would trigger a change? Will there be a formal mechanism for registering dissatisfaction at a school level? At a district level? Will parents have to create a ruckus outside City Hall in order to register dissatisfaction with a policy? How will parental frustrations be registered before they turn into widespread outrage or slow attrition?

When you do your grocery shopping at the East Avenue Wegmans on a Sunday afternoon, are you fervently hoping that everyone wandering around with a small child in tow doesn't stop you in the produce section and ask you for the details of your plans? (Great self-restraint on my part, I tell you.)

8. From Hilary:
You have said that you would keep Superintendent Brizard in charge and suggested that the board has blocked his efforts at reform. Can you give us examples of the board blocking the superintendent's reform efforts?

You have been very critical of teachers union president Adam Urbanski. Under your leadership, what would you like to see change in the district's relations to its teachers, and how do you envision that happening?

What, exactly, will you do to increase graduation rates that Superintendent Brizard is not doing now?

If you do not get control over the school district, how will you repair relations with the school board so that we can move toward these goals that you and they -- and all of us -- share?

and

Why is your first announced public appearance a $45/plate breakfast at the Rochester Business Journal? What message does that send to city residents waiting to have a chance to ask you more about your plans?

From CoolGrrl:
If a law can be changed to allow mayoral control of the RCSD, is it also possible to change the current law so that city residents/tax payers could vote on our school budget like the rest of our county does?

I certainly would love to have the same equal rights as our suburban county neighbors do to have a more direct voice on what happens in our district. Why doesn't this happen?

Since we have so many more people/voters in the city, why aren't we allowed the same voice? And, if we're making changes to how things are run, couldn't we make this change at the same time?

(The list of questions is on line here:
http://flowercityparents.org/forum/index.php?topic=1054.0)

1. The RCSD serves students K-12. How will the Mayor develop a academic and social plan to meet the developmental needs of these students? Please be specific and breakdown elementary, high school, and any alternative education programs the RCSD may have. Please be sepcific with your answer.

2. What criteria is the Mayor using to select his advisory board? Please be sepcific with your answer.

3. City Council is taking a very distant approach on this position, even though during last years campaign run the At -Large members gave a different postion when asked about mayoral control. What role will City Council play in oversight of the RCSD? Again please be specific.

My question is for Mayor Duffy. In his recent interview with City Newspaper, Superintendent Brizard distinguishes Rochester in terms of mayoral strength, noting that in Washington D.C. and in NYC, "what you have are very strong mayors. In NYC, you have a billionaire mayor in Michael Bloomberg who came in and unabashedly angered a lot of people."
He further explains that you must be , "willing to not be re-elected to do what needs to be done."
Do you agree with the Superintendent's characterization of your position? How do you interpret his remarks?

How will City control of schools make the streets safer for kids in crime ridden neighborhoods where the parents register their kids in schools at least 1.5 miles away, solely for the purpose of having them take a bus rather than risk assault by walking to school?

Do you think Teachers should be doing home visits to make Parents accountable like they are asked to do now. When children are misbehaving, missing school, coming to school dirty etc.?
What changes can be made to check in on families. With he increase the number of social workers and councilors working in the schools?
What will the Mayor admits to that he could be doing that could help families and children that he isn't doing?
What is his plan to address the segregation and racism in the city and suburbs? Has the idea come up to have a county wide school system and close the city schools, wouldn't this reduce costs greatly and make the schools more racially balanced?
Why are no other school district piping in on this debate?
What pressures has he has from the Governor, Bloomburg,or Obama administration and why has this become his new mission when he said at earlier dates it was wrong? We need an open transparency as to how and when and who is asking the mayor to step up to this change? I am grateful for this discussion and this issue does need to be talked about but I support the unified approach Van White talked about with all powers working together. What can he be doing right now in the office he is in? Why is it all or nothing?
What benefits will change to retain teachers and if the union is busted how does he plan to deal with massive people quitting and leaving the district?
The currant plans he has been submitting to the public are short, lack detail, lack cost projections and who are the experts he is working with to develop this plan. He has to make up for his inexperience and short comings. What if he is voted out by someone who wants to abolish this plan?

The aproach you are using of secretiveness, closed government dialoge and damning people who aren't with you isn't a way to get all those involved working together or working with you. It only alienates key people. Would you be willing to start out small with simply a seat at the board or manage one school to prove yourself first considering you lack knolege and experience in education?
Will you have teachers on the board, from al grade levels and especially those in the arts? Art is the one hands on area that teaches all subject areas and city children need to be more gross motor physically active, what will you do in these 2 areas.

Whether or not you gain control of the schools, what will you as mayor do to address the problem of teen pregnancy in Rochester? Everyone likes to say that parental involvement is the key to successful students, but how can you ever achieve that when the parents of our children are children themselves? We have PROVEN successful programs in Rochester like the Nurse Family Partnership; why are we not expanding support to them?