The biggest problem facing Buffalo’s public schools is the fact that many students live in poverty, while at the same time being segregated from students from wealthier communities who tend to enjoy better educational opportunities and rates of academic success.  Buffalo shares many of the problems of large cities in the United States, largely caused by high concentrations of poverty in urban areas.  In 2009, about 59% of students served by urban school districts located in the metropolitan areas of the 50 largest U.S. cities graduated, compared with 77% in nearby suburban communities.  In Western New York, all of Buffalo Business First’s highest ranked public high schools except City Honors are located in affluent suburbs: Williamsville, East Aurora, Clarence, Lewiston-Porter, etc.  The thirteen lowest ranked high schools are in the City of Buffalo

Masson, Marc J

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Public Education in Buffalo and the Region 
Marc J. Masson 
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Public Education in Buffalo and the Region 
Abstract 
The biggest problem facing Buffalo’s public schools is the fact that many students live in poverty, while at 
the same time being segregated from students from wealthier communities who tend to enjoy better 
educational opportunities and rates of academic success. Buffalo shares many of the problems of large 
cities in the United States, largely caused by high concentrations of poverty in urban areas. In 2009, about 
59% of students served by urban school districts located in the metropolitan areas of the 50 largest U.S. 
cities graduated, compared with 77% in nearby suburban communities. In Western New York, all of 
Buffalo Business First’s highest ranked public high schools except City Honors are located in affluent 
suburbs: Williamsville, East Aurora, Clarence, Lewiston-Porter, etc. The thirteen lowest ranked high 
schools are in the City of Buffalo. 
Keywords 
Buffalo, Education, K-12 Education, Poverty and Education, Fact Sheet, PPG, PDF 
This article is available at DigitalCommons@ILR: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/buffalocommons/65 
 1 
 
BUFFALO BRIEF                                                                              September 2014 
 
 
 
Public Education in Buffalo and the Region 
Marc J. Masson 
 
 
Educational Attainment of Those Over Age 25 (2012 American Community Survey)1  
 
 City of Buffalo 
(164,739) 
Buffalo-Niagara Falls 
Metropolitan Area 
(779,253) 
National Average 
(208,731,498) 
Less than High School Diploma 18.4% 9.6% 13.7% 
High School Diploma or 
Equivalent 
28.7% 29.6% 28.0% 
Some College or Associate's 
Degree 
29.6% 31.1% 29.3% 
Bachelor Degree 12.9% 16.6% 18.2% 
Graduate or Professional 
Degree 
10.5% 13.1% 10.9% 
  
 
Percent of Adults with Bachelor's Degree: Buffalo-Niagara Metropolitan Area, 20002 
 
 Male Female 
Black 10% 12% 
American Indian 13% 14% 
Asian/Pacific Islander 69% 56% 
Hispanic 15% 16% 
Non-Hispanic White 26% 23% 
 
 
   
 
 
 
2 
 
Four Year Public High School Graduation Rate3 
 
 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 
City of Buffalo 56.0% 47.8% 55.3% 49.6% 57.3% 52.4% 
Large NY Cities
4
 56.6% 53.5% 56.3% 52.7% 52.2% 53.1% 
New York State 77.8% 76.7% 76.8% 76.1% 74.4% 73.6% 
United States Average
5
 -- 81.0% 80.0% 78.2% 75.5% 74.7% 
 
 In 2013, the Buffalo Public Schools Credit Recovery Program contributed to higher 
graduation rates. It helped about 200 high school students graduate on time, as well as 
created a system to chart students’ progress and provide focused attention to struggling 
students.
6
 
 
 
NY State High School Four-Year Cohort Members by Diploma Type and Race7 
 
  2013   2012   2011  
 Black Hispanic White Black Hispanic White Black Hispanic White 
Local Diploma 4.00% 3.00% 3.90% 4.40% 3.30% 3.80% 10.00% 8.80% 6.00% 
Regents Diploma 46.00% 43.30% 39.40% 44.60% 42.30% 39.60% 38.90% 37.30% 35.80% 
Regents Diploma 
with Advanced 
Designation 
9.00% 12.40% 43.00% 9.00% 12.00% 42.20% 9.50% 11.90% 43.30% 
Graduation Rate 59.7% 59.2% 86.5% 58.1% 57.8% 85.7% 58.4% 58% 85.1% 
 
  
   
 
 
 
3 
 
An In-Depth Look at Buffalo’s 2012 High School Seniors8 
 
High School 
Class 
of 2012 
Poverty 
Rate 
Limited English 
Proficiency 
Students with 
Disabilities 
School 
Attendance 
Graduation 
Rate 
City Honors 104 33% 0% 4% 95% 96% 
Da Vinci 98 64% 1% 8% 93% 90% 
Olmsted 56 47 70% 0% 2% 94% 89% 
Emerson 112 80% 1% 22% 87% 81% 
Hutchinson 
Technical 
285 73% 1% 5% 89% 78% 
Visual and 
Performing Arts 
121 76% 1% 21% 91% 68% 
Occupational 
Training Center 
72 81% 4% 17% 92% 64% 
Math Science 
Technology Prep 
75 81% 5% 15% 88% 60% 
McKinley 300 86% 4% 14% 85% 57% 
South Park 245 71% 4% 23% 79% 51% 
Bennett 307 81% 3% 18% 79% 32% 
International Prep 84 80% 36% 14% 86% 30% 
East 212 86% 0% 20% 82% 27% 
Riverside 244 79% 12% 26% 76% 24% 
Burgard 209 84% 7% 33% 81% 24% 
Lafayette 282 82% 46% 21% 85% 21% 
Districtwide 2,948 75% 9% 21% 91% 47% 
 
 The differences between the best and worst performing high schools in the district 
correlate strongly to the percentages of non-native speakers, students with disabilities, 
and rates of poverty. 
 
 
Inequality of Education in Buffalo’s Urban and Suburban Schools 
 
 The biggest problem facing Buffalo’s public schools is the fact that many students live in 
poverty, while at the same time being segregated from students from wealthier communities 
   
 
 
 
4 
 
who tend to enjoy better educational opportunities and rates of academic success. 
 
 Buffalo shares many of the problems of large cities in the United States, largely caused by 
high concentrations of poverty in urban areas. In 2009, about 59% of students served by 
urban school districts located in the metropolitan areas of the 50 largest U.S. cities 
graduated, compared with 77% in nearby suburban communities.
9
 
 
 In Western New York, all of Buffalo Business First’s highest ranked public high schools 
except City Honors are located in affluent suburbs: Williamsville, East Aurora, Clarence, 
Lewiston-Porter, etc. The thirteen lowest ranked high schools are in the City of Buffalo.
10
 
 
 Part of the reason for this divide is the severe differences in poverty concentration that exist 
between public high schools in the Buffalo region. Of Buffalo school children, 77.5% 
qualify for free or reduced price lunch. At Williamsville East, the top ranked suburban 
public school, 6% qualify.
11
 
 
Segregation in the City and Region12 
 
 The Buffalo public schools are just as segregated as they were in the 1970s, with 
segregation defined as at least 80% minority or 80% white. In 1972, 70% of the city’s 
schools were considered segregated, and a federal judge ordered the district to 
desegregate. However, in 2014, a Buffalo News analysis found that 70% of schools in 
the city were segregated, reversing the gains made since the court order.  This is a 
dramatic increase from just a decade earlier, when 29 of the 74 Buffalo schools were 
segregated. 
 
 The re-segregation is closely linked to the decline in the number of white students in 
the district as a whole. In 1972, white students accounted for 54% of the district. By 
2012, they made up only 22%.  
 
 Today, white students remain heavily concentrated in a small number of schools 
where they make up the disproportionate majority. Despite being making up the 
minority district wide, at 11 schools in the district they are the majority (including 
two schools with special admissions policies – City Honors and Olmsted 64). 
 
 The suburban districts are becoming somewhat more diverse.  Over the past decade, 
the percentage of minority students grew in every school district save one in Erie and 
   
 
 
 
5 
 
Niagara counties. In half, minority enrollment grew by at least 5% and in seven 
districts it grew by at least 10%: Cheektowaga, Cleveland Hill, Sweet Home, 
Cheektowaga-Maryvale, Williamsville, Lockport, and Amherst. 
 
 A relatively large part of the increase in diversity can be attributed to increased Asian 
enrollment, which in some cases accounts for more than other minority groups 
combined. Half of the schools in Williamsville had an Asian enrollment that 
accounted for at least 10% of the student body. The most dramatic growth in minority 
population, however, was in Cheektowaga, where black students now account for 
32% of the enrollment. 
 
 Yet even as some suburbs are becoming more diverse, about three out of four of those 
schools would still, by the definition of Buffalo’s desegregation order, be considered 
segregated. 
 
 Hispanic and Black populations are more affected by poverty, and this is reflected in the 
2010 metro poverty rates: white 8.8%; black 28.8%; Asian/Pacific Islander 12.8%; Hispanic 
25.8%.
13
  
 
 The Buffalo-Niagara metro area was ranked 7th most segregated by income in 201414, as 
well as the fifth most racially segregated large metro in the nation. Part of the reason for this 
gap is the high concentration of poverty as well as of minorities in the cities of Buffalo and 
Niagara Falls.
15
 
 
 As a result, there are radically different high school success rates in the cities and the 
surrounding suburbs, with predominantly white high schools with high academic success 
rates in the suburbs, and the reverse in the cities. 
 
  
   
 
 
 
6 
 
Correlation of Poverty to Test Outcomes in Buffalo, Amherst, and Cheektowaga* 
 
 
*This graph compares the 2013 Buffalo Business First rankings16 of each public school in Buffalo, Amherst, and Cheektowaga with 
the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced price lunch. 
 
 The R2 value for the regression is 73.9%, suggesting that almost three fourths of the 
variation in rank is accounted for by the regression and can be attributed to the percentage 
of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch – in short, poverty. 
 
 
For more education publications by Partnership for the Public Good: 
http://www.ppgbuffalo.org/publications/education/ 
 
  
   
 
 
 
7 
 
 
                                                 
1
 U.S. Census Bureau, American Fact Finder, http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml. All 
estimated population numbers refer only to those over the age of 25. 
2
 Harvard University, www.diversitydata.org. Note that this data is from 2000, and may not reflect the current 
situation. 
3
 This represents the percentage of students who graduated within four years of entering high school, by August 
of their fourth year. Data was collected from the New York State Education Department, June 23, 2014. 
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/20140623/home.html  
4
 High school graduation rates in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers combined. 
5
 National Center for Educational Statistics, http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_coi.asp 
6
 Lankes, Tiffany. The Buffalo News, June 30, 2014. http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/buffalo-public-
schools/buffalo-graduation-rate-rises-with-credit-recovery-20140630  
7
 New York State Education Department, http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/20140623/home.html  
8
 Tan, Sandra. The Buffalo News, Thursday, July 25, 2013.  Stacking the deck against Buffalo’s six ‘failing 
schools’, http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/buffalo-public-schools/stacking-the-deck-against-
buffalox2019s-six-x2018failing-schoolsx2019-20130724 
9
 Education Research Center, “Closing the Graduation Gap” 
http://www.edweek.org/media/cities_in_crisis_2009.pdf p.16 
10
 Buffalo Business First, http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2014/06/12/western-new-york-high-school-
rankings-in-2014.html?page=all  
11
 Partnership for the Public Good, http://www.ppgbuffalo.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/education-and-
poverty-april-2012.pdf  
12
 Pasciak, Mary. The Buffalo News, April 5, 2014. Segregation in Buffalo schools has returned to early 1970s 
levels, http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/buffalo-public-schools/segregation-in-buffalo-schools-has-
returned-to-early-1970s-levels-20140405 
13
 "Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Tonawanda, NY Profile: Economic Opportunities." Diversitydata.org. Harvard School 
of Public Health, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012 
14
 The Atlantic Cities, http://www.citylab.com/housing/2014/03/us-cities-where-poor-are-most-segregated/8655/ 
15
 Partnership for the Public Good, http://www.ppgbuffalo.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/poverty-2012.pdf  
16
 Business First’s rankings are based on 2009-2012 data on test scores and graduation rates from the New York 
State Education Dept. High schools are ranked based on graduation rates and Regents exam scores in ten 
subjects. Middle and elementary schools are ranked based on state English and math test results for seventh 
and eighth graders. For a full explanation, see www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/feature/schools/2013-
wnyschools/2013/06/how-business-first-does-the-school.html. All data other than Business First rankings is 
drawn from New York State Department of Education 2011-2012 Report Cards for schools and districts, 
available at https://reportcards.nysed.gov/.  


Public Education in Buffalo and the Region

The biggest problem facing Buffalo’s public schools is the fact that many students live in poverty, while at the same time being segregated from students from wealthier communities who tend to enjoy better educational opportunities and rates of academic success.  Buffalo shares many of the problems of large cities in the United States, largely caused by high concentrations of poverty in urban areas.  In 2009, about 59% of students served by urban school districts located in the metropolitan areas of the 50 largest U.S. cities graduated, compared with 77% in nearby suburban communities.  In Western New York, all of Buffalo Business First’s highest ranked public high schools except City Honors are located in affluent suburbs: Williamsville, East Aurora, Clarence, Lewiston-Porter, etc.  The thirteen lowest ranked high schools are in the City of Buffalo.Education__Public_Education_in_Buffalo_and_the_Region.pdf: 48 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Masson, Marc J.

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