They say they mean it this time. The Buffalo School Board voted 8-1 this week to stop moving kids who can't read along from grade to grade. While no one will say that was the official policy before, teachers union boss Phil Rumore says the message from the top of the school system has always been clear: "The message that goes out to teachers and staff is that we don't want you to hold students back."

Superintendent James Williams called the practice a "cancer" and said he hopes the new policy will prompt students and parents (the consumers) to take school more seriously. In order to get the school staffs (the producers) to deliver, Williams wants to spend $21.3 million on a new alternative high school, afterschool instruction for 7th and 8th graders (but be careful not to cut into Michele's life, Mr. Superintendent,) summer school for elementary students, hiring 58 reading coaches, and bringing full time nurses to all of Buffalo's schools.