Articles for Garrett Looker

Feb 23

2023

Most suburbs lag on reading instruction

Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series. Our previous story focused on the challenges face by Buffalo schools and its adoption of a phonics-based approach. Unlike 30 other states, New York does not require a phonics-based approach to reading instruction. That leaves each of the state’s 731 school districts free to select its own reading curriculum. “New York, in general, is behind most other states when it comes to this, which I think is reflected in the reading scores,” said Jeff Smink, deputy director of The Education Trust – New York. “Every district is like the Wild West,”[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Feb 22

2023

Buffalo’s abysmal reading scores

 Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series. Our second installment: Poor reading skills are a problem nationwide, including in many of Buffalo’s suburbs.  Only two of the 48 tested fourth graders at Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy on the city’s West Side read at proficient levels in 2022. Likewise, just two fifth graders at School 53 on the East Side read at grade level. That’s out of 62 pupils tested. Not a single fifth grader at Martin Luther King Jr. School, in the shadow of the Fruit Belt neighborhood, tested at a proficient reading level in 2022.[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Feb 9

2023

Podcast: Sen. Sean Ryan discusses IDA reform

Throughout the State of New York, industrial development agencies give out tax breaks to companies in order to bring and expand operations to local communities. From entities as large as Amazon to as small as an A&W restaurant, these deals usually involve companies paying reduced property and sales taxes over an extended period of time. But, as Investigative Post’s J. Dale Shoemaker has reported, those deals can have expensive consequences for the community; including its children. Those expensive consequences include nearly $2 billion drained from public schools each year throughout the state. New York State Senator Sean Ryan believes these[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Jan 31

2023

Government meetings are secret – and legal

State law mandates that local legislative bodies conduct their business in public. But a loophole allows elected officials to caucus in private, and a new report finds that many legislative bodies do. The Erie County Legislature is among those that not only caucus, but discuss public matters, according to a new study released by the New York Coalition for Open Government.  These “secret meetings” held behind closed doors throughout the state’s local governments “completely gut” the Open Meetings Law, leaving the public in the dark, according to the report.  “The public meeting becomes just a show or just a sham.[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Jan 12

2023

Podcast: Reporting on Tesla’s solar factory

When plans were announced for a solar panel manufacturing plant in South Buffalo, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo described the project as a “game changer.” Based on the promise of not only a gleaming new plant and more than 1,400 jobs, but a whole new clean energy sector that would employ thousands more. Cuomo poured nearly $1 billion of state tax dollars into building and equipping the project. Has it delivered as promised? Investigative Post’s J. Dale Shoemaker dug deep to answer that question. Officials from Tesla refused requests for interview. Bureaucrats with the state economic development agency that oversees the project[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Jan 4

2023

Podcast: Reporting on police misconduct

The Buffalo Police Department is under fire of criticism from local activists, alleging racial and civil discrimination. Officers’ frequent use of racial slurs, including the “N-word,” and unequal, discriminating policing efforts in different neighborhoods are two of thr allegations levied in a lawsuit by Black Love Resists in the Rust. Geoff Kelly has reported on the lawsuit the Buffalo Police Department faces, including officer misconduct and potential oversight from the Department of Justice.  Kelly sat down with Garrett Looker, host of our podcast series, to talk about his reporting. Watch via YouTube or listen as a podcast.

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 16

2022

Podcast: Reporting on 149 Arkansas

The windows and doors of a West Side house are boarded up, debris scattered throughout the yard. Inside, two individuals have died, their bodies left to decay. The dilapidated house at 149 Arkansas St. has been the source of numerous calls to emergency personnel. Its owners have been hit with multiple housing code violations and thousands of dollars of unpaid summons. Local residents have said the property’s owner, the Buffalo Police Department, and City Hall have skirted accountability. In their stead, the residents of Arkansas Street are left to deal with the property’s effects, including the stench of a decaying[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 2

2022

Podcast: Lack of transparency around Bills stadium

In the coming weeks, Erie County officials are poised to allow the future Buffalo Bills’ stadium effectively to skip New York State’s environmental review law. Activists and experts say doing so results in a lack of transparency and little consideration for the environment.  The deal’s major players — Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and the Buffalo Bills organization — would not offer further details. Their silence fits a pattern of stonewalling. Investigative Post has successfully sued Erie County and New York State to obtain public records before, and continues to be met with little communication. Community groups have called for[...]

Posted 4 months ago