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The state Department of Education released test scores Tuesday for assessments completed in April of this year. In Math, 29.9 % of Buffalo students met or beat the minimum standard for "proficiency," which is down from 31 percent last year.

"This represents a call to action that we cannot continue to accept the level of success that many of our students have been experiencing," said Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Pamela Brown.

Meanwhile, two charters schools are being proposed for East High School and Waterfront Elementary School. They are among those on a statewide list of Persistently Low Achieving Schools.

Maria Rosa, a school employee, believes Brown's background in secondary education and her fluency in Spanish could help turn around schools like Waterfront that have a large second language population.

"I think it would be good to give her an opportunity to look at that situation and to perhaps offer her solution as to what we need to do," said Maria Rosa.

While the local group, Chameleon Inc., may continue to pursue a charter school, the final decision has to come from the school system.

Brown says she respects the group's right to pursue a charter school but hopes she will have a chance to correct problems.

"I just appreciate the opportunity to work with as many of those schools as I possibly can to improve the performance of students," said Brown.

"Ultimately, that decision on where that school is going to go rests with the superintendent and the Board of Education, and at this point in time we have no intentions of conceding that school to anyone at this time," said Buffalo Public Schools Board of Education Ralph Hernandez.