The recession may be waning, but for Buffalo and its school district, conditions are only getting worse. The city revealed last week that it is facing a $24 million funding gap next year, while the Buffalo School District announced that it faces a “scary” $93 million budget gap within three years.

Both are in a fix. The school district has asked the city for more money, but the city doesn’t have it. The city, meanwhile, is asking the state for money, but the state is nearly broke itself. Good thing we’ve got a control board.

This problem was predictable. Federal stimulus money is scheduled to expire this year, so less will be coming to the city and school district. Meanwhile, the state did nothing with its federal stimulus money to finally put its finances in order. The crack-up that threatened two years ago was merely postponed.

With the economy still weak, city revenues are down for building permits, licenses and other city fees. State aid to schools and municipalities is expected to shrivel. The cost of pensions and health insurance, meanwhile, continues to skyrocket. And because the city has nowhere to turn, the school district has nowhere to turn. It’s impossible not to fear for the jobs of teachers and other personnel and for the subsequent decline in services.

Still, it’s possible for the damage to be limited. Inevitably, this must involve labor concessions, but labor shouldn’t be alone. Management at all levels—from the mayor and school superintendent down—should share the pain with employees. Indeed, they should publicly lead the way.

Buffalonians can at least be grateful that the city and school control board remains in place, despite consistent pressure for it to go soft. The administration of Mayor Byron W. Brown has done a good job with city finances, but the state law establishing the board requires it to oversee both City Hall and the school district, and that combination remains in fiscal trouble.

The control board can’t improve the economy and it won’t be able to directly force wise decision-making by officials and unions, but it can stand in the way of destructive financial decisions. That is especially important in its oversight of the school district, whose finances haven’t shown the improvement the city has shown over the past few years.

City residents can use the unfolding crisis as a test of local and state ability to comprehend a grim reality and respond constructively. Unfortunately, little suggests that will be the likely outcome. The response to crisis is typically to delay responding— to kick the can down the road—and hope that things will change.

But this is a crisis worse than any most residents can remember. It calls for mature people to act responsibly. Let’s hope they do.