(January 18, 2006) — Rochester school officials reacted with dismay Tuesday to Gov. George Pataki's budget proposal, which would slightly reduce aid to the City School District while increasing it to the state's other big-city districts.

Pataki trumpeted the fact that he would raise overall public school spending by $634 million, to almost $17 billion. But the fine print shows that many districts would receive less in operating aid than they're getting this year.

"We're the only one of the Big Five school districts to see a decrease," said Rochester school Superintendent Manuel Rivera. "Rochester is No. 1 in the state in terms of childhood poverty. The fact that we are losing aid ... is difficult to understand. I'm very concerned about the preliminary numbers."  (If you're "No. 1 in the state in terms of childhood poverty", then what are you doing buying pleasure craft for the amusement of the disposable income set?)

The City School District would receive $304.8 million in operating aid; $321.2 million when construction assistance is included. The former represents a 4.1 percent decrease from the current year and the latter a 0.3 percent drop.

In contrast, New York City, Buffalo, Syracuse and Yonkers all would get more total school aid, with Buffalo getting the largest increase — 4.3 percent.

The Legislature has a history of increasing school aid beyond what Pataki proposes, and the 2006-07 budget figures to be no different.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, Rensselaer County, while praising the overall budget as one of Pataki's best, said, "There's a shortfall in education. That's apparent."

More charter schools

The governor also proposed a big increase in charter schools and a $500-per-child tax credit so students at underperforming schools could go to other schools or get tutoring. There currently is a cap of 100 on the number of charter schools statewide. Pataki wants to raise that number to 250.

That proposal also was met with resistance by public school officials, who traditionally have considered charter schools a drain on their resources.

"The money for charter schools isn't provided by the state, it's provided by the local district," said Jody Siegle, executive director of the Monroe County School Boards Association. "If they are going to increase them, they really need to look at the funding so they're not hurting public education."

Siegle and Jeffrey Crane, superintendent of the West Irondequoit district, also questioned Pataki's statement that "charter schools work."

"I think there are better answers than charter schools," Crane said. "I just don't know if I agree with his comment that all charter schools are working."

Siegle said: "The reports that have come out both statewide and nationally have not been at all conclusive about the performance of charter schools. We have some in this state that are doing well and we have some that are doing terribly and have even needed to be closed."

Rochester has experienced both types. Students at the Genesee Community Charter School and the Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School have done well. But two others were closed by the state last year for poor performance.

Tax credit

Pataki's proposed tax credit also was seen by some as a slap at public schools.

"I think it would better serve the children (and) the families if that money went directly to the school district to be used as determined by the local district," Crane said.

Siegle said the tax credit would be fine as long as it goes to the parents of children attending public schools.

"But if it's going to be used to underwrite tuition for a private school, that's a little different," she said. "We really believe the state has an obligation to support the public schools ... to see that there is public education readily available at a high quality. That is their job."

Of Pataki's overall increase in school aid, Siegle said, "I don't want to sound ungrateful. I am appreciative that he is being much more positive than he has been at times in the past.

"Nevertheless, the forces that are driving up costs are substantially outside the control of local boards of education. I'm glad he gave us a lot of money as an initial proposal but we need it."

SRAYAM@DemocratandChronicle.com
GMCLENDN@DemocratandChronicle.com
Includes reporting by Cara Matthews of the Albany bureau.

(January 19, 2006) — It stretches plausibility that the Democrat and Chronicle Editorial Board, Mayor Duffy and ferry board secretary and finance chair Karen Noble Hanson would claim, variously, that my administration was "not forthcoming" about the city's lease with the Toronto Port Authority, or that the lease was recently "discovered" by the new administration and Ms. Hanson.

As I clearly outlined in a news conference Tuesday, City Hall was open about the lease from the start. As early as 2004 and throughout last year's mayoral campaign, details were available on the city Web site and in a consultant's report, and then approved in June by Ms. Hanson and the ferry board. The Democrat and Chronicle has had minutes of that meeting since August, yet the Editorial Board still claimed the lease was not appropriately disclosed.

There's an old saying: "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink." My administration was busy with the business of this city to the best of our ability; it seems it would be the media and others' responsibility to also carry out their due diligence. For example, it is the responsibility of board members everywhere to study and evaluate proposals before voting; records show the ferry board's executive committee, including Ms. Hanson, received details of the lease proposal several days prior to the vote.

All the details of putting together a ferry deal were fully reported in the media. There were sensitive elements of these negotiations that could not be disclosed at the time, (Define 'sensitive elements') but all of the pertinent details were eventually publicized. These details were scrutinized and approved by the appropriate governing bodies, City Council and the ferry board. There was no unwillingness to cooperate; there was no cover-up.

Your Editorial Board obviously disagrees, and appears to say that it was my responsibility to ensure that every citizen knew these facts existed. There is another axiom germane to this situation: "If a tree in a forest falls, and nobody hears it, does that mean that the tree didn't fall?" Information pointing out the existence of the Toronto terminal lease has been posted on the city Web site since November 2004. We posted this to ensure that anyone wanting to understand every element of the deal could analyze it. Having met and exceeded every obligation for public disclosure, is it now my fault if you and others did not read it?

The Editorial Board also repeated Tuesday that my administration did not disclose the existence of a $1-a-year Rochester terminal lease with Maplestar, a subsidiary of original ferry operator CATS. City Council publicly approved the exact same lease with CATS in August 2001. The reporter who broke that story last May claiming this was a secret deal was in Judge Feldman's courtroom last Feb. 4 when the Maplestar lease was discussed in open court. An official court transcript documents that discussion. Should I be blamed for a "lack of openness" when the Democrat and Chronicle finally "discovers" this lease months later?

At Tuesday's news conference I made it clear that I had no intention of questioning Mayor Duffy's decision to shut down the ferry. He and I looked at the same set of facts, and where I saw vast opportunity, he saw unacceptable risk. He will face many difficult decisions and will have to make tough choices with limited resources. I have been there, and done that. So I will never second-guess him. The ferry was a wonderful project, full of drama, but I have let it go and am prepared to move on.

The Democrat and Chronicle should do likewise. You can support the current mayor without denigrating the former one.

Johnson is Rochester's former mayor.