Pataki plan paints dire picture for schools

The Buffalo News ^ | 02/26/03 | Tom Precious

[Fury]

ALBANY - Elimination of all sports, music and adult education programs, larger classes and sharp cuts in transportation were among options Buffalo school officials presented to state lawmakers Tuesday as targets for cutbacks if more state financial aid is not available.

"The results will scar our children and your cities at a time when New York cannot afford further scars," Buffalo Board of Education member Donald Van Every told a joint fiscal panel of the State Legislature.

Besides plans such as school closings and four-day weeks, already floated to deal with what Van Every said is now a $68 million budget gap, he presented options being considered if school financing cuts proposed by Gov. George E. Pataki are not reversed.

"It's meant to be a realistic list if the budget were adopted, as is, today," Van Every, chairman of the Conference of Big 5 School Districts, said before testifying before a Senate and Assembly budget panel.

The list included:

Larger classes with one teacher for every 30 students, up from the present 1:27 ratio.
Layoffs of guidance counselors.
Cuts to a 27-member group that tries to keep attendance up.
Elimination of programs like summer school, band and all extracurricular activities.
Cutbacks in school maintenance.
Bus transportation for only those students who live more than two miles from their school.
Reductions in bus aides and clerical staff.
Elimination of contracts for school improvements.

The district now gets more than $300 million from Albany, or more than 80 percent of its budget. Unlike suburban districts, though, city school districts can't independently raise taxes to make up for the funding cuts.

Joining Buffalo officials in sending warnings about Pataki's $1.24 billion proposed cut in aid to education were top officials from school districts, teacher unions and parent groups, all of whom said education is getting hit too hard in the governor's plan to deal with the state's soaring deficit.

State Education Commissioner Richard Mills said New Yorkers face a "nightmare situation" of deep cuts in public school programs coupled with higher property taxes if Pataki's plan is not rejected.

And Bishop Henry J. Mansell, of the Buffalo Catholic Diocese, warned that Catholic schools across New York risk not being able to comply with the state's tougher high school graduation standards unless Albany provides more money to private schools for children who need extra tutoring. Catholic schools are now voluntarily complying with the Board of Regents program that requires high school students to pass Regents exams in five subjects in order to graduate.

Mansell said that while Pataki is proposing $1 million for a program that provides teachers and other assistance to students who need extra help, $10 million is needed.

Mansell also urged lawmakers to provide money to private schools for computer equipment and teacher-training programs - funding that now goes exclusively to public schools. And he again urged lawmakers to permit tax credits or vouchers to give more parents the financial opportunity to send their children to private schools.

To make up for the $1.24 billion cut, local property owners would be asked by school districts to cover the hit, leading to what fiscal experts say would be widespread double-digit tax hikes this year.

"I'd rather be providing more funds to schools. But we're asking everyone to look for ways to operate more efficiently," Pataki said Tuesday. The state faces an $11.5 billion budget deficit over the next 13 months.

Later, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said that Democrats would "at least" restore the education cuts that Pataki proposed. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, has long said education and health-care restorations would be the Senate's top priorities.

[Fury]

The chickens are indeed coming home to roost...

Pataki will not be running for Gov or Senator in NYS. Period.

The thing is that Pataki does not want to raise personal or corporate income taxes. That's fine, but what he fails to realize from the "Joe Everyman" perspective is that the sales taxes, school taxes, and county taxes keep going up and up.

I've talked with several friends who are now seriously considered moving out of state. The taxes, high insurance, increase of crime in rural areas are all making it less attractive to live in this state. The country areas, at least to me, are beautiful. But what good is it if you continue to have a decrease in disposable income, year after year, even if you are making more at your job each year?

School districts, by means of various programs, are trying to be surrogate parents to our children I suppose. But the costs to run the programs is an issue. In years past you used to hear people say "Oh, State Aid will help pay for that". It's about time people not be so confident in making that statement.

[valkyrieanne]

What's wrong with this plan? Nothing! There is no reason for schools to have expensive, elaborate sports programs. Our district cut out busses years ago and things are fine. Kids walk and bike to school, or carpool. Guidance counselors are largely a waste of money, and the janitors they have in most schools do nothing anyway. Fire the janitors (which means getting rid of the janitor's union on school grounds) and let the children clean the classrooms, Japanese style.

The only item on the list which I see should be kept is music. There have been numerous studies recently which show that music helps the analytical and mathematical side of the brain. Many mathematics whizzes are also good at music. But football - forget it.

[rocky88]

I don't have a problem with Pataki. As a Buffalo resident, I beleive his intentions are good, and what a lot of outsiders fail to realize is that you CAN'T raise taxes in Buffalo. That's like Gospel here. If that happened, it would become another downtown Detroit over the next few years. Buffalo tries desperately to hang on to the remaining white middle-class it has left. Without that population, the city would implode and burn itself down.

As far as Buffalo Public Schools, I would never send my kids there. If you read the Buffalo News often, you'd come to the same conclusion that my husband and I have - Buffalo public schools are failing because of the teacher's union, corruption in the school board (there was a great story in the Sunday Buffalo News about 2 or 3 weeks ago about school custodians making 85k a year but I couldn't locate it through a Buf News search..) and low accountability. With all the budget cuts to the schools, I can guaranteee that the teachers will still be whining about their annual raise and God Forbid you make them pay $1 more toward their health benefits. My best guy friend's girlfriend is a teacher here - did you know that if she wanted breast augmentation, it would be covered 100% under her insurance plan through the teacher's union? Who the HELL has a plan like that? Can you actually work in good conscience with music and art programs being cut all around you, knowing that if you have tiny boobs that the taxpayers will cover your implants? It's absurd.

We are expecting our first child, so the school issue has been discussed frequently as of late. We love the city life, but at the same time are wondering if we can afford private schools or should we just move to the suburb that has the best schools? It's definitely time for vouchers AND time to take down the teacher's unions.

[Gerish]

I agree with everything you said, it is almost the same here in the Syracuse area. I do not live in the City of Syracuse (suburb outside City), and my children attend a public school which is a good school district. It has been all over the news here how the City of Syracuse schools may have to cut sports, summer school etc. I say - GO AHEAD.

I would like to see them get rid of free breakfast (what kind of parent cannot feed their children in the morning?), and put tighter restrictions on the free lunch programs which so many people take advantage of. However, I do agree 100% with you that those darn teacher unions are the biggest obstacle to any budget. There are teachers I know who are rotton to the core and should have left the profession years ago, however, with tenure and benefits galore, they stay! Guidance counselors are a waste of money and half the people in Administration positions do nothing but push paper all day! I wish people of this State would realize that once you got rid of some of these positions, it really would not make a difference in their childs education. There is too much BLOAT!