Presses for More Aid: UFT Head Reaches Out to Legislature

Presses for More Aid

UFT Head Reaches Out to Legislature

United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten met Jan. 24 with State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and other legislators to outline the UFT's legislative priorities for the coming year.

JOSEPH L. BRUNO: Will go beyond Pataki plan. Ms. Weingarten, Assemblyman Silver and Senator Bruno met at the Albany Club Room to go over topics such as Taylor Law reform, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, and various ways to spend the estimated $2 billion budget surplus.

Say Pataki Falls Short

Both chamber leaders expressed frustration over the budget proposed by Governor Pataki, indicating that his measures to fund education are inadequate.

"Senator Bruno talked to Randi about the Senate's commitment to increasing funding for education," said Mark Hansen, a spokesman for the Senator. "We're beginning to review the Governor's proposal. We certainly want to go beyond that, in terms of funding for education."

Ms. Weingarten was critical of one of the proposals the Governor put forward, a $500 tax credit which families could use toward private, parochial or charter school tuition.

RANDI WEINGARTEN: Makes case in Albany. "The bottom line is that they won't help students or families," Ms. Weingarten said of the tax credits. "Chances are - and this is what's happened elsewhere - most of that money will go to families whose kids already attend private and parochial schools, at no government expense."

The UFT leader had a number of alternative ideas on how to spend the $400 million the Governor estimates his proposal will cost. For instance, she calculated that for $230 million, class sizes in every city K-12 school could be reduced by two students. For $300 million, pre-K could be provided for every 4-year-old in the city.

"Those are choices you can make: Tuition tax credits; targeted tax reductions for lowand middle-income families; or investments in a sound, basic education for all our children," Ms. Weingarten said. "The money is there. If not now, when?"

Assemblyman Silver focused on another of Ms. Weingarten's priorities - forcing the state to pay at least part of the $5.6 billion-a-year judgment resulting from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity's lawsuit charging the state with underfunding New York City schools.

"He's talked for some time about the need to address the CFE decision," said Skip Carrier, a spokesman for Assemblyman Silver. "The Governor has dragged this through the courts. The state has a legal responsibility, and a moral obligation."