FOR THE RECORD
Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint hammered home his point that mass transit was a needed alternative for commuters in a time of rising fuel costs during the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board meeting last week, but it was undercut by his noticeable lateness due to being stuck in traffic in a personal vehicle.

The MTA Board made accommodations for Mr. Toussaint to give a lengthy public statement against management's plans for fare hikes and asking transit workers to "sacrifice more" even when the authority finds itself dealing with a doomsday budget. That occurred, however, only after MTA Chairman H. Dale Hemmerdinger made it clear to his colleagues, the public and the press that the union president, much like many members of the board, hadn't relied on the MTA's transit systems to get there.

"I take that as a dig," Mr. Toussaint said in jest as he took to the microphone, adding that his tardiness should stand as a testament to mass transit's superiority over driving in Manhattan.

"No dig intended, honestly," Mr. Hemmerdinger replied.

This was hardly the first time the Local 100 president has kept MTA officials waiting during a media availability.

In January, when the union participated in a joint press conference with MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot Sander on workforce development, Daily News reporter Pete Donohue suggested to the executive that Mr. Toussaint, whom the press was waiting on as he was stuck in traffic heading to the event, had opted not to take a cross-town bus from the union's Upper West Side headquarters.

"I'm not going to comment on Mr. Toussaint's choice of transportation," Mr. Sander replied with a laugh.

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The Department of Education is proposing budget cuts that could threaten the jobs of the city's District Family Advocates, many of whom were hired only last year. Preliminary data released by the DOE proposing $200 million of budget cuts for the 2008-09 school year proposes that 19 of the 64 advocates lose their jobs, for a saving of $821,000.

Loss of advocate positions could hit the school community hard, as the remaining employees in the title would be stretched especially thin across the city's 34 school districts. The District Family Advocates deal with parents to solve specific school problems that Principals and Teachers cannot address, such as summer school, transfers and other administrative work. Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein created the position to address these specific parent needs.

A DOE statement says that the cuts will "improve responsiveness in an economical and targeted manner. We will reduce the number of District Family Advocates and increase the number of borough-based support staff, who monitor and implement advocacy efforts at the district and borough level. Borough staff serve high schools, an area where we have found that we need more capacity."

The advocates are represented by District Council 37, whose chief negotiator, Dennis Sullivan, said that officials "take the threat of layoffs very seriously." The 19 advocate jobs that will be cut are part of 187 job cuts in total.

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The United Federation of Teachers has endorsed Staten Island City Councilman Michael McMahon in the race for the New York 13th District U.S. House of Representatives seat being vacated by Vito Fossella.

Randi Weingarten, president of the UFT, announced the endorsement on July 24, stating that "Mike McMahon has demonstrated time and time again as an elected official that he is a champion for children and working people, and New York City's public educators want that kind of champion representing them in Congress."

The race for the 13th District has been extremely convoluted since Congressman Fossella, a Republican, announced this spring that he would not seek re-election in November after being stopped by police for driving while allegedly drunk and admitting he had fathered a child out of wedlock. The GOP candidate eventually selected to replace him died unexpectedly in June, leading county Republicans to tap a man who has often been at odds with them, ex-Assemblyman Bob Straniere, to carry their banner. Mr. McMahon's chief rival in the Democratic primary will be Steve Harrison, who ran against Mr. Fossella in 2006.

Mr. McMahon already had the support of the New York State AFL-CIO.