City Newspaper Archives - 4/2007
SCHOOLS: Spitzer likes mayoral control --- and funding guarantee
Published by Tim Louis Macaluso on Apr 10, 2007
Governor Eliot Spitzer made two trips to Rochester within the past week, both times touching on topics that are controversial locally.
In a visit on April 4, he endorsed mayoral control of schools. That might please Rochester school district critics like Mayor Bob Duffy. In Spitzer's Rotary speech today, however, he said he favors the Maintenance of Effort provision in the state budget, which prevents the mayors of the larger cities from reducing aid to their school districts. That's popular with the district and the teacher's union. But city officials, who are facing a budget gap, say the MOE binds them in a tight budget year, functioning like an unfunded state mandate. In his Rotary talk, Spitzer said he wants to work toward greater accountability for the districts, "so we are putting money where we know it is doing the most good for our students."
