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I.' r I I' I i I PAGE 12 THE SENTINEL THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1989 The Carosa Commentary AN OPEN LETTER To GOVERNOR CUOMO Governor Mario Cuomo c/o New York Slate Executive Chamber Slate Capitol Albany, New York 12224 Dear Governor Cuomo: HONEOYE FALLS - Wednesday, April 18, 1989 (5:30am). Despite accidentally erasing the fmal two pages from the computer an hour earlier, a couple of exhausted devotees put the April 20th edition of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls·Lima SENTINEL to bed. Once again, the desire to serve the public call causes another sleepless night, but knowing the im portance a hometown newspaper has to a growing and thriving community provides enough satisfaction for the fatigued publishers. ALBANY - Wednesday, April 18, 1989 (5:30am). Despite the fact the fiscal year began on April 1, the entire assembly of elected New York State legislators finally approve the State's 1989 budget Once again, the post- ponement of their duty to the elcctomte 1c.1ds to yet another late night, but knowing one could sleep in ac- commodates the whims of those (still) present MENDON - Wednesday, April 18, 1989 (6:30am). A not-as·tircd·as·he-should-bc office-bound laborer exits the shower and prepares to shave (L~ the mdio news announcer tells of the previous \night's\ exploiL~ in AJbany. \Wow \thinks the vigorous young man, \Some· body else actually stayed lip as long as I did. I wonder what drove them to finish their job in a whole night?\ RT. 65 - Wednesday, April 18, 1989 (6:30pm). The now weary worker, having just cheerfully greeted his friends at Rotary and currently on his way to the Simon School and Finance class, catches the headline of the evening paper he has just picked up. What he reads encrgi7.es his expended body with potent verve ... It just docsn 't make sense. I try 10 look at these things with a sense of fairness and reluctant reali7.ation. I understand the State of New York has a pecuniary problem. I believe you and I am very sympathetic to your dire concerns whcn YOll say our State verges on a $2 The Cuomo Comeback billion deficit I may not know all the details, but I grasp the import of the potential economic calamity. I also willingly accept the need for personal sacrifice - as long as the costs are shared equally. Fairness and honesty. Honesty and fairness. That, along with a very sense of community, is all one can expect from elected officials. As our democratic process enables us to review our chosen administrators only every so often, our ability to rate them is limited. I feel, though, the citizen has a active responsibility to supply his government with testimony whenever the politician begins to lose intimacy with the public's passions. It is in such observance, and on the unsolicited behalf of my community, that I am writing you. I am of course very concerned about New York's flSeal state. I sec our legislative and executive bodies permitting the continuation of a nightmarish infrastructure which dis- suades businesses, jobs, and people from staking their future with New York State. I am a earnest supporter of my community, my State. Being young, I do not wish to sec New York dissolve into an uninspired mess. I wish to sec continued virality in all facets of our citizenry. We must emphasize the future, with all its innovativeness and creativity. No where L~ this most needed than in our communities' schools. The young represent not only the best source for educated and compctentemployees (the grcatestassetany firm can ask for), but tiley also offer the finest opportunity to cultivate enterprising and resourceful employers (tile greatest asset any community can ask for). Both of these hopes are either realized or dashed during a youngster's formative years. To insure the fulfillment of these aspirations, we must not disregard the weight of public schooling. The report of the meager budgetary ullocu- tions to our schools frightens me. The universal public good demands education be the last area subjected to austere measures. (Maybe government limousines can be the first?) Even when evcnts require public school sys- tems to suffer,l can only think the fairest method entails CUlling lhe same percentage share from each district In Monroe County alone, 1989 New York State school district assessments range from a 22.58% increase to a 0.71 % decreiL~. The City of Rochester School District, by far the largest benefactor of state money, received a substantial 8.6% incI\C.'1Se. My own commu- nity's school dislrict - the Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School District, suffered a 0.5% cUI in Stale aid. (And don't think aceounting shenanigans like not including reimbursable expenses changes my point) Whal's going on? Is this disparity ./JJk? Over the past three years, the HFL Central School District has wimessed an enrollment increase of about 3% while the City ofRoch- ester School Dislrict saw itself lose nearly 2% of its srudents. In light of the enrollment facts, does it make sense to you that HFLCSD lost State aid while City Schools gained? Can you understand how this ineqUality can be condoned? Comparing the raw numbers are quite different than looking solely at the percentages, SO let's review the naked data. City Schools, with $114,687,982 budgeted to them, have 31,103 enroIled students (as of 9/88) which comes to $3,687 per student. HFLCSD, with $5,425,857 of 1989's New York State budget, has 1,957 studenL~ (as of 9/88) or $2,772 per student Why are City students worth 33% ($915) more than IIFLCSD students? Now, I -am not suggesting the City of Rochester School District has received too much money. In fact, having served on the Advisory Board for the City's Franklin School Business Magnet, I wholeheartedly applaud any effort to revitalize the City'S schools. Nor do I contend the State should fully fund public schools (the community must realize a portion of the burden). Rathcr, I and my neighbors, who I encourage to also write letters to you, have the inherent obligation to bring into question New York State's apparent lack of attention to thc Honeoye Fulls-Lima Central School District. We arc a growing community and proud of our school's achievements. It is irresponsible to jcoparoize that level of exccllence, particularly in the face of the incrc.'L~d demlmds our area's growth will have on HF'LCSD. Can you PLEASE explnin to me, and the readers of our hometown nt:Wspaper, why the seeming disregard to our expanding school system is allowed to exist and if you willtolemte the neglect to continue? Respectfully Yours, Christopher Carosa Publisher, Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima SENTINEL \The Time May Have Arrived for Change\ Dear Mr. Carosa: equalize expenditures by local school districts through- allocations under the existing fomtula out the State. In oroer to accomplish this objective, it The Rochester School District has a wealth per The April 27 issue of the Sentinel contained an compares each school dislrict's property value per pupil pupil which is 23.2% below the State average while the open letter to the Governor concerning State aid to public and income per pupil with the State averagc. Once the wealth per pupil for the Honeoye Falls-Lima School Dis- schools. Mr. Carosa, as the Sentinel's publisher, you wealth of the district isdetennined, the formula factors in trict is 4.3% below the State average. Under the criteria expressed concern over the distribution of State aid to the number of pupils in need of special educational in the formula, these figures arc interpreted to mean that education. I would like to respond. services. The combination of these factors produced the Rochester is less able to raise money locally for educa- Similar concerns about New York State's com· distribution discussed in the SENTINEL'S open letter. tion than Honeoye Falls-Lima plex education aid policies have been expressed by The lettcr points out, for example, that alloca- Rochester also has a greater number of srudents educators, elected officials and taxpayers throughout the tions of State education aid to Monroe County school in need of remediation orspccial education than Honeoye State. Yet despite a general recognition that the system districts r.mged from an increase of 22.58% for one Falls-Lima Rochester has 26.7% of its students in need for dislributing aid to education is flawed, it has proved school district to a decrease of .71% for another. The of remediation and 5,780 \weighted\ children with handi- resistant to reform, Now, however, the time may have letter specilil:ally compares the increase given to the capping conditions. Honeoye Falls-Lima has 11.5% of its arrived for change. Rochester School District with the decrease in aid being students in need of remediation and 185 \weighted\ The recent report of the Salerno Commission on experienced by the Honeoye Falls·Lima School District children with handicapping conditio CIS. Rochester has a public school financing is under intense review. It is The letter questions the disparity. greater number of students that require special services likely that at least some of its many recommendations If you review carefully the data for the Roches- and the current fonnula presumes that the school district will be incorpomted by me in my next Executive Budget ter School District and the Honeoye Falls·Lima Central with the greater need to provide special services will also The current State aid fonnula was intended to School District. you can understand the difference in experience higher costs to provide those services to the f- r -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.....:..-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- .. --' children. S C This explanation, of course, does not mean that I I U 8 SRI PTI 0 N FOR M II the Honeoye Falls-Lima School District should be satis- fied with the State aid formula as it is cunently con- I Annual Subscription is: $12.50 (NY State ReSidents) I structed. As the Salerno Commission pointed out, there I $18.50 (Out-of-State Residents) I is much about the current State aid formula that demands I I change. With the Commission's recommendations as a I Name I foundation, hopefully the time is at hand to reform the I Address PO Box I funding of public education in New York. I City State Zip I Thank you for this opponunity to respond to your open letter. I Send To: The SENTINEL, P.O. Box 547, Honeoye Falls, NY 14472. I I Allow two weeks for processing. I ~ .................................. ~ Mario M. Cuomo Governor
