LI's senators vow to block school cuts

ALBANY - Deal breaker.

The Long Island Senate delegation, the single most powerful block in the 32-member Republican Senate majority, Wednesday said Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's proposed budget is an inequitable hit on Nassau and Suffolk county schools.

Unveiled Tuesday, Cuomo's plan outlines an average 9 percent cut to schools statewide (not including construction aid). But he's called for an average 11 percent state-aid reduction for Long Island school districts.

"Unacceptable," said state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick). "We all realize the fiscal condition the state is in, but this is a disproportionate hit on Long Island schools."

The delegation is dubbed "The Long Island Nine." Getting a final state budget agreement without them is nearly impossible. Delegation members said Long Island appears to take an unfair share of the proposed cuts, saying they would work collectively to change the outcome before the State Legislature and governor sign off on a final deal.

State Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport), chairman of the Education Committee, said in talks leading up to the budget presentation, that Republicans who control the Senate told the governor that any proposed cuts to school aid should to be "fair and equitable." After reviewing the numbers, he said: "I think they missed the mark."

Poring through pages of school-aid projections, Flanagan ticked off double-digit percentage decreases in his district.

"Middle Country, 14.5 percent. Northport, 14.6 percent. Half Hollow Hills, 12. Commack, 10.4. Hauppauge, 15.7. Smithtown, 16.7. Kings Park 16.5," Flanagan said. "I look at that and I scratch my head and ask: Where is the fairness and equity?"

Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto said that the net impact of the state-aid cuts - the amount of money Long Island schools would lose as a portion of their overall budgets - is closer to 2.1 percent and that the statewide average is 2.9 percent. He added that, based on the most recent data available, Long Island school districts have reported approximately $370 million in unreserved, undesignated fund balances that may be used for any purpose - including offsetting state-aid reductions - and that 98 school districts have a total of $61.8 million in unused federal education jobs funds that also may be used to mitigate the cuts.

Cuomo's plan calls for a drop in school aid from $20.9 billion in the current academic year to $19.4 billion the next. He has pushed for districts to consider consolidation and pay freezes as well as dipping into reserve funds. But he's said overall aid reduction was needed to help the state deal with a $10-billion deficit. Cuomo also released a five-minute video to New Yorkers, saying his plan would aid in the state's economic recovery.

The senators agreed there could be belt-tightening.

But state Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) said, "It's when you get down into the details about how state aid affects individual schools."

With Michael Amon