Reaction muted to guv's school aid proposal

After experiencing painful state aid cuts last year, Long Island school districts are due some modest relief next year -- an increase of about $56.3 million in operating funds regionwide.

But the extra assistance proposed Tuesday by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo comes with strings attached.

For starters, districts risk losing much of their new aid if they fail to put stricter teacher-evaluation systems in place by next January.

In addition, districts are being asked to pick up part of the cost of preschool classes for children with disabilities -- an expense that had been borne up to now by the state and its counties.

This combination of increased aid and increased cost strikes some regional school leaders as little more than fiscal sleight of hand.

"It really doesn't make any sense to me," said William Johnson, superintendent of Rockville Centre schools and former president of the New York State Council of School Superintendents. "At the same time he's telling us he's giving us more money, he's taking it away with the other hand."

On balance, though, Cuomo's proposed school aid package received at least lukewarm reviews across the Island Tuesday. Local school administrators noted, however, that district-by-district aid figures were released late in the day by the governor's office and would require another day or two to review.

"It's better than nothing," said Roberta Gerold, the Middle Country schools' superintendent. Her district would receive an additional $2.2 million in operating aid under the new plan.

One notable feature of the plan, which would increase statewide aid by $805 million or 4 percent, is that the money appears to be rather evenly distributed. The Island, for example, would receive an additional 2.7 percent in operating aid overall -- roughly the same size increase proposed for New York City and the state as a whole.

Those figures do not include aid earmarked for school construction and renovation, which is generally paid to districts only after they win local voters' support for bond borrowing.

"On first blush, it looks like a pretty fair distribution," said Gary Bixhorn, chief operating officer of Eastern Suffolk BOCES and legislative chairman of the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association. "I think we have to dig into these figures and see what they mean district by district. But broadly viewed, this looks like a good place to start."

The prospect of increasing state assistance in 2012-13 should make it easier for districts to cope with new caps on property taxes.

Starting in the next school year, districts will be restricted to annual increases in property taxes of 2 percent unless they win a 60 percent override vote from their residents.

The Cuomo package also envisions a tentative 3.5 percent aid increase for 2013-14.

This year, in contrast, the Island took a $206 million reduction in aid -- the biggest in 20 years. Many districts laid off teachers and raised class sizes as a result.

Alexandra Romero, 18, a senior at Central Islip High School, has witnessed this. Some of her classes this year contain more than 30 students, she says, in contrast to classes of 23 or fewer that were common in years past.

Recently, Romero joined a statewide coalition, The Alliance for Quality Education, to push for more financial assistance.

She said she was encouraged by Tuesday's state announcement that her district might receive an extra $2 million in operating aid next year. "At least it's something," she said.