'Private' Public Schools?
BY JOHN TOSCANO

Deputy Assembly Speaker Ivan Lafayette charged last night in a speech to a Queens school board that Mayor Michael Bloomberg "has Dslowly, but methodically, been trying to privatize public education in New York City".

Lafayette asserts public school overcrowding will lead to a growth of charter, parochial and private schools.

Lafayette, who will begin his 31st year in the Assembly next month, where he is considered an expert on school construction, said that the failure to get schools built in the city and especially in Queens where class overcrowding is at its worst, shows clearly the mayor's intent.

Lafayette (D-Jackson Heights) said he has spoken personally to the mayor over the past few years on the general topic of getting more schools built, but the mayor had not taken advantage of the lawmaker's attempts to assist him with the problem.

For instance, Lafayette said, he alerted the mayor "to many locations [Lafayette] identified to build new schools, but unfortunately, the mayor, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and the School Construction Authority (SCA) did not act reasonably to acquire these properties and they were sold to other buyers".

Lafayette, above, says he sees another Bloomberg initiative on the horizon which will further weaken the public school system-a plan to implement full day pre-kindergarten instead of half-day pre K, and to start schooling for three-year-olds.

Meanwhile, said Lafayette, "Our public school students are still attending school in ever more crowded classrooms."

Another point Lafayette made to show the mayor's lack of interest in building new schools to relieve overcrowding is that the mayor does not wish to use eminent domain, the legal process used by the city to take private property for a public use, Lafayette claims.

"This has caused the School Construction Authority to not have the ability to purchase or lease property," Lafayette said. "The most overcrowded areas and overburdened schools in our city are precisely where property is difficult to obtain, if the negotiation does not include the possibility of eminent domain."

These two points lead Lafayette to believe the mayor has an ulterior motive. "He is hoping, that as our public schools become more overcrowded, a greater demand for more construction of addition-

al charter, private and parochial schools will occur, with available money for education going to these types of schools," Lafayette said. "This would explain why he has been in no hurry to find and locate properties for the construction for new public schools."

However, this appears not to take into account the mayor's major plans to build new or renovate old schools which is in the process of going forward now with billions of dollars Bloomberg received for this purpose in this year's state budget.

Still on the subject of charter schools, which the mayor advocates, Lafayette said the mayor has continually clamored for more charter schools. "Parents will be forced to send their children to charter schools because the mayor and his representatives are implying that they will get a better quality education there," Lafayette said.

Lafayette disputes a Bloomberg claim that he created 100 new schools, holding that the mayor fails to say that often one school is built then is broken down into four other smaller schools, one of which is a charter school.

The mayor also uses money from foundations established to build schools to meet broad educational needs, Lafayette claims, but diverts the funds "to private schools, charter schools and lastly public schools".

Lafayette says he sees another Bloomberg initiative on the horizon which will further weaken the public school system- a plan to implement full day prekindergarten instead of half-day pre K, and to start schooling for three-year-olds.

The mayor's plan, Lafayette fears, will double the number of seats needed to accommodate those categories, leading eventually to further overcrowding. "Where is the space for these new seats going to come from?" Lafayette asked.

In contrast, the veteran lawmaker said, the mayor recently cited a study claiming there would be a reduction in the number of seats needed for new schools.

Lafayette scoffed at the study, saying it was done by a group based in Bethesda, Maryland and, it is believed, did not take into account the enormous amount of new residential construction going on in Queens, Brooklyn and The Bronx.

Lafayette also criticized the DOE for instituting a practice of first hiring contractors through a private non-profit corporation, the Fund for Public Schools, which collects donations for the school system and is controlled by DOE Chancellor Joel Klein.

"The department then awards the contract at taxpayer expense without seeking bids," Lafayette said. "In fact, hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts have been awarded without bidding."

Lafayette pointed out that the school system, controlled by the mayor, is not subject to city rules that require competitive bidding, unlike the Police or Sanitation Departments.

Lafayette said that despite claims by Bloomberg that the city has not received sufficient education aid from the state and funds to build new schools, that is not the case.

The lawmaker said the Assembly has fought for and achieved record increases in school aid for New York City, so much so that it has resulted in late budgets.

As for school construction funding aid, Lafayette said, in 2005, it was the Assembly that pushed for and achieved changes to the building aid and formula cost allowance calculation for New York City that was also retroactive to July 1, 2004.

"The city either wasn't aware of this or just did not acknowledge this huge, additional funding source," Lafayette stated. "This change in the building aid formula will result in at least $5 billion more for New York City schools over the next five years if the city proceeds with its own $13 billion capital plan."

Further advancing his argument that Bloomberg has not moved quickly enough, if at all, to secure school construction funding, Lafayette pointed out: "Two years have now gone by since capital funding has been made available and New York City has not really even started the process of utilizing this funding to help relieve the overcrowding.

"It was also unfortunate that the mayor, unaware of new capital money available to him, stopped all capital repairs for three months, affecting the health and safety of many students and faculty. This includes fixing wiring, plumbing and heating, generally worsening conditions in existing schools."

Lafayette concluded, "We can do better. The public should have all of the information about what has happened under this current administration's failure to do what is required to give our children a sound education."

Calls to Mayor Bloomberg's office and the Department of Education for comment on Lafayette's assertions had not been returned yesterday by the time the Gazette went to press.