Brooks’ FAIR Plan Fallout — Meeting in Greece
Folks packed the house at a meeting this week about how the Brooks unFAIR plan is screwing the schools. RNews was on the case:
Monroe County’s school districts are beginning to make the tough calls coming with the county’s so-called F.A.I.R. Plan. It diverts sales tax revenue the schools used to get to pay the county’s Medicaid bill. One of the largest school districts is already bracing for difficult decisions, and predicting a 6% tax increase. “When they attack our children it’s time for us to stand up and say we’re not going to let you do this to our children,†said parent Jeanette Mitchell.
To a large crowd that packed Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School in Greece the Maggie Brooks F.A.I.R. plan is anything but.
“I think average people think that this was a big mistake,†said parent Molly VerSchage.
It’s awesome that Brooks found a way to pass on the tough calls to someone else: our kids’ schools. How’s that showing “accountability”? Don’t everyone answer at once.
VerSchage says she may not understand all the financial models, but she believes taking money away from kids is wrong. She’s ready to fight to correct it.
All the financial mumbo-jumbo is tough to sort out, so let me dig up a helpful diagram we put together last fall to explain it a little better:
Related posts:
My head hurts.
I was there lots of fun.
I saw a cameraman from cable 12 so it should be on westside cable in week or two. What’s up with cable there. saw some stories in the D and C and the mess post papers. Ralph Espostio seems on the warpath against anyone who criticizes him.
Any links? Sounds interesting.
Here is a piece from the D and C.
I’ll try to find some links to the Messenger post articles.
Greece school district rejects giving towns cable access
Meaghan M. McDermott
Staff writer
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(January 19, 2008)  GREECE  The Greece Central School District has rejected a proposal to allow west-side towns to use a television studio at Olympia High School for cable access services.
Kathryn Firkins, director of constituent services for the town of Greece, said she was notified earlier this week by district officials who said the district decided not to move forward with the proposal.
She called the development “unfortunate” and said local town leaders will meet in coming weeks to discuss their next steps.
“I don’t know what those options might be,” she said.
Board of Education President Roger Boily declined to comment.
Talks about cable access have been ongoing among the district, Greece, Ogden, Gates, Parma and Clarkson since 2004. The towns initially wanted to hire the district to provide cable access television.
In June, the Board of Education voted down that plan. Negotiations have been going on to allow the municipalities to find an independent provider who would contract with the school to broadcast from the Olympia facility.
Gates town Supervisor Ralph Esposito blasted the move.
“I think the school district made a very bad decision,” he said. “I think they neglected their taxpayers and their students. This was a no-brainer.”
Funding for cable access comes from franchise fees that Time Warner Cable pays local municipalities. Towns and villages provide a portion of those fees  about 4 percent  for public cable access.
Esposito noted that municipalities would have paid for using Olympia’s studio, and that Greece students would have been able to learn television production skills at the studio. The district currently offers one television production course using the $660,000 studio.
For more than 20 years, that service has been provided by Educable Communications Corp. on Ridgeway Ave. The nonprofit corporation’s contract with many west-side towns expired at the end of 2006. Esposito said despite the setback over the school facilities, it’s unlikely the municipalities would rehire Educable.
MCDERMOT@DemocratandChronicle.com
Beebe has photos and info posted up at http://www.greecedemocrats.com. Approximately 200 people attended - not bad for a guy in office for 30 days!