Stars To Fight For School Aid

BY JOE MAHONEY AND LISA L. COLANGELO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

MAYOR BLOOMBERG is marshaling an army of city leaders - ranging from former Mayor Ed Koch to salsa star Willie Colon - to rally New Yorkers for an Albany revolt.

Koch, Colon, School Chancellor Joel Klein and others will be making personal appeals at the 21 community boards slated to lose vital school construction projects unless the city gets the state money it had expected.

They want New Yorkers to call, mail, fax and e-mail state lawmakers and Gov. Pataki, and demand the city get the education aid it deserves.

The push starts tonight at Community Board 4 in Queens with Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Guillermo Linares.

“The focus is to rouse the community politically,” Koch said yesterday. “In an election year you can perform miracles with the state Legislature.”

In recent weeks, Bloomberg has toughened his stance with Albany legislators, threatening to help unseat them if they don’t provide adequate school funding for the city.

“Most New Yorkers don’t hesitate to speak their mind, but if you want to find the most outspoken advocates in any given neighborhood, go to a Community Board meeting,” Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said.

The mayor’s push for a bigger slice of the education aid pie faces an uphill battle in the GOP-led Senate, as well as with some Assembly Democrats representing suburban districts that might be adverse to a change in how the money is divvied up.

Bloomberg sat down with Senate leader Joe Bruno for a private meeting last week and tried to hash out an agreement. But yesterday his aides announced the mayor would be taking his campaign, via surrogates, to 21 community boards.

“These are not political deals,” Bloomberg said yesterday. “We are going to fight for what’s right for this city and as a separate thing I personally am going to support those people who help this city.”
lcolangelo@nydailynews.com

 

Stars To Fight For School Aid - New York Daily News