Officials call for more education funding

With a recent report finding the state owes public schools billions of dollars — with $61,875,114.76 owed to the 81st Assembly district, which includes Riverdale, alone — local officials are calling for a major boost in education funding in this year’s state budget.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who represents the northwest Bronx, and state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, whose district includes Riverdale, are calling for roughly $2 billion for city schools this year.

That’s about twice the amount Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed in his draft budget. Still, the local officials say more money is needed to redress perennial problems in the city like low literacy rates among third- through eight-grade students.

“If we want our students in the Bronx to receive a first-rate education, it’s time they are no longer treated as second-rate children,” Mr. Dinowitz said.

Mr. Rivera released a statement calling for redress to “unacceptable funding gaps for public schools around the state of New York.”

The back-story is that in 2006, a court found the state was violating public school students’ constitutional rights to a sound education by providing insufficient funding. Albany established a fund to give public schools around the state $5.5 billion in aid by 2011. 

However, a recent report by a group called the Alliance for Quality Education found the state still owes schools $4.9 billion, with the shortfall for city schools coming to $2.6 billion.

In calling for more money for schools, Mr. Dinowitz said, “These new funds would go towards hiring new teachers, social workers, and guidance counselors, investing in arts and afterschool programming, re-establishing school libraries as centers of learning and research, and more.”

Tech community proposed

If you build it in Upper Manhattan, will Apple, Facebook and other tech giants come?

Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez is working on an economic development plan to rezone 100 acres in his Upper Manhattan district to establish “a tech community” including cutting-edge stores, a place for tech companies to teach youngsters how to code and more. Some of the acreage would also go to the health sector.

On Monday, he told reporters he will give details of his plans at his upcoming State of the District speech.

“I want to build a tech community, not just an incubator,” he said. “Some area of that 100 acres should have some place to design for advanced research, where Columbia, Manhattan College, CUNY — they should be able to put together a consortium and do some advanced research.”

He said he also wants to set up a “tech mall” and to lure Facebook, Google and others to come and provide training to constituents.

Asked what he is planning for the Marble Hill part of his district, Mr. Rodriguez said he will continue to push for River Plaza on West 225th Street to expand.

He added that economic growth in the core of his district would benefit neighboring areas.

“Residents of marble hill, of Riverdale, of the Bronx and New Jersey [will] be able to say, we don’t have to go far to get a job in technology. We can get a job here in our own community,” he said.

Crespo calling the shots

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz says there are no hard feelings over his colleague Marcos Crespo’s ascension to chair of the Bronx Democratic Party — quite the contrary, in fact.

When Assemblyman Sheldon Silver stepped down from his spot as speaker amid corruption charges earlier this year, Mr. Dinowitz was not among the contenders for the powerful position.

But once Bronx Assemblyman Carl Heastie left his post of Bronx Party chairman to become speaker, his former spot was definitely within reach for Mr. Dinowitz. The local assemblyman helped lead the 2008 “Rainbow Revolution” of Bronx legislators who replaced José Rivera with a new clique. 

Earlier this month, he said he had considered going for party leader —a role traditionally involving lots of fundraising and some corralling of votes — but ultimately supported Mr. Crespo.

“I think he’s a smart guy. He’s hard working. I think he’ll be a good leader,” Mr. Dinowitz said of his colleague who represents a swath of the southeast Bronx.

Mr. Dinowitz added he did not want to become party leader since he doesn’t like fundraising, he would have to give up his outside income (noting it is “limited”) and he just had two grandchildren.

Mr. Crespo has taken a conservative stance on issues like same-sex marriages, which he previously voted against. However, Mr. Dinowitz said he was sure his colleague would support other Bronx Democrats who are socially progressive.

“Unlike one of his mentors, he was never yelling and screaming about those issues,” said Mr. Dinowitz, in an apparent reference to state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., whom Mr. Crespo previously worked for.

Mr. Dinowitz will remain chair of the Bronx Democratic County Committee. He noted in the borough, the spot “is considered the number-two position in the hierarchy.”