June 29, 2010

Jill Terreri Staff writer
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100629/NEWS01/6290323

A third-party candidate for governor stated his opposition to mayoral control of Rochester schools on Monday and said that, if the public wants it, the issue should be put to a vote.

Howie Hawkins, who is running on the Green Party ticket, stood outside the Monroe County Social Services building to express his opposition to the proposed change in school governance and to talk about the state budget.

A bill that would allow the mayor and City Council to take over control of the Rochester School District and abolish the school board passed the Assembly last week and is the subject of debate in the Senate.

Hawkins called it "an authoritarian system of management" and that reforms to school governance a century ago put school boards in place. Mayoral control, he said, would be a reversal of those changes.

Proponents of the change say that the mayor would be accountable for what goes on in the district.

Hawkins, of Syracuse, plans to circulate petitions beginning in July to get on the ballot. The Green Party has not received enough votes on its line to be a recognized party in the state, and Hawkins must collect 15,000 signatures to get on the ballot.

He also criticized the state budget process, saying both major political parties were protecting Wall Street at the expense of Main Street.

"The state budget crisis is about politics, not about money," he said.

Asked to explain how Wall Street was being protected, Hawkins said a proposal exists to slow down an increase in the welfare benefit and that the state is supposed to share a small percentage of its revenues with counties but it never does.

He also supports the state keeping some of the stock transfer tax, which is now completely rebated.

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