Newsday from New York, New York • 31

Upstate sees unfair sharing small increases in school aid and leave look at how apportioned school it to legislators to restore funding that allows them to look good at home But But any increases for schools could the gripes raise the possibility that di- mean cutting into the fluids that Pa-viding the money could prove as difficult in a year with a projected $1 -bil taki allotted for other purposes in his $7 19-billion budget which has proposal distorts those percentages and those shares to the detriment of Bruno said unacceptable and make sure that some of that gets corrected before we do a In this proposal Bruno noted Long Island and New York City would both get a greater share of the $454 million aid increase than of the current annual increase Long Island got 129 percent of the 1997-98 increase but would receive 169 percent of proposed increase for 1998-99 New York percentage would also rise from 385 percent to 392 percent share of the increase would drop from 486 percent to 439 percent But New York City and Long Island officials counter that the formulas are merely recognizing greater costs down-state and correcting what they see as a historical imbalance in aid New York City schools educate more than 37 percent of the students in the state but would get only a bit more than 35 percent of the overall $108 billion school aid package Pataki proposed have historically been discriminated against in the school aid said Steve Al-linger a lobbyist for the New York City Board of Education Long Island schools also would get a smaller percentage of the aid about 13 percent than their percentage of students about 15 percent already been criticized for increasing spending Though Pataki called for an additional $454 million for schools statewide a 44-percent raise that would bring total school aid to $108 billion in 1998-99 sources said that increasing aid to all the schools could cost another $200 million for a school aid inmease close to last $650 million Last year Pataki called for a $200 million increase What Pataki did to arrive at his school aid plan was relatively simple After settling on $454 million to increase school aid statewide he simply fed that number into a long-established but annualfy evolving formula for divvying up the money It is the regional trends that concern upstate districts many of which would either lose money or receive relatively small increases even though some of them are among the poorest in the state have had traditionally percentages that go to the City to the Island and upstate The By Liam Pleven ALBANY BUREAU Albany Far from satisfying all sides in the annual debate over state aid to schools Gov George proposal to increase fiindbig by the largest amount ever requested by a governor has been greeted by grumbling that the money -will not be distributed fairly Many districts are wondering why they are slated to get less cash next year when some of their neighbors would receive substantially more under plan Upstate lawmakers and school administrators are complaining that what looks like statewide largesse would actually result in Long Island and New York City getting a greater share of all state aid than they did last year while their districts do less well seeing it as a case of North Country schools getting lost in the budgetary Joseph Phelan superintendent of the Town of Webb school district said of his fellow superintendents in Herkimer County northwest of Albany There six of the 11 districts face proposed cuts and his district is projected to lose 775 percent of its state funding not only that getting little or no increase but that coming at a time when a very widely publicized increase in overall Usually governors seek either cuts or Crane Hits Cable Car 20 Swing In Tram TRAM from Page A7 lion budget surplus as it has been in years of budget deficits The difficulty could be compounded by regional divisions within the Legislature The 35-member Republican Senate majority includes a strong upstate contingent and nine members from Long TlnJ which could make it hard for the Senate to take from one region and give to another you imagine what would happen if I tried to negotiate cutting the Island by 4 asked Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick) Almost two-thirds of the Democrats who dominate the Assembly represent New York City and they are likely to protect its projected increase of million over this 336 billion must try to avoid pitting one region of the state against another not said Assemh Michael ragman (D-Cicero) an upstate Democrat who is the top deputy to Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhat-tan) spokeswoman Patricia Lynch said taking a hard Stewart said the accident proves that a console operator is needed to watch over the line at all times He said the supervisor that Greason referred to rarely observes the tram on an extended basis as the console operator did Both the crane and tram operators have voluntarily agreed to drug and alcohol testing said Maria Smith a spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation they are completed they will be turned over to the New York State Public Transportation Safety Board They will coordinate all the Smith said After the impact Feiwel said there Cablevision Bids $95M for the Wiz WIZ from Page A7 sentatives and the principal lenders and suppliers gave their blessing not for them Cablevision we would be out of Wiz attorney Saul Burian said in an interview The Wiz has been seeking an investor or buyer for months Attorneys said about three of 18 stores originally planned for closure by this weekend may continue to operate Cablevision is expected to identify those stores today The sale agreement which is subject to approval of a bankruptcy court judge also involves a $40-millhm investment by Woodbury-based Cablevision once the deal is completed Burian said in bankruptcy court yesterday that the buyout would save 3000 jobs at the Wiz He reported that the secured creditors would be paid in full although repayments to unsecured creditors not be Other suitors still could come for tram had to physically disengage it and it looks like he lifted it and tell said a source close to the investigation of the accident know what aid Gerald McKelvey of Howard Ru- benstein Associates which has been retained to represent the construction contractor Grow-Perini what the investigation will determine" Michael Greason spokesman for the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp said the incident 'occurred the cabin attendant immediately contacted the supervisor but we have no record of a distress call just before Greason denied that the presence of a console operator would have prevented the accident- would have been stationed on the Roosevelt Island side and would not have been able to see Greason said was an accident waiting to said Patrick Stewart president of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association console oper- ator could and did control the whole operation He could stop it start it the speed and determine wind velocity and he had the' line of was almost half a minute of silence I noticed there were a couple of women who were totally he said heard a lot of fire engines and went out and saw people being carried said Anna Spanolioa coowner of the Tramway Diner under the Manhattan tram station at 60th Street and Second Avenue were wrapped up on the stretchers with sheets around Tram service in both directions was suspended indefinitely as officials from the transportation police and fire departments investigated the exact cause of the accident Greason said ward until Tuesday when the offer by Cablevision and any other bids will be considered by the bankruptcy judge said Kenneth Eckstein a Wiz attorney' is going to be some rebuild- ing of the management Dolan said 5 In the Wiz deal Cablevision will pay $10 milium in cash and will buy $85 million of the inventory for a total 1 purchase price of $95 milium Bankruptcy Judge Cornelius Black- shear who has the power to approve or deny any Wiz sale said yesterday the Cablevision deal would save thousands of jobs and would be good for New York Staff writer James Bernstein and Richard Dalton Jr contributed 8 to this story.