Thursday, August 6, 2009

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 August 6, 2009 11 10:58 a.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR NEIL D. BRESLIN, Acting President 19 ANGELO J. APONTE, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24

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(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 3 Senate will please come to order. 4 I ask all to rise and repeat the 5 Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: In the 9 absence of clergy, may we bow our heads in a 10 moment of silence. 11 (Whereupon, the assemblage 12 respected a moment of silence.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 14 you. 15 The reading of the Journal. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Wednesday, August 5, the Senate met pursuant 18 to adjournment. The Journal of Tuesday, 19 August 4, was read and approved. On motion, 20 Senate adjourned. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 22 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 23 as read. 24 Senator Klein.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 2 this time can we please recognize Senator 3 Serrano. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 5 Senator Serrano. 6 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Klein. 8 As we all know here in this 9 chamber, we lost an esteemed former Senator, a 10 true pioneer, a wonderful loving colleague in 11 Olga Mendez, who passed away last week. 12 People use that term "pioneer," but 13 she was much more than that. Yes, it's true, 14 she opened doors for all of us, for people 15 like myself to even dream of being an elected 16 official. She was a fighter, a true fighter 17 for her community, but she never lost her 18 human touch. 19 And some may not expect to hear 20 this from me, because we were opponents, but 21 that was the beauty of Olga, that it was never 22 personal. It was about her community. And we 23 fought a very respectful campaign, but she was 24 always so loving to me and always so kind to

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(518) 371-8910 1 me. 2 And after it was all over, we 3 became good friends and would speak on the 4 phone quite regularly, and she would give me 5 advice, mainly about the need to work in a 6 bipartisan fashion, which I tried to do. 7 With Olga it was never personal. 8 It was about love, it was about caring, it was 9 about helping everyone in her community. And 10 she was cared about so deeply by so many. 11 And Olga had a special way of being 12 able to use her charm, her wit, her 13 personality, her intelligence to get things 14 done that needed to get done for her 15 community. 16 So I will spend the rest of my 17 career endeavoring to live up to her legacy. 18 Olga Mendez, a trailblazer in every sense of 19 the word, a loving, caring individual whose 20 heart knew no bounds, who graced this chamber 21 for many years with charm and just -- people 22 just loved to be around her. 23 I miss Olga. My condolences go out 24 to her family and to everyone in the East

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(518) 371-8910 1 Harlem-South Bronx community who is mourning 2 her loss. I miss you, Olga. I love you. God 3 bless you, and rest in peace. 4 Can I ask for a moment of silence. 5 (Whereupon, the assemblage 6 respected a moment of silence.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 8 Senator Huntley. 9 SENATOR HUNTLEY: Thanks, 10 Mr. President. 11 At this time I would like to offer 12 condolences to Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, 13 who lost her mom. And I just want her to know 14 that her mom was a fantastic person, did a lot 15 in the community, well-respected, well-loved, 16 and was in her nineties, which is a great life 17 to live. 18 And knowing Ruth and all her 19 stamina and her "go get 'em" -- you know, her 20 mom taught her a lot. 21 And I just want to say to Ruth she 22 has my condolences, the condolences of my 23 family, and I would like to offer a moment of 24 silent prayer for her mom.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Can we 2 have a moment of silence for Delesta Taylor 3 Hassell, the mother of Senator Ruth 4 Hassell-Thompson. 5 (Whereupon, the assemblage 6 respected a moment of silence.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 8 Senator Diaz. 9 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. I just want to speak on the 11 loss of Senator Olga Mendez. 12 You know, we humans, we have the 13 tradition of speaking good about a person when 14 they are dead. After they are dead, we all 15 speak how good, how decent, how great the 16 person was. But during their lifetimes, we 17 don't even care, we don't even notice that. 18 And one of those occasions is Olga 19 Mendez. You got to see how many politicians, 20 how many people are speaking so good about 21 Olga Mendez, how many elected officials 22 attended her services. And that should be a 23 lesson for our community, a lesson that our 24 community should learn.

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(518) 371-8910 1 When Olga Mendez switched parties 2 and she became Republican, we all cursed her, 3 we all jumped on her, we all went after her 4 with passion. And we spoke so evil about her, 5 and we did so many things against her because 6 she switched parties. We never remember all 7 the thirty-plus years, the good things that 8 she did, the fighter that she was, the 9 commitment that she had for our community. 10 And the day that she lost the 11 election, that was the day that the community 12 lost her. The community didn't lose her the 13 other day when she died. Our community lost 14 Olga Mendez when she lost the election. And 15 we knew, we knew the fighter she was, we knew 16 how great she was, we knew how committed she 17 was to our community, but we didn't care. 18 When you change your party, you're dead. And 19 that should be a lesson to our community. 20 And I was one of those elected 21 officials in her services this week, Monday, 22 and I sat in there and I said, man, what a 23 bunch of hypocrites we all are. Now we are 24 sorry that we lost her.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I went to see her at the hospital, 2 and I prayed with her while she was in the 3 hospital. And I said to myself, we lost a 4 great leader, a great Senator, a great fighter 5 from our community -- not the day that she 6 died, the day that she lost her election. 7 Just because she changed her party. 8 Thank you, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 10 you, Senator Diaz. 11 I'd remind all the members that 12 there will be a more fitting tribute, a more 13 permanent tribute in September when we come 14 back in session. 15 So Senator Volker. 16 SENATOR VOLKER: Yeah, very 17 quickly. 18 I just want to say, first of all, 19 commending Senator Hassell-Thompson for being 20 here. There aren't too many people who lost a 21 mother so recently that would have the 22 dedication to be here, and I want to commend 23 you for being here, very much. 24 The second thing I just want to say

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(518) 371-8910 1 is I spoke with Olga earlier this year after 2 she received the notice on the Senate Club. 3 And she was really very, very weak then, and 4 she said: "Dale, I have to tell you, I just 5 don't think I'm -- I'm not going to be able to 6 make it. But I want you to tell everyone up 7 there that I miss them and I love the Senate." 8 Just one final thing about that, 9 though. I think those of us that knew Olga 10 realized what the problem was. And it's an 11 example for a lot of people. Olga Mendez was 12 an extremely heavy smoker. I mean extremely 13 heavy. 14 And unfortunately, a lot of us 15 tried to say to her, Olga, you know -- she was 16 still, for a long time -- you've got to deal 17 with this, because it will eventually do you 18 in. 19 And I just want to mention that, 20 because she did what she wanted to do. But I 21 don't think there's any question if it wasn't 22 for her heavy smoking, she'd still be with us. 23 And she was a wonderful person. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Returning to the order of business, 2 presentation of petitions. 3 Messages from the Assembly. 4 Messages from the Governor. 5 Reports of standing committees. 6 Reports of select committees. 7 Communications and reports from 8 state officers. 9 Motions and resolutions. 10 Senator Klein. 11 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 12 have two motions. 13 First, on behalf of Senator 14 Stavisky, I wish to call up Calendar Number 15 911, Assembly Print Number 6391. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 17 Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 911, by Member of the Assembly Glick, Assembly 20 Print Number 6391, an act relating to 21 reporting. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: I now move to 23 reconsider the vote by which this Assembly 24 bill was substituted for Senate Print Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 3603 on July 16th. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Call 3 the roll on reconsideration. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: I now move that 7 Assembly Bill Number 6391 be recommitted to 8 the Committee on Rules and that the Senate 9 Bill be recommitted to the Committee on Rules. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 11 bill is before the house and restored to its 12 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 13 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, on 14 behalf of Senator Breslin, I wish to call up 15 Senate Print Number 2088, recalled from the 16 Assembly, which is now at the desk. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 18 Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 50, by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 2088, an 21 act to amend the Insurance Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 23 Senator Klein. 24 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I

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(518) 371-8910 1 now move to reconsider the vote by which the 2 bill was passed. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Call 4 the roll on reconsideration. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 8 bill is before the house and restored to its 9 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 11 now move to recommit the bill to the Committee 12 on Rules. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: So 14 ordered. 15 Senator Klein. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 17 can we now at this time take up privileged 18 Senate Resolution Number 2949, which is at the 19 desk. I ask that the title be read and move 20 for its immediate adoption. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 22 Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 24 Sampson, Senate Resolution Number 2949,

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(518) 371-8910 1 providing for a Senate Select Committee on 2 New York City School Governance. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 4 Senator Sampson. 5 SENATOR SAMPSON: Thank you very 6 much, Mr. President. I just rise in support 7 of this resolution in support of the issue of 8 school governance and putting a committee 9 together to make sure that we monitor the 10 progress with respect to the school governance 11 bill. 12 And I look forward to my colleagues 13 on both sides of the aisle working together to 14 ensure that we continue the progress for our 15 1.1 million children in the City of New York, 16 but most of all making sure that the parental 17 involvement and the voices are heard with 18 respect to our constituencies. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 21 you, Senator Sampson. 22 Are there any other Senators 23 wishing to be heard? 24 Senator Perkins.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. I rise also to express my 3 support of this resolution. 4 You know, the public school system 5 in New York City is presently under what has 6 come to be known as mayoral control but in 7 effect has been about mayoral dictatorship. 8 And I support this resolution because I 9 believe that it provides us with an 10 opportunity to end that type of dictatorship, 11 to end that raw political approach that's been 12 taken to the public school education for our 13 children in New York City that has created a 14 whole lot of havoc and controversy. 15 So to the extent that this select 16 committee has value, hopefully that value will 17 be to curb the excessive use of the influence 18 of the mayor in the policies that have shown 19 themselves not to have been good for the 20 children of the City of New York. 21 In fact, just this week, the Times 22 reported that the gap between children of 23 color -- black children, Latino children -- 24 and white children has not in any way

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(518) 371-8910 1 diminished. This is in the era of the 100th 2 anniversary of the NAACP. In the era when we 3 are expecting to see a more enlightened 4 approach to education, we are seeing something 5 quite the opposite. 6 So I look forward to working with 7 this committee and hope that it will get 8 passed. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 10 Senator Larkin. 11 SENATOR LARKIN: We're listening 12 to someone, Senator Perkins, talking about a 13 resolution. I don't see any on my desk. I 14 don't even know what we're talking about, 15 then. There's nothing on our desks, at least 16 mine or the people next to me. 17 I think if we're going to be 18 discussing something, I think we ought to have 19 the courtesy of having that resolution in 20 front of us. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 22 Senator Larkin, are you satisfied? 23 SENATOR LARKIN: I have a copy. 24 Thank you, Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 2 you, Senator Larkin. 3 The question is on the resolution. 4 All those in favor please signify by saying 5 aye. 6 (Response of "Aye.") 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 8 Opposed, nay. 9 (No response.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 11 resolution is adopted. 12 Senator Klein. 13 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 14 can we at this time take up Senate Resolution 15 Number 2933, by Senator Diaz. I ask that the 16 title be read and move for its immediate 17 adoption. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 19 Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Diaz, 21 Legislative Resolution Number 2933, 22 commemorating the 52nd Annual German-American 23 Steuben Parade. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 question is on the resolution. All those in 2 favor please signify by saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (No response.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 8 resolution is adopted. 9 Senator Klein. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 11 there will be an immediate meeting of the 12 Finance Committee in the Majority Conference 13 Room, followed by an immediate meeting of the 14 Rules Committee in the Majority Conference 15 Room. 16 Pending the return of the Rules 17 Committee, can we please stand at ease. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: There 19 will be an immediate meeting of the Finance 20 Committee in the Majority Conference Room, 21 332, followed by a meeting of the Rules 22 Committee. 23 The Senate will stand at ease 24 pending these two committee reports.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 2 ease at 11:16 a.m.) 3 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 4 at 12:22 p.m.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 6 Senator Klein. 7 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, if 8 we could return to the order of reports of 9 standing committees, I believe there's a 10 report of the Rules Committee at the desk. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 12 Senator Klein, there is a report of the Rules 13 Committee here at the desk. 14 The Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Senator Smith, 16 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 17 following bills. 18 Restored: Assembly Print 8956A, by 19 Member of the Assembly Weinstein, an act to 20 amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules. 21 Reported: Senate Print 5968, by 22 Senator Sampson, an act to amend the Family 23 Court Act; 24 6104, by Senator Dilan, an act to

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(518) 371-8910 1 amend the Education Law; 2 6105, by Senator Serrano, an act to 3 amend the Education Law; 4 6106, by Senator Adams, an act to 5 amend the Education Law; 6 6107, by Senator Huntley, an act to 7 amend the Education Law; 8 And Senate Print 5887, by Senator 9 Padavan, an act to amend the Education Law. 10 All bills ordered direct to third 11 reading. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 13 Senator Klein. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: I move to adopt 15 the Rules Committee report. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: All in 17 favor of adopting the report of the Rules 18 Committee please signify by saying aye. 19 (Response of "Aye.") 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 21 Opposed, nay. 22 (No response.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 24 report of the Rules Committee is adopted.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Klein. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 3 believe there's a report of the Judiciary 4 Committee at the desk. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 6 Senator Klein, there is a report of the 7 Judiciary Committee at the desk. 8 The Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Senator Sampson, 10 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 11 following nomination. 12 As a judge of the Court of Claims, 13 Mark D. Cohen, of Stony Brook. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 15 Senator Sampson. 16 SENATOR SAMPSON: Thank you very 17 much, Mr. President. 18 This is a reappointment for the 19 Honorable Mark Cohen, from Suffolk County, who 20 was here last month. 21 I had time to speak to him, he did 22 come before the committee. Due to a 23 prearranged vacation schedule, he could not be 24 here today, but he did report before the

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(518) 371-8910 1 committee. He was in attendance the last 2 go-round. And I would like to move his 3 nomination. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Are 5 there any other Senators who wish to be heard? 6 Senator Maziarz. 7 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 8 much, Mr. President. 9 As the ranking member of the 10 Judiciary Committee, I just want to thank the 11 chairman, Senator Sampson. Mr. Cohen did 12 appear before the committee, was more than 13 qualified, has done a great job as a judge of 14 the Court of Claims, and I would second the 15 nomination. 16 Thank you. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 18 Senator Flanagan. 19 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 I too want to thank Senator Sampson 22 for moving this nomination along and 23 congratulate Judge Cohen, who does have an 24 outstanding record as a judge of the Court of

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(518) 371-8910 1 Claims. 2 I'd just quickly add, as many of us 3 know, there are people that we work with who 4 oftentimes can make us much better at what we 5 do. Judge Cohen is fortunate enough to have a 6 lawman with him named Mr. Fagan who has made 7 him an even better judge. And all too often 8 we forget the people who work around our 9 members of the judiciary. I just wanted to 10 congratulate both of them. 11 Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 13 question is on the motion to confirm the 14 nomination of Mark D. Cohen to the Court of 15 Claims. All those in favor please signify by 16 saying aye. 17 (Response of "Aye.") 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 19 Opposed? 20 SENATOR FOLEY: No. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 22 Senator Foley will be recorded in the 23 negative. 24 The motion carries. The nomination

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(518) 371-8910 1 is hereby confirmed. 2 Senator Diaz will also be recorded 3 in the negative. Senator Craig Johnson will 4 also be recorded in the negative. 5 Senator Klein. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 7 believe there's a report of the Finance 8 Committee at the desk. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 10 Senator Klein, there is a report of the 11 Finance Committee at the desk. 12 The Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Senator C. 14 Kruger, from the Committee on Finance, reports 15 the following nomination. 16 As a member and chairman of the 17 State Liquor Authority, Dennis Rosen, of 18 Orchard Park. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 20 Senator Kruger. 21 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Mr. 22 President, will you please move the 23 nomination. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Are

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(518) 371-8910 1 there any other Senators wishing to be heard 2 on the nomination? 3 Senator Johnson. 4 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank you 5 very much, Mr. President. Just very briefly. 6 I wish to second the nomination for 7 Dennis Rosen for the chairman and member of 8 the SLA, the State Liquor Authority. 9 Mr. Rosen appeared before the 10 Investigations Committee this morning and gave 11 some very detailed responses to some very 12 difficult questions. 13 There's no doubt that this is a 14 very challenging position and that the State 15 Liquor Authority has hit some very troubled 16 times. And I am confident that with Mr. Rosen 17 at its helm, and under his leadership, we will 18 see those better days that are much needed for 19 this authority. 20 So I wish him success -- that 21 success is desperately needed over there -- 22 and I congratulate him on his appointment. 23 Thank you very much. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator Johnson. 2 The question is on the motion to 3 confirm the nomination of Dennis Rosen. 4 Senator Squadron. 5 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you very 6 much, Mr. President. 7 I rise as well to speak on the 8 nomination of Dennis Rosen for chair of the 9 State Liquor Authority. 10 This is unquestionably one of the 11 single most important jobs in the State of 12 New York. The chair of the State Liquor 13 Authority and the State Liquor Authority 14 oversee an arcane and often anachronistic body 15 of law that affects small-business owners 16 across the state. 17 It also affects communities in my 18 district in a way that cannot be overstated. 19 The profusion of liquor licenses, the 20 inability to have a consistency that would 21 work better, frankly, both for the 22 small-business owner and for the community, 23 has been nothing short of a disaster in parts 24 of my district across Lower Manhattan.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I was pleased to get to meet Dennis 2 Rosen over the phone, have an extensive 3 conversation, speak to him at the 4 Investigations Committee this morning. His 5 openness and willingness to learn, his 6 awareness of the significant challenges that 7 the State Liquor Authority faces, and the 8 incredibly urgent need for true reform is 9 refreshing. 10 I look forward to hosting hm in my 11 district, showing him some of the effects that 12 the State Liquor authority has had in my 13 district, and look forward to working with 14 him. I am very proud to vote in favor of him 15 and look forward to many changes under his 16 leadership at the State Liquor Authority. 17 Thank you. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 19 Senator Robach. 20 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, 21 Mr. President. I too would like to 22 congratulate Mr. Rosen on this appointment and 23 say I'm looking forward to working with him. 24 While sometimes people who aren't

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(518) 371-8910 1 affected by SLA really don't know a whole lot 2 about it, certainly in my community in 3 Rochester, New York, and upstate New York, we 4 are constantly on the phone with employees, 5 really trying to move that process and 6 certainly not try to circumvent anything but 7 shorten the waiting time it takes to get a 8 business going, a license going of someone 9 who's been in operation for a while. So it's 10 really going to become our mutual consistency. 11 And I wish you well in your new job 12 and look forward to working with you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 14 Senator Nozzolio. 15 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President, 16 I rise to support the nomination of Mr. Rosen 17 to be a member of the State Liquor Authority 18 and chairman of that important board. 19 And I rise in support of him not 20 because he's a graduate of the Harvard Law 21 School, not because he had a distinguished 22 career within the Attorney General's office in 23 Western New York, but rather because he is the 24 son of a small-business owner. And his

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(518) 371-8910 1 comments to me and to the committee at his 2 appearance before the Senate Finance Committee 3 I believe were telling and important that he 4 can focus on small business. And that's what 5 we need to enhance in New York State. 6 And I look forward to working with 7 the new chairman to ensure that our 8 businesses, particularly those in the Finger 9 Lakes region that depend on the tourist 10 dollar, can continue to help in New York's 11 economy. 12 I support this nomination and thank 13 you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to 14 speak on its behalf. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 16 you, Senator Nozzolio. 17 Senator Marcellino. 18 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, 19 Mr. President. I also rise in support of 20 Mr. Rosen's nomination. 21 We had a conversation in the 22 Finance Committee where I pointed out the 23 problems of those of us who represent suburban 24 communities where bars are located and in many

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(518) 371-8910 1 cases, in some cases, can be hot spots or 2 spots where trouble arises. Gangs have moved 3 into certain areas and claimed bars as their 4 turf and created problems in our communities. 5 They're asking that the Liquor 6 Authority, who is understaffed and needs 7 help -- and we hope to give it to them -- gets 8 out and works more closely with the local 9 police precincts and with the local 10 authorities to rid our neighborhoods of these 11 bars and locations where nothing but trouble 12 occurs and no good actually happens. 13 So we look forward to that. I 14 intend to be on the phone with you, Mr. Rosen, 15 with some frequency on that issue because it 16 is a concern of mine, it is a concern of my 17 constituents. And I look forward to working 18 with you in the future. 19 Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 21 you, Senator Marcellino. 22 Senator Farley. 23 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, 24 Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I also rise to support Mr. Rosen 2 for this position. This is one that every 3 legislator in both houses works with this 4 agency constantly, and of course many times 5 frustrated because of the delays and so forth. 6 But basically so much of this delay is caused 7 by the fact that they are shorthanded, 8 something that we should recognize and be able 9 to support that agency. 10 But let me just say, on the 11 candidate that is before us, I don't think 12 that anybody could be more suited for this 13 position with the background that he has in 14 the Attorney General's office, having served 15 under several administrations and worked in 16 the Attorney General's office. And I think 17 that that makes for a great commissioner. 18 And certainly he's eminently 19 qualified, and it is with enthusiasm that I 20 support his nomination. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 22 you, Senator Farley. 23 Senator Volker. 24 SENATOR VOLKER: Yes,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. Very quickly, Dennis Rosen is 2 a constituent of mine from Western New York. 3 He has served under a number of Attorney 4 Generals. In fact, he was first appointed, I 5 believe, under Dennis Vacco. His immediate 6 superior I believe was my counsel, J.R. 7 Drexelius. 8 As I said at the meeting, part of 9 the problem with the SLA, I don't believe that 10 some of people who died at the World Trade 11 Center have been totally replaced. There were 12 SLA people who died at the World Trade Center. 13 It has been an vastly underfunded 14 agency. It unfortunately is an agency which 15 is rife for what's happening apparently in 16 New York City, because when things are so 17 delayed, certain things happen. 18 This is something that the Bureau 19 of the Budget should better look at, because 20 it is a money gainer not a money negative. 21 One of the things we must understand is some 22 businesspeople don't understand that there are 23 certain agencies that we need people to make 24 us money, and the SLA is one of those.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I wish you the best of luck, 2 Dennis. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 4 question is on the motion to confirm the 5 nomination of Dennis Rosen as a member and 6 chair of the State Liquor Authority. All 7 those in favor please signify by saying aye. 8 (Response of "Aye.") 9 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 10 Opposed, nay. 11 (No response.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 13 motion carries. The nomination is hereby 14 confirmed. 15 Dennis Rosen is in the gallery, and 16 we all congratulate him. And I think all of 17 us want him to do the best job imaginable. 18 (Applause.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 20 Senator Klein. 21 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 22 can we now please move to a reading of the 23 calendar. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 842, by Member of the Assembly Weinstein, 4 Assembly Print Number 8956A, an act to amend 5 the Civil Practice Law and Rules. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 9 act shall take effect September 1, 2009. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 14 Senator Young, to explain her vote. 15 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 The County Clerks Association has 18 removed their opposition to this particular 19 bill. But there still is some concern out 20 there that this is an unfunded mandate for the 21 counties, and therefore I vote no. 22 Thank you. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 24 Senator Young will be recorded in the

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(518) 371-8910 1 negative. 2 Announce the results. 3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 4 the negative on Calendar Number 842 are 5 Senators Alesi, Griffo, Nozzolio, Seward and 6 Young. 7 Ayes, 51. Nays, 5. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 9 bill is passed. 10 The Secretary will continue to 11 read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 953, by Senator Sampson, Senate Print 5968 -- 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Lay it 15 aside. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 17 bill is laid aside. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 954, by Senator Dilan, Senate Print 6104, an 20 act to amend the Education Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Read 22 the last section. 23 SENATOR SALAND: Lay it aside. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill is laid aside. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 955, by Senator Serrano, Senate Print 6105, an 4 act to amend the Education Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Read 6 the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect on the same date and in 9 the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 10 2009. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 15 Senator Serrano, to explain his vote. 16 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you very 17 much, Mr. President. 18 I've been a staunch advocate for 19 the arts over the years, especially arts 20 education. And I strongly believe that the 21 arts play a vital role in ensuring that our 22 youth receive a well-balanced education that 23 will provide them real opportunities in life. 24 That's why I'm proud to sponsor

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(518) 371-8910 1 this piece of legislation to create an arts 2 advisory committee. The committee will 3 provide oversight on arts education within the 4 New York City school system. It will be 5 empowered to advise and comment on all 6 educational policy related to the arts, issue 7 annual reports on the effectiveness of arts 8 education in city schools, hold public 9 meetings to help foster public debate and 10 awareness regarding how to move arts education 11 forward. 12 And what makes this legislation 13 empowering is that the advisory committee will 14 also make recommendations for improvement. 15 This means that the public dialogue is not a 16 simple recital of problems; rather, a 17 discussion of focused and real methods 18 New York City can employ to improve 19 educational outcomes. 20 I deem all aspects of this bill to 21 be essential in moving arts education forward 22 and advancing public awareness regarding the 23 importance of arts in our children's 24 education. While it cannot be denied that

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(518) 371-8910 1 courses such as reading and math are critical 2 to a child's education, I and many others 3 believe that arts courses are critically 4 important. 5 It is important that we not make 6 the mistake of thinking that the only critical 7 courses are the ones linked to statewide 8 testing standards. It has been proven time 9 and time again, with study after study, that 10 children who are taught music and art do far 11 better in courses like reading and math. 12 The arts also open doors for better 13 cognitive thinking and awakens passions for 14 self-expression and individual thinking, 15 attributes that will foster our next 16 generation of great thinkers and leaders. 17 It is well documented that arts 18 education provides students with the ability 19 to develop a number of critical skills -- 20 skills like self-discipline, teamwork, problem 21 solving, and the list goes on and on. Such 22 skills are critical not only to scholastic and 23 academic success, but also to future workforce 24 success. In today's world, when young people

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(518) 371-8910 1 can expect to have jobs in more than one field 2 and work with colleagues from different parts 3 of the world, these skills are essential. 4 There are state requirements on the 5 books, but they are not being met. In 6 New York City, in the 2007-2008 school year, 7 according to the DOE, only 8 percent of 8 elementary schools were in a position to meet 9 the minimum requirements established by the 10 state by offering all four arts forms in each 11 grade, and less than half of middle schools 12 met the state's requirements. These numbers 13 are abysmal, yet without proper oversight they 14 went largely unnoticed. 15 As one might expect, these 16 compliance statistics are especially appalling 17 in communities with a high concentration of 18 low-income families, many of which fall into 19 my own district in East Harlem and the South 20 Bronx. It should not matter if a student 21 resides on 104th Street or 84th Street. 22 Access to arts in schools must not be 23 dependent on where a student lives and income 24 of the student's parents.

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(518) 371-8910 1 By creating this advisory 2 committee, there will be a mechanism in place 3 to identify the lack of compliance with arts 4 education standards and, more importantly, 5 develop a sufficient remedy. 6 While I stand here on the Senate 7 floor, I can't help but think about all of the 8 arts and music teachers who work hard every 9 day and fight hard for the resources needed to 10 teach their craft to their eager students. 11 They never give up hope that they will be able 12 to reach inside that young person's mind and 13 help flip the switch that will awaken a 14 lifetime love for the arts and music and a 15 passion for what is truly beautiful in this 16 world. 17 I think about the late, great Fred 18 Daris, who for generations taught everything 19 from classical music to Shakespeare to 20 students in the South Bronx at Berger Junior 21 High School. His tireless efforts helped 22 create eventual leaders; one of them is my 23 father. From Fred Daris I learned firsthand 24 at a very young age how the arts can translate

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(518) 371-8910 1 to countless positive things outside the 2 classroom and maybe even help change what 3 happens in the street. 4 To be clear, there is a lot of work 5 to be done, both on the city and state level, 6 to ensure arts education is getting the 7 attention it deserves. We must continue to 8 look for new ways to ensure that children get 9 the type of quality education they deserve. 10 Still, this legislation is a very important 11 step forward, and I'm proud to stand here to 12 sponsor it. 13 I'd like to thank the advocates who 14 helped, such as the Center for Arts Education 15 and the New York State Alliance for Arts 16 Education. Finally, I'd like to thank Mayor 17 Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Walcott for their 18 commitment to arts education. And I look 19 forward to viewing this legislation as a 20 starting point to help greater advancement for 21 arts in the classroom. 22 Thank you. I vote yes. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 24 you, Senator Serrano.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Serrano will be recorded in 2 the affirmative. 3 Senator Perkins, to explain his 4 vote. 5 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you very 6 much, Mr. President. 7 First let me begin by commending my 8 colleague Senator Serrano for his visionary 9 understanding of the role that arts plays in 10 the child's development, especially in our 11 educational system when it is not in the 12 context of mayoral control. 13 However, in that context, it does 14 not get the chance to flourish and provide all 15 those wonderful things that my colleague just 16 pointed out. And so for that reason, as well 17 as because the advocates such as the Center 18 for Arts Education have determined that this 19 particular approach will not be as effective 20 as I think Senator Serrano had in mind, I'm 21 going to have to vote no on this resolution. 22 In fact, I will say now that I'll 23 be voting no on all the resolutions because 24 again, I believe that in the context of

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(518) 371-8910 1 mayoral control, that the intention and the 2 vision that these have will be crippled and 3 that what we hope to achieve will not be 4 achieved. 5 So thank you very much. I vote no. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 7 you, Senator Perkins. 8 Senator Perkins to be recorded in 9 the negative. 10 Announce the results. 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. Nays, 12 1. Senator Perkins recorded in the negative. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 14 bill is passed. 15 The Secretary will continue to 16 read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 956, by Senator Adams, Senate Print 6106, an 19 act to amend the Education Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect on the same date and in 24 the same --

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MORAHAN: Lay it aside. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 3 bill is laid aside. 4 The Secretary will continue to 5 read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 957, by Senator Huntley, Senate Print 6107, an 8 act to amend the Education Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Read 10 the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 17 Senator Saland, to explain his vote. 18 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 Mr. President, certainly the 21 purpose of this bill is clear. And while I 22 may question the necessity for the kind of 23 training center in each of the boroughs that 24 the bill provides, I'm more concerned about

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(518) 371-8910 1 the last paragraph in the bill, which makes 2 reference to the City of New York providing 3 annual funding to the center in an amount 4 equal to that provided in appropriation by the 5 state, but not to exceed $800,000 per year. 6 I'm not exactly certain what that 7 obligates the state to do, whether in fact it 8 obligates an appropriation by the state. I'm 9 not exactly sure what happens if the cost of 10 these centers exceeds some $800,000, if that 11 somehow or other is going to result in yet 12 additional appropriations being required of 13 the state. 14 I realize the Assembly hasn't acted 15 on this bill yet, but it may well. And given 16 the fiscal crisis that we find ourselves in at 17 this particular time, anticipating coming back 18 within the next month or two having any number 19 of bills that have been vetoed for 20 appropriations not provided for in the budget, 21 I'm going to cast my vote in the negative on 22 this. 23 Thank you, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator Saland. 2 Senator Saland will be recorded in 3 the negative. 4 Senator Perkins, to explain his 5 vote. 6 SENATOR PERKINS: Again, thank 7 you, Mr. President. I'm going to be voting no 8 again on this. 9 There's nothing more important than 10 the involvement of parents and the empowerment 11 of parents in this process of educating our 12 children. Mayoral control, as we have come to 13 know it, is mayoral dictatorship, and parents 14 have been crippled to the point of tears and 15 outrage about the fact that they are not. And 16 this bill unfortunately, in that context, will 17 not give them the opportunity to play a 18 meaningful role. 19 And in fact I have received 20 numerous complaints from parents that have 21 asked me to make sure that we do not allow 22 mayoral control to be continued. Of course 23 we'll do what we can towards that end. 24 But nevertheless it is clear, at

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(518) 371-8910 1 least in my district, that what we have been 2 experiencing has been a horrible thing for 3 parents and their involvement -- and 4 especially within the context of something 5 called mayoral control as it is being proposed 6 and as these amendments will be attached. 7 I should also point out to you that 8 I have also received numerous phone calls from 9 my constituents: "Thank you for voting 10 against mayoral control. There is a robocall 11 saying that your vote condemns our children." 12 She doesn't agree, and they want us to make 13 sure that we vote against mayoral control. 14 And so even as the mayor has 15 attempted to get our communities to come out 16 against us, it has backfired. Because the 17 calls that I got, the numerous calls that I 18 got were telling me not to be supportive. 19 So again, I'm going to be voting 20 no. And I hope that my colleagues understand 21 that I agree with them in terms of the 22 importance, but this is not the way that my 23 constituents feel that it can be achieved. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator Perkins. 2 Senator Perkins will be recorded in 3 the negative. 4 Senator Diaz, to explain his vote. 5 SENATOR DIAZ: Just to let you 6 know, Mr. President, that I'm joining my 7 colleague Senator Perkins. 8 And I'm going to take advantage of 9 his explanation to make it mine and also to 10 let you know that on the previous bill, 955, 11 I'm also voting no. And I am joining my 12 colleague from Manhattan and the Bronx united 13 against this thing. Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 15 you, Senator Diaz. 16 Senator Diaz will be recorded in 17 the negative. 18 Announce the results. 19 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 20 the negative on Calendar Number 957 are 21 Senators Bonacic, Diaz, Flanagan, Griffo, 22 O. Johnson, Lanza, Maziarz, Nozzolio, Perkins, 23 Ranzenhofer, Robach, Saland and Young. Also 24 Senators Larkin and Morahan.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Ayes, 41. Nays, 15. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 3 bill is passed. 4 Senator Marcellino. 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, 6 Mr. President. Can we withdraw at this time 7 the lay-asides on Calendar Numbers 954 and 956 8 and have those bills returned to the 9 noncontroversial reading. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Bills 11 956 and 954 will be restored to the 12 noncontroversial reading, and we will continue 13 with Calendar Number 954. 14 The Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 954, by Senator Dilan, Senate Print 6104, an 17 act to amend the Education Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Read 19 the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the same date and in 22 the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 23 2009. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Call

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(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 4 Announce the results. 5 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 6 the negative on Calendar Number 954 are 7 Senators Diaz and Perkins. 8 Ayes, 54. Nays, 2. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 10 bill is passed. 11 The Secretary will continue to 12 read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 956, by Senator Adams, Senate Print 6106, an 15 act to amend the Education Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect on the same date and in 20 the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 21 2009. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 2 Senator Perkins, to explain his vote. 3 SENATOR PERKINS: Again, I want 4 to commend my colleague Senator Adams and 5 company for their very, very important concern 6 and interest in the safety of our children. 7 Clearly, that is very, very important to all 8 of us. 9 However, you know, as we are 10 presently managing safety in our public 11 schools in New York City, it is effectively 12 putting into the closet the role of the 13 educators, the principals and the teachers and 14 related staff who have often been in 15 confrontation in that arena. And there have 16 been instances, too many instances in which 17 police action was taken when other types of 18 action did not need to be taken. 19 Our schools are beginning to almost 20 look like steps towards prison because of the 21 fact that there's so much policing of that 22 type being done when in fact we don't need to 23 police necessarily to do it, that there are 24 other ways that it can be done.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And so again, this is an idea that 2 I think is important. But in the context 3 especially of mayoral control, the type of 4 dictatorship that we've seen, I cannot support 5 it and I will be voting no. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 7 you, Senator Perkins. 8 Senator Perkins will be recorded in 9 the negative. 10 Senator Adams, to explain his vote. 11 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 First, I thank you, Senator 14 Perkins. And I want to really take a moment 15 to thank, as I explain my vote, my colleagues 16 on the other side of the aisle -- particularly 17 Senator Lanza -- for really understanding why 18 this issue was so important to us. 19 And some of the calls we received 20 as we debated this issue several weeks ago, 21 they understood that these chapter amendments 22 were important. And they understood why there 23 was a lot of discussions and this was a very 24 tense argument.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I just want to especially 2 acknowledge Senator Huntley and Senator Dilan 3 and the conference leader, Senator Sampson, of 4 trying to put together a very difficult issue. 5 And the most important part of this 6 issue, as I spoke with some of my colleagues 7 on the other side of the aisle, is that we're 8 now in the position where we have a committee 9 that can raise the questions. Because the 10 only thing we want is for our children to be 11 educated. 12 It doesn't matter who's the mayor 13 that's doing it, it doesn't matter what 14 process is put in place -- as long as we know 15 that the numbers that are put before us are 16 the real numbers and we're not using Bernie 17 Madoff-type math to take away the future of 18 our children. If the numbers are correct, 19 then we will all see them and the transparency 20 we're getting. 21 This amendment that I put forward 22 is dealing with public safety. Public safety 23 starts with a conversation. We don't want our 24 children in small fights -- I don't know

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(518) 371-8910 1 anyone in here that didn't get into some form 2 of a fight in school. I had three. And if I 3 was arrested each time I pushed someone or did 4 something inappropriate, I would not have 5 become a police officer. 6 So I want to thank all of us for 7 coming together, finding a resolution, 8 continuing the process of educating our 9 children. And a special note to my friend in 10 the rafters, Deputy Mayor Walcott, for his 11 commitment to the education of our children. 12 This is an important issue. This 13 is important to us all. And that's why there 14 was so much passion and so much tension around 15 this issue. And again, I will be voting in 16 the affirmative on this amendment. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 18 you, Senator Adams. 19 Senator Adams will be recorded in 20 the affirmative. 21 Announce the results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 23 the negative on Calendar Number 956 are 24 Senators Diaz, Griffo and Perkins.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Ayes, 53. Nays, 3. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 3 bill is passed. 4 We are now taking up Bill 958, 5 which in your book is listed improperly or 6 incorrectly as 952. 7 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 8 Calendar Number 958, Senator Padavan moves to 9 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 10 Assembly Bill Number 8903A and substitute it 11 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5887, 12 Third Reading Calendar 958. 13 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay it aside, 14 please. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 16 Substitution ordered. 17 The bill is laid aside. 18 Senator Klein. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 20 this time can we please move to a reading of 21 the controversial calendar. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 23 Secretary will please ring the bell as we move 24 to the controversial calendar. Members are to

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(518) 371-8910 1 be called to the chamber. 2 The Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 953, by Senator Sampson, Senate Print 5968, an 5 act to amend the Family Court Act. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay the bill 7 aside for the day. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 9 bill is laid aside for the day. 10 The Secretary will continue to 11 read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 958, substituted earlier by Member of the 14 Assembly Silver, Assembly Print Number 8903A, 15 an act to amend the Education Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Read 17 the last section. 18 Senator Squadron, would you like to 19 speak on the bill? 20 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. I appreciate it. And I know 22 Senator Padavan will also be speaking to 23 explain the bill; I wanted to just explain 24 this bill briefly.

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(518) 371-8910 1 There's no question and we all say 2 that education is the most important, 3 education in New York City particularly -- 4 1.1 million schoolchildren, a larger school 5 system that most states in this country. 6 And I think that there's no 7 question, if you look at it, there's been a 8 lot of good work for those 1.1 million 9 schoolchildren over the last several years. 10 And I think, if you look at it, there's no 11 question that there's a lot of work still to 12 do. 13 The challenge we face this year was 14 how do you keep the process going while 15 improving in the ways that improvements were 16 needed. How do you add transparency and 17 parental input while maintaining that strict 18 accountability to the mayor that the school 19 governance bill passed seven years ago -- the 20 quote, unquote, mayoral control -- does. 21 I think this bill does that 22 perfectly. Unlike some of the reports out 23 there, this is not just a strict extender of 24 what we already have in the system. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 improves the system in significant ways. 2 Local superintendents will appear 3 back in local districts in a way they haven't 4 been in years. They're required in this bill 5 to be in the districts. They have real 6 authority in the schools. The Community 7 Education Councils, the parent bodies, 8 actually have a say in who the superintendents 9 are, have a voice with the chancellor in 10 choosing those superintendents. That is a big 11 improvement. We're going to have local 12 offices, local say in a way we haven't had. 13 These CECs, those parent education 14 councils, are beefed up in significant ways. 15 Not just is eligibility expanded for them -- 16 which it is -- but there's new hearing 17 requirements, any time there's a change in use 18 of schools or a school opens or closes, with 19 those CECs. And as I said before, they have a 20 real say with the superintendents. We're not 21 going to have CECs, Community Education 22 Councils, that are just rubber-stamps or sort 23 of defunct. They're going to have a real role 24 that gives parents a real, official voice.

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(518) 371-8910 1 That is a great improvement to the law. 2 When you look at the public process 3 more broadly, there is a robust public process 4 in this bill. You have it on the local level 5 with the Community Education Councils; you 6 also have it at a citywide level through the 7 Panel for Educational Policy. 8 Much has been made of what is this 9 role for the Panel for Educational Policy. 10 Well, I think in this bill the role is made 11 very, very clear. It is a process for public 12 input, for transparency. They have a 13 requirement to publish their agendas 10 days 14 ahead of time. They have a 45-day waiting 15 requirement for any number of significant 16 decisions of the chancellor's. 17 The Panel for Educational Policy's 18 role is clarified, is rationalized, and is 19 meaningful. It is going to be an effective 20 voice for transparency citywide. 21 Procurement in contracts, been 22 talked about a whole lot. This might be the 23 tightest procurement system in the State of 24 New York that the New York City Department of

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(518) 371-8910 1 Education is now going to have, and that's a 2 good thing. That's going to work well. It is 3 a $15 billion budget. Hopefully it will 4 continue to be a $15 billion budget and in 5 fact grow so we continue to invest in our 6 kids. And as it grows, we need to make sure 7 the money is being spent well. This 8 procurement policy will do that. 9 The New York City comptroller has 10 real authority now in the Department of 11 Education, just like any other city agency. 12 That's a good thing. There was no reason for 13 the department to kind of fall into a 14 netherworld between the city and the state. 15 That happened too often in the past. It's not 16 going to happen in the future. 17 The Independent Budget Office of 18 New York City, which has proven to be an 19 independent, strong voice -- oversight on City 20 Hall, both the Council and the mayor -- is 21 going to get extra funding, is going to have 22 the ability not just to look at the budget of 23 DOE, but also at a whole lot of those 24 education metrics.

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(518) 371-8910 1 All of these questions are out 2 there: What does this educational number 3 mean? What does the graduation rate mean? 4 Well, the IBO is going to have the ability to 5 get in there, get those raw numbers and make 6 real definitive judgments and statements, real 7 substantive analysis. That is incredibly 8 important. 9 And we now are going to have 10 educational impact statements that the 11 chancellor needs to put out there on any 12 number of issues, from the students with 13 special needs to needs of communities. That's 14 going to get out there early in the process. 15 That's going to help every step of this 16 process, from the local one to the citywide 17 one. It changes the dynamic between the 18 chancellor and the communities, between the 19 department and the public at large. That is a 20 good thing. 21 Two of these -- I proposed two 22 ideas this spring. One was something called 23 the UPEP, the Universal Parent Engagement 24 Procedure, an idea originally proposed by

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(518) 371-8910 1 Borough President Scott Stringer of Manhattan. 2 It was a great way to create exactly the 3 process that we see in this bill. I am 4 pleased to see those ideas in the bill that 5 hopefully we will pass today. 6 I also proposed a bill that would 7 very clearly make the Department of Education 8 a city agency. Not every piece of that bill 9 is in this one, but I got to tell you, as I 10 said earlier, the Department of Education no 11 longer falls into a netherworld between the 12 city and the state. 13 When it comes to the comptroller, 14 when it comes to the IBO, when it comes to 15 procurement, it's very clear what the role, 16 what the relationship of the Department of 17 Education to other city and state agencies is. 18 That's a very, very, very good thing. 19 So this bill in significant ways 20 improves the law, I don't think there's any 21 question. And it does it without undermining 22 the central tenet that we needed to preserve, 23 which is a clear line of accountability to the 24 mayor. The mayor needs to have the ability

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(518) 371-8910 1 and the responsibility to change the system, 2 to close the achievement gap that persists, 3 and to improve public education on a broad 4 scale in an urban setting. 5 Certainly, as I said at the 6 beginning, I think real progress has been made 7 in the last seven years. Graduation rates in 8 the City of New York are up. Test scores as 9 against other big cities in the State of 10 New York are up. Those are terribly important 11 numbers. For many, many parents the system, 12 their local school, their local neighborhood 13 is so much more responsive and effective than 14 it ever was in the past. That matters. 15 But of course there's still much to 16 do. We haven't solved the problem of urban 17 education in the last seven years. The 18 achievement gap persists, as I said. 19 Graduation rates, while up, are nowhere near 20 where they need to be. I worry about how 21 we're educating English language learners and 22 special education students. They're still not 23 achieving anywhere near at the level they have 24 to.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I believe that there's a greater 2 role for assessments, educational assessments 3 outside of the anachronistic 4 fill-in-the-bubble test that we're still much 5 too dependent on. I don't believe that the 6 role of arts education or of civics is yet 7 significant enough in the City of New York and 8 has to be more significant. 9 But the fact is overall in the last 10 seven years the system of education for 11 New York City schoolchildren has gotten better 12 across the city. And this bill that we are 13 passing today improves on that system. It 14 places the responsibility for future 15 improvement when it comes to the achievement 16 gap, when it comes to arts and civics, when it 17 comes to graduation rates, when it comes to 18 parental engagement with New York City's 19 mayor. There's no question about that: it's 20 his or her responsibility to keep the progress 21 going and frankly take it a whole lot farther. 22 But the formula that we are passing 23 today in this bill, accountability combined 24 with transparency and parental input --

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(518) 371-8910 1 regardless of all of the Albany power 2 struggles and all of the craziness that 3 happens up here, that formula will give the 4 1.1 million children down in New York City the 5 best possible chance to go to schools that 6 will give them the best possible chance to 7 succeed in life. 8 That's why I am proud to be the 9 first cosponsor of this bill and why I'll be 10 supporting it. 11 Thank you very much, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 13 you, Senator Squadron. 14 Senator Padavan. 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 And thank you, Senator Squadron, 18 for your very, very articulate and 19 comprehensive outline of this bill. You hit 20 many of the very significant areas that I 21 think have preoccupied this Legislature not 22 only this year but for decades. 23 One of the first things that was 24 handed to me when I arrived here 37 years ago

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(518) 371-8910 1 was something called the Fleischmann Report. 2 Years later, there was the Marchi Commission. 3 Nothing has preoccupied the State Legislature 4 more than governance and the Department of 5 Education, the former Board of Education in 6 the City of New York. 7 During the past nine months, a 8 great deal of study and analysis has been done 9 relevant to the effectiveness of mayoralty 10 control which began in 2002. Whether it's the 11 Citizens Union or the public advocate or the 12 CSA, the principals who certainly are there 13 every day in our schools, who know certainly 14 whether or not the experiment was valid and 15 productive, the teachers in the classroom -- 16 all of them, without exception, urged us to 17 continue mayoralty control and that form of 18 governance which we've had for the last seven 19 years. 20 The bill before us passed the 21 Assembly 129 to 18, with 70 percent of the 22 Assemblymen from the City of New York voting 23 for it. Clear indication at the grassroots 24 level of support for what has been going on

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(518) 371-8910 1 for the past seven years. 2 Now, it isn't just governance, 3 because, as the Senator indicated, we have 4 authority married with responsibility. And 5 what that engenders more than anything else is 6 resources. Embedded in the 2000 law and 7 continued in this one is maintenance of 8 effort. Those of you who know I'm sure know 9 what that is, to ensure that the City of 10 New York maintains its level of funding 11 consistent with what we have been doing here 12 for the past decade at the state level. 13 And it's worked. We're now 14 spending well over $16,000 per pupil in the 15 City of New York, more than any school system 16 in any city or state in the nation on a 17 per-capita basis. 18 On top of that, because this mayor 19 was on the hook, he came up with a five-year 20 capital program of over $13 billion where 21 we're building schools in every borough, 22 modernizing them, upgrading them, expanding 23 them. There isn't a school area or any 24 district in the city where you don't find

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(518) 371-8910 1 scaffolding or work being done. So our 2 children and our teachers, employees, 130,000 3 of them who go to work every day, 1.1 million 4 children into those schools, find an 5 environment which I think is far better than 6 it has ever been and certainly contributes to 7 the quality of the education they get. 8 There is a sunset in this bill, 9 2015. And there's no doubt in my mind that 10 whatever legislature is here, those of us who 11 are here, we will be having a similar 12 discussion looking back at a six-year period 13 and saying, well, are the changes that we put 14 in place from 2002, are they beneficial? Have 15 they done the job? Have they improved the 16 product? And then make another judgment. I 17 think that we will come up with the answer of 18 yes. 19 Senator Squadron indicated the 20 concerns with English-language learners. One 21 of the things in this bill is a new citywide 22 council just for that purpose. He talked at 23 great length, and properly so, about the 24 auditing and oversight. The comptroller of

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(518) 371-8910 1 the City of New York and the office of the 2 budget, budget office, all will have access to 3 all the data and contracts and oversight that 4 goes on in the Department of Education. 5 We could be here all afternoon, and 6 I know that many of you would like to get back 7 home. I'm going to end with one of the 8 letters that I got a copy of from the 9 Department of Education, written by the U.S. 10 Secretary of Education, Mr. Duncan. "As 11 President Obama's Secretary of Education, I 12 can tell you that both change and the 13 resulting progress that has occurred in 14 New York City schools over the last seven 15 years is truly remarkable." 16 I believe, whether it's remarkable 17 or outstanding or positive, whatever adjective 18 you'd like to use, we did the right thing 19 seven years ago. And hopefully we'll do the 20 right thing again today by keeping this thing 21 moving forward with all the improvements that 22 have been articulated -- and I won't repeat 23 them -- particularly the area of 24 superintendents, which is something we fought

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(518) 371-8910 1 for. 2 Senator Lanza, myself, Senator 3 Golden had three or four meetings with the 4 chancellor, and that's what we talked about 5 most of all. We've got to give those 6 superintendents the opportunity in their 7 districts to do their job and not be sent all 8 over the city doing things that are not 9 relevant to their district and give them the 10 resources to do it. Ninety percent of the 11 problems at the district level can be handled 12 in that office if given the opportunity to do 13 so. 14 So there are tons of things in 15 here. You all got the fact sheet, you can 16 read them; I don't need to read them to you. 17 But we've done a good job, I think, together, 18 both houses, working, ironing out, accepting 19 inputs and recommendations, and we're here 20 today to vote on the bill. 21 Thank you, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 23 you, Senator Padavan. 24 Senator Diaz, on the bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 I keep reading the news saying how 4 great of a job Mayor Bloomberg has done in our 5 educational system. I hear my colleagues 6 Senator Squadron and Senator Padavan praising 7 the mayor, how great, how beautiful the mayor 8 has done in our educational system. 9 My question is, where is the beef? 10 Where is the beef? And I take from that old 11 commercial, that old woman that used to say 12 "Where's the beef?" There's no beef. The 13 mayor hasn't don't a great job in the 14 educational system. 15 I have -- I read something from the 16 Daily News, Wednesday, July 15th, and they 17 carry the headline "Low Test Standards Are a 18 Form of Social Promotion." That's the Daily 19 News. In that article it says, what -- 20 Mr. President, you got to listen to this. 21 There's no beef. I don't know -- these people 22 that are praising the mayor, I don't know what 23 paper are they reading? What soda are they 24 drinking? There's no beef.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Look at what he says. "'What 2 appears to be happening in the last four years 3 under Mayor Bloomberg's system is the hurdle 4 is getting lower,' said Fred Smith, former 5 testing analyst for the Board of Education. 6 Smith was one of the experts who reviewed the 7 numbers and provided research to the Daily 8 News. 9 "In 2006, for example" -- ladies 10 and gentlemen, so you can see where is the 11 beef -- "In 2006, for example, third-graders 12 had to get 44 percent of points on the math 13 tests to earn a promotion." In 2006, they 14 were supposed to get 44 percent of points to 15 get the -- to pass the math tests and earn a 16 promotion. 17 This year, Mr. President, they only 18 had to get 28 percent. What a good job, 19 ladies and gentlemen, the mayor has done. 20 Lower the standards, lower the points, our 21 children pass. And more children are 22 graduating. Bingo, wonderful job. 23 Look at what he says: "The reading 24 tests show a similar pattern. The number of

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(518) 371-8910 1 students who failed to make the cut in reading 2 declined from 46,085 to 11,755 -- a 75 percent 3 drop just in three years." 4 Luna Castro says, "'I have kids who 5 really struggle as readers,' said Claudia de 6 Luna Castro, who teaches fourth grade and 7 fifth grade at Harlem" -- in our 8 neighborhood -- "at Harlem's Central Park East 9 II and had no students who scored at level 10 one. 'It always makes me wonder when I see 11 data that doesn't match my experience with my 12 kids.'" That's a teacher talking. 13 Another person, a student has to 14 get fewer questions right, student get this 15 right. Please, listen to this. "'Students 16 had to get fewer questions right in 2009 than 17 they did in 2006 to earn the same score,' said 18 State Education Department spokesman Jonathan 19 Burman, 'because items in the 2007 test were 20 more difficult than they were in 2006.'" 21 Make it easier, drop everything, 22 the children will pass. And the mayor will 23 get, "Man, the children passed," and the 24 editorial boards and all the people say what a

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(518) 371-8910 1 good job the mayor has done. 2 The mayor has ruined our 3 educational system. The mayor has done a 4 lousy job with our students. Ladies and 5 gentlemen, I could do that myself. I could do 6 that myself. Just let me lower the 7 standards -- everybody pass. Wow, what a 8 great job I have done. 9 Where's the beef, ladies and 10 gentlemen? Stop talking nonsense. Stop 11 saying, "Oh, our mayor, our education." Now 12 you want to go back to what it was? What's 13 the problem? You want to go back to what it 14 was? I would ask the mayor to give me $50,000 15 a year only. Don't pay me as much money as 16 he's paying the chancellor, just give me 17 $50,000, let me lower the standards, and I'll 18 graduate more kids. For $50,000 I will do 19 that in a year. 20 Let me tell you another story from 21 the Daily News. Comptroller Thompson said, 22 calling it the Enron of American education -- 23 the Enron -- he says that about 18 percent of 24 the 197 students examined who graduated in

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(518) 371-8910 1 2007 got multiple credit for passing the same 2 course. Good job. Our children are learning. 3 Oh, I got to read something here: 4 "'Ultimately these children will struggle 5 because they will find themselves in high 6 school or somewhere they are not ready for,' 7 said Carla Boyd, parent leader with the 8 New York City Coalition for Educational 9 Justice." These people talking. 10 And now, no-bid contracts. No-bid 11 contracts. You know what's a no-bid contract, 12 Mr. Finance Chairman? A no-bid contract is 13 giving contracts to everybody without a bid, 14 only to your friends maybe. 15 If I would have done something like 16 this here, if I would have done something like 17 this here as a Senator, Andrew Cuomo, the 18 Attorney General, the FBI, the AG's office, 19 everybody will be putting handcuffs on me. 20 But look at what it says here. Let 21 me read something here. "Under the tenure of 22 this Department of Education, the use of 23 noncompetitive bids has soared out of 24 proportion. In the year 2001, there were a

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(518) 371-8910 1 total of 38 no-bid contracts valued at nearly 2 $50 million. By the end of 2002, after the 3 Board of Education was transformed into the 4 Department of Education, the number of those 5 contracts doubled to 96, with a total value of 6 over $47 million." 7 So it is good to get mayoral 8 control so you can give no-bid contracts to 9 everybody with no question. You didn't say 10 that, ladies and gentlemen. Squadron, you 11 didn't say that. Give me the opportunity to 12 give contracts to my friends without answering 13 to no one. 14 And people keep saying that the 15 mayor of the City of New York has done a great 16 job. And I keep asking Senator Padavan, 17 where's the beef? Where is the beef? Our 18 children are not being educated. They've been 19 passing. They have been passing, ladies and 20 gentlemen. More children are making it to 21 another grade. More children are passing, 22 yes. But they are not being educated. They 23 are being fooled. The numbers have been 24 changed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 In 2007, January 8, 2007, I wrote a 2 letter to the mayor of the City of New York. 3 January 8, 2007. And in the letter, I said: 4 "Dear Mr. Mayor: As I told you in Albany, in 5 2000 I was one of the only two Democratic 6 elected officials who supported you for 7 mayor." 8 Only two Democratic elected 9 officials supported Mayor Bloomberg for mayor 10 in 2000, and I was one of them. The other one 11 was City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera. 12 Nobody else supported the mayor. Only Joel 13 and myself, only two Democratic elected 14 officials. 15 In the letter I said: "I did that 16 based upon your promise to me that you will be 17 'The Education Mayor' and that the suffering, 18 the disadvantage, the neglect, the 19 overcrowding, the lack of material and the 20 lack of equipment, and the discrimination 21 toward black and Hispanic children by the 22 New York City Department of Education would 23 end. 24 "As a member of the New York City

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(518) 371-8910 1 Council, I pushed and supported when you asked 2 for the abolition of the school boards and 3 requested mayoral control. You said, 4 Mr. Mayor, 'Give me control of the system and 5 the excuses will end.' 6 "Yesterday" -- that was February 7, 7 2007 -- "Yesterday, Wednesday February 7, 8 2007, your response, Mr. Mayor, to the anger, 9 frustration, concern and desperation of 10 parents was" -- this was his response at that 11 time. "If any one of you,' he told a bunch of 12 parents, "If any one of you thinks that you 13 can do a better job, go and apply for a job as 14 a consultant in the Department of Education." 15 That was the answer of the mayor to those 16 people. 17 And I'm saying, ladies and 18 gentlemen, obviously this is going to pass. 19 We have been brainwashed by the editorial 20 boards. And tomorrow, you read it, they're 21 going to call me a monkey, they're going to 22 call me a clown, they're going call me stupid, 23 they're going to call me all kinds of things. 24 And I'm going to ask them and I'm

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(518) 371-8910 1 going to keep asking them, I'm going to keep 2 asking all of them there, where is the beef? 3 Stop the abuses with our children, stop trying 4 to pretend that the mayor has been the best in 5 education. 6 He's the worst. Our children are 7 not passing. Our children are failing. No, 8 no, no, let me rephrase that. Our children 9 are passing, Padavan. They're passing. But 10 the standards were lower. So of course our 11 children are passing, Senator Padavan. 12 They're passing. And I keep saying, give me 13 the opportunity to be a chancellor of the 14 New York City Department of Education, give me 15 $50,000 and I will drop more. The average of 16 more children will pass. I will do a better 17 job than Klein. 18 And experts are saying that our 19 children are going to high school and they're 20 passing, and they are going nowhere. They 21 ain't going nowhere. But we're saying, man, 22 the mayor of the City of New York, Mayor 23 Bloomberg, has done such a good job, we need 24 to keep him. Yeah, you need to keep him? You

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(518) 371-8910 1 know who needs to keep him? Those people who 2 are getting the no-bid contracts. They are 3 the ones that want to keep him. No-bid 4 contracts, millions of dollars. 5 Ladies and gentlemen, I was with 6 the mayor in education when none of you were 7 there. I supported the mayor to run for mayor 8 when none of you were there. And I flew in 9 his jet twice. In his jet he told me all the 10 good things that he will do for education. 11 Now I'm here telling you, the mayor 12 has failed. No matter what the editorial 13 boards are saying, no matter what other people 14 are saying, the mayor has failed our children. 15 Our overcrowding is still being there. The 16 dropout rate, the dropout rate -- oh, there's 17 no more dropout rate. Of course there's no 18 more dropout rate. Somebody drops out, 19 general accounting, somebody drops out and a 20 few years later they take the GED and they 21 pass the GED, they were never a dropout. So 22 no, you're playing with statistics. Play with 23 all the numbers and then you will see what a 24 great job.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But this Puerto Rican with kinky 2 hair and broken English, I am saying to all of 3 you smart guys, show me the beef. Where is 4 the beef for you to be calling the mayor the 5 best mayor in education that we ever had? 6 Where is the beef? The Daily News always says 7 there's no beef. Comptroller Thompson said 8 there's no beef. Who all is saying there's no 9 beef? Everybody is saying there's no beef. 10 Oh, Wendy's, there's the beef. And 11 McDonald's, maybe. 12 But there's no beef. 13 Mr. President, there is no beef. Don't let 14 yourself be fooled. Join me, Mr. President. 15 Join me. Join me. Protect our children. Our 16 black and Hispanic children they all have been 17 used. They all have been used. 18 I don't know why they're doing so 19 bad because everybody is doing it -- everybody 20 is doing it because of our children. You know 21 that, Senator Hassell-Thompson? Everybody is 22 doing it because of our black and Hispanic 23 children. Everybody is helping our children. 24 Everybody, all the editorial boards and

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(518) 371-8910 1 everybody says, we're doing it because the 2 black and Hispanic children, we're helping 3 them. And they call me that I am against my 4 black and Hispanic children. 5 But all of you who are going to 6 vote for this today -- and it's going to 7 pass -- and you're going to do it because of 8 our black and Hispanic children. Oh, please. 9 Give me a break. And show me the beef. 10 I'm voting no on this thing. With 11 pride, with dignity, with my morale high, with 12 my head high, I'm voting no and I'm saying the 13 mayor has been the worst mayor for education 14 in the City of New York. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 16 you, Senator Diaz. 17 Senator Hassell-Thompson, on the 18 bill. 19 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 20 you, Mr. President. Just briefly. 21 Six years ago I stood in this 22 chambers on that side of the chamber and felt 23 coerced into voting for this, primarily 24 because I listened to members of my colleagues

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(518) 371-8910 1 talk about how bad the school board system 2 was. I was relatively new to representing 3 portions of that district, and so there 4 were -- I was hesitant to rail against people 5 who apparently had had more experience working 6 with their school boards. And so I tried to 7 reserve judgment when it came to making this 8 major change. 9 But the two things that I had the 10 most concern about -- and I had hoped that in 11 the initial stages of this that we would 12 address this very early on, and that is about 13 parent participation. And while I see in the 14 bill itself that there is an effort to put 15 parents on the boards, it still gives the 16 mayor total control by having a majority of 17 members, number one. 18 And the other is because there are 19 no terms, it still allows the mayor, when he 20 is disagreed with, to dismiss people from the 21 board, which I'm very unhappy about. And I've 22 said that consistently. I continue to say 23 that. 24 I had hoped that in this language

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(518) 371-8910 1 of -- even in the chapter amendments that we 2 would be able to address that issue. But 3 apparently the power of the mayor is too 4 great, and so therefore it did not get 5 included in the chapter amendment. 6 I am happy to see the other pieces 7 of the amendment that in some ways address 8 what it is that we want to have happen. 9 I am deeply concerned that while no 10 bill that we ever do here is perfect, I had 11 hoped we had six years to really investigate 12 and to look at what it is that we were going 13 to be doing before we made this major 14 decision. 15 Many of you in here don't represent 16 children from New York City, and obviously for 17 you, while they're relevant issues, they're 18 not the most relevant because they're not your 19 kids. 20 I like to believe when I stand here 21 that I speak for all the children in the State 22 of New York and every child in this state is 23 my child. Because when people say to me, you 24 represent the state, they say I represent the

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(518) 371-8910 1 state. I don't just represent my district, 2 the 36th. I am concerned and must be 3 concerned about what I do that affects all the 4 children. And somehow I had thought that we 5 would have used this six years in a better 6 way. 7 Let me just say to you that I hope 8 that we're putting this bill in place now and 9 that we will do a better job with the systems 10 that we have tried to put in place with our 11 amendments today. And we'd better hope that 12 the Governor passes these bills, the 13 amendments. Because if not, we will go back 14 to something worse than what we had, than we 15 ever had. 16 It has nothing to do with this 17 mayor, but it has everything to do with the 18 ultimate power that we give to people 19 unchecked. And there is no one that I know, 20 no one that I know that, unchecked, can check 21 themselves. It's not in the human condition 22 for people to use the power within them to be 23 controlled. If we did, we wouldn't need 24 police departments. If we did, we would not

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(518) 371-8910 1 need military. We would not need people to 2 make rules to keep us in line; we would 3 therefore be able to keep ourselves in line. 4 Power corrupts. Absolute power 5 corrupts absolutely. And if in fact we do not 6 take seriously, on the presumption that the 7 Governor does pass all of these and that the 8 Assembly comes back and sees the wisdom of 9 what we've attempted to do, we will have 10 another runaway train. 11 And we can talk about how good we 12 think this mayor is, or any other mayor, but 13 he in fact is the mayor. He is not the 14 chancellor. And he has hired someone who has 15 no educational qualifications. And while he 16 may think that running the Department of 17 Education is a business matter, the education 18 of our children requires a multiple 19 discipline. And this chancellor has not, does 20 not have the multiple discipline necessary to 21 be able to do everything well. 22 I am deeply concerned, in passing 23 this bill. I came today prepared to do 24 something because the alternative -- which is

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(518) 371-8910 1 we have done nothing. We let the deadline 2 come and go, and now we're doing something at 3 the last minute. 4 From the day after we pass this 5 bill, we need begin to put in place a 6 structure that we can relate to and depend 7 upon, to ensure in a better way that the 8 education of our children -- and we'd better 9 do that in a way that demonstrates that we 10 really do care about the future generation of 11 our children. 12 It's not an accident that most of 13 our better jobs are in India and other places 14 where education and higher education is a 15 criteria. It amazes me that we are the Empire 16 State and we failed to make a commitment to 17 education. 18 And when I hear people stand on 19 this floor and tell me that we have a 20 budgetary crisis and so therefore we should 21 not do those things that will implement and 22 give resources to the future of the 23 development of this country -- these children 24 are going to be responsible for the future

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(518) 371-8910 1 development of this country. They're going to 2 be the future doctors. Good Lord. I'm going 3 to be old and need them. Yes, Shirley, going 4 to be. Older than I am. Disabled and in need 5 of trained people. 6 And we sit and talk about how many 7 of our children are unemployed and 8 unemployable. And that is a factor that is 9 continuing, and it is not changing. And this 10 is just an example. I mean, this is New York 11 City. Well, who -- you know, you don't live 12 in New York City, you don't care. 13 But you'd better damn well care. 14 Because people don't just stay in their 15 neighborhoods. They move around. They're 16 going to become your contractors that can't 17 measure. They're going to become your doctors 18 that can't administer. They're going to 19 become your nurses that can't read the numbers 20 of cc's of the medication that you're supposed 21 to get. These are the people that we're 22 responsible for educating. 23 And we're not taking it seriously, 24 no matter what you tell me. Because if we

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(518) 371-8910 1 waited until the deadline to begin a dialogue 2 about something as critical and as important 3 as the numbers of children that are going to 4 be educated and how they're going to be 5 educated -- which is a part of an educational 6 policy that we must begin to develop. We are 7 still educating our children in the 1800s -- 8 we have not addressed the issue. 9 And those of you who are concerned 10 about charter schools, parents in this state 11 have a right to make a determination about how 12 their children are educated, particularly when 13 you're failing them. And so we can be high 14 and mighty about we want to keep public 15 education, but more than a million of our 16 children in the State of New York are at 17 independent and parochial schools every day 18 because we are failing to educate them. And 19 most of those children are coming out of 20 New York City. 21 We'd better get a grip on it, 22 because this is our future that we're 23 ignoring. Thank you, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator Hassell-Thompson. 2 Senator Huntley, on the bill. 3 SENATOR HUNTLEY: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 So much has been said already. I 6 agree with Reverend Diaz. I agree with Ruth 7 Hassell. There's been a lot said. 8 When I hear us talk about public 9 education, let me just talk about, instead of 10 the State of New York, let me talk about my 11 district. In my district there are many 12 different segments. There are the poor, the 13 middle, and the upper. Those are the people 14 that I service. 15 There are some schools in the upper 16 that do well all the time, because they will. 17 If there was no chancellor, no Senate, no 18 anyone, they would do well. 19 In the middle of the district, 20 where you start to move toward the poorer 21 districts, our schools are unbelievable. They 22 have made very little improvement. I mean, I 23 heard Senator Padavan talk about Obama's 24 Secretary of Education in the letter which

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(518) 371-8910 1 frankly is not worth the paper it's written 2 on. The man's been in town 10 minutes. He 3 knows absolutely nothing about the education 4 of children in the City of New York. 5 So that is not impressive. There 6 are certain issues that perhaps the President 7 needs to know more about so he will know 8 exactly how to handle. 9 I have felt pressured this whole 10 two months, pressured because of people 11 pressuring me. And when I get pressured, it's 12 a whole new Shirley Huntley. I work harder 13 for what I want when I'm pressured. And I can 14 understand -- I listened to Senator Squadron, 15 who seems to know an awful lot about schools 16 and children. It's amazing when he's barely 17 an adult himself. 18 But the bottom line is I must say 19 all these people -- and also from upstate, on 20 the island -- know absolutely nothing about 21 city education. 22 And I have to say what Senator Diaz 23 just said, and also Ruth Hassell. The 24 majority of children in the public school

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(518) 371-8910 1 system are Afro-American and Hispanic. And 2 it's just so great that all of you care so 3 much about Afro-American and Hispanic 4 children. Maybe some of you would like to be 5 foster parents. 6 I just think that when it comes to 7 issues that we know about -- they talk about 8 school boards. There was a mechanism in place 9 to remove bad school board members, just like 10 there's a mechanism in place to remove bad 11 Senators, bad presidents, whatever. No one 12 ever used it. So therefore every school board 13 became something that was awful. 14 Now I heard the other evening on 15 television where the mayor's person was saying 16 that Billy Thompson was once the president of 17 the Board of Education. And he was. And I 18 was once the president of Community School 19 Board 28. But we were not the educators. We 20 were presidents. It was like a corporation. 21 We did not educate children. The chancellor 22 educates children, not the president of a 23 school board or the president of the central 24 board. That is not how it goes.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I think that all these people 2 who now know so much about education, we 3 really should have done a better job, we 4 really should have talked about this months 5 ago, like Ruth Hassell-Thompson said. But 6 when you have people in a position where it 7 does not consider them or their county or 8 their community, frankly they don't give a 9 tinker's damn. And that's what's happened 10 here. 11 And I'm annoyed because I felt 12 personally we could have had our own bill. 13 But why didn't we have our bill? Because it 14 was stifled. I might be a new Senator, but 15 I'm not stupid. It was stifled for the mayor. 16 Okay? 17 I will not support this bill 18 because, first of all, I don't like to be 19 pressured. Second of all, it is not my 20 problem that we now have to sit at a table of 21 32 with Mayor Bloomberg at the table with us 22 on every round. That bothers me. That really 23 seriously bothers me. 24 So I would say to my colleagues,

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(518) 371-8910 1 2010 is coming and we must find a new way. 2 This is not good. This is not good. In all 3 due respect to my members and all respect to 4 Senator Squadron, who got the miracle 5 letter -- which was wrong, and I told the 6 leaders, no one writes a letter that I'm 7 committing to anything. And I certainly don't 8 commit to another colleague. It's not my 9 fault that he had a vested interest with his 10 wife working for the mayor. 11 Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 13 you, Senator Huntley. 14 SENATOR HUNTLEY: You're very 15 welcome. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 17 Senator Adams, on the bill. 18 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 I just want to talk about just 21 three aspects of the bill. And I thought 22 Senator Diaz, who's not here now, talked about 23 the numbers. 24 If I were to run a marathon in five

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(518) 371-8910 1 hours and then someone comes a year later and 2 they top my score by an hour, they will have 3 the crown. But if we discover that they 4 didn't run a 25-mile marathon, they only ran a 5 15-mile marathon, then of course their score 6 is going to be better than mine. 7 Because of the complexity of 8 education and the different scoring systems, 9 it is difficult for parents -- parents 10 actually believe that their children are doing 11 better. Because that's all a parent desires, 12 is to know that their child is going to be 13 educated. 14 And I was -- I felt betrayed and 15 angered when I found out there are two levels 16 that a child can have in education, a Level 3 17 or a Level 4. Level 3 is meets standards; 18 Level 4 is excellent. 19 The mayor has been telling us 20 through the chancellor that the children are 21 doing better because more are meeting Level 3 22 and Level 4. They did not tell us that what 23 it took to be a Level 3 or Level 4, that they 24 dropped the standards for them.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And so what troubles many of us is 2 that when we give the money and the resources 3 to educate our children, we also give the 4 trust that the numbers are going to be 5 correct. And no one is denying the fact that 6 they dropped the standards. This was the 7 administration that stated it was wrong to do 8 social promotion. This was the administration 9 that stated we must make sure that our 10 children are educated. 11 I talked about the different 12 methods and ways that we use to graduate 13 students. But I think we're doing a good 14 thing today on the chapter amendments, as I 15 stated earlier, because now the power is 16 within us to make sure the numbers are valid. 17 True studies of our educational system are not 18 based on what's wrote by editorial boards. 19 That is not a true study of an educational 20 system. 21 The true study of the real numbers, 22 putting together members of the academic 23 community and state, are we moving in the 24 right direction. That's what this is about.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Because the system we create should be 2 successful no matter who the mayor is. If we 3 put the right system in place, we will be 4 successful. 5 No one can tell me it's okay to 6 give a $90 million no-bid contract to a 7 company that's not in New York State and that 8 does not have an office, that has a P.O. box. 9 I recall some kind of con game in policing 10 that people used to do something like that. 11 We cannot continue to have a system 12 where we don't check. We have a 13 responsibility. It's not about just passing a 14 bill and stating we're going to leave it up to 15 them. We have responsibilities as legislators 16 to make sure, whatever bill we pass, that 17 we're going monitor year to year to year. 18 I don't want to wait until this 19 sunset. Every year we need find out are the 20 numbers right, have you changed the numbering 21 system, are we doing something different? We 22 need to monitor the success of our students. 23 Because these are not merely students, they 24 are our future scholars, and we have to treat

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(518) 371-8910 1 them as such. 2 And so I share the commitment and 3 passion of Senator Huntley, Senator Diaz, 4 Senator Perkins, who will follow, and even 5 Senator Parker. People criticize them because 6 this is a real issue for us. 7 And I'm going to vote no on this 8 bill because I don't believe that this great 9 state needs one individual to save us. I 10 don't believe in that concept. I believe that 11 we have a countless number of great systems in 12 place. No matter what happened on 9/11 when 13 the center of trade was attacked, on 9/12 14 teachers knew to get up and go teach. 15 Sanitation men knew to go and pick up trash. 16 Police knew they had to protect the city. Bus 17 drivers knew they had to drive buses. 18 We're not great because of 19 individuals, we're great in this state because 20 we have professional systems in place of 21 great, everyday New Yorkers coming together 22 ensuring the system runs. 23 And that's why I cannot vote for a 24 bill that empowers one man to distribute

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(518) 371-8910 1 billions of dollars, that empowers one man 2 that believed in the same concept that 3 although the people spoke twice on term 4 limits, he woke up one day and said "Term 5 limits are not for me because I'm a 6 billionaire." I cannot empower that person 7 with my vote. 8 This bill is going to pass. We 9 will move forward. I hope that the committee 10 we put in place will ensure that we have the 11 correct oversight. But we should never 12 believe, if it's this current mayor or if it's 13 any other person of economic stature, believe 14 that they are more important than the everyday 15 New Yorkers. We run the state, the cab 16 drivers, the teachers, the cooks, the clerks, 17 the messengers. There are more thousandaires 18 than there are billionaires. And if we 19 surrender our children to people because of 20 their checkbook, we're making a mistake. 21 I'm not going to do that. I 22 believe our chapter amendments were important. 23 I believe it was going to help strengthen this 24 bill. But I'm going to cast my vote no for

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(518) 371-8910 1 this bill for the countless number of parents, 2 unions and other groups who support a quality 3 education, a well-rounded education where our 4 children will be able to compete in the global 5 community. And that is why I'm going to vote 6 no on this bill. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 8 you, Senator Adams. 9 Senator Perkins, on the bill. 10 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you so 11 much. 12 I want to talk about the elephant 13 in the room. You know, race and class. The 14 fact of the matter is that in communities of 15 color, they're obviously not getting the facts 16 that supposedly are so evident, because 17 they're fleeing the public school system. 18 You've seen them. Thousands lined up to get 19 into what they consider to be a better 20 opportunity. 21 Usually when people flee a 22 building, something is on fire, something is 23 wrong, not right. Nobody is like lining up to 24 get into the schools of Harlem or the schools

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(518) 371-8910 1 in communities of color. Maybe they're lining 2 up to get into the schools on the East Side. 3 Maybe they're lining up to get into schools in 4 Queens, coming from Harlem. 5 But for the most part, in those 6 communities the facts are very clear. Every 7 day you see it on TV. Thousands lined up, 8 fleeing their school, their neighborhood 9 public school across the street from where 10 they live. Why? Because somebody said that 11 this school is a bad school and that that 12 opportunity, today called a charter school, is 13 the way to go. 14 You don't find those schools below 15 96th Street or the 96th Streets of our city. 16 You don't find charter schools, you don't find 17 people lining up for charter schools from 18 those communities. You only find them lining 19 up from my community and the communities that 20 some of us represent. 21 Now, why is that? If the numbers 22 are so outstandingly good, why is nobody 23 fighting to get into the school around the 24 corner from where people live?

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(518) 371-8910 1 This city has been so beautifully 2 designed that a parent only has to take their 3 kid down the steps and they walk across the 4 street and there's a public school right 5 there. Why is that parent deciding to go 6 outside of their neighborhood instead of 7 across the street if mayoral control has been 8 so successful? 9 And why does the Times report that 10 the gap between black kids, Latino kids, and 11 white kids has not shortened, that it's as 12 stubborn as ever? With all of this 13 extraordinary success, why is that? And why 14 is it that parents in my district are so 15 strongly against mayoral control if it's been 16 so good for them? 17 So we are obviously in the tale of 18 two cities. Do you understand? Part of our 19 city is suffering failing public schools. If 20 they're not failing, send your kids to them. 21 Because I know any parent -- black, white, 22 rich or poor -- will take their kid anywhere 23 to get their kid into a good public school. 24 It happens all the time. You see

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(518) 371-8910 1 it, parents sleeping out at night someplace in 2 Queens, claiming that they live out there, 3 knowing full well they don't live anywhere 4 near there, but nevertheless tenting out to 5 get into that school because it offers an 6 opportunity for their child to have a decent 7 quality education. Public school. 8 See if there's any such schools in 9 Harlem, East Harlem, the Bronx, South Bronx 10 and other such communities. You won't find 11 them, because mayoral control is failing our 12 children. And in fact, it is creating a 13 racially segregated school system where you 14 have one set of the city attending one type of 15 school and the other part of the community, a 16 community of color, only being given charter 17 schools. 18 Fact. That's the elephant in the 19 room that we don't want to face. We have a 20 racially segregated situation in New York 21 City. And we're going to continue that under 22 this thing called mayoral control. No one 23 wants to hear that, but that's a fact. We 24 want to believe the statistics that they

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(518) 371-8910 1 provide us, but we don't want to believe what 2 we see on TV. We don't want to believe what 3 we read in the papers. 4 Listen to the New York Times. 5 Isn't that the paper of note? Isn't it still 6 the number-one paper, the number-one voice, 7 the one that we all want to be quoted in, the 8 one that we want the endorsement of? Read the 9 New York Times. They'll tell you just this 10 week. 11 So why are we telling ourselves 12 that what we have is successful? Let's tell 13 it like it is. He wants to control it. He 14 wants to control that budget for his own 15 purposes. But our children are not succeeding 16 under this system. And he can't say that they 17 are with any real clear evidence. And you can 18 ask them, because they know where these kids 19 are doing. 20 And when they do build these 21 charter schools, they're having them built in 22 the neighborhood public schools and the 23 parents are fighting their neighbors. So you 24 have two parents, normally hanging out, kids

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(518) 371-8910 1 are hanging out, enjoying each other, one goes 2 to P.S. 123, and all of a sudden here comes 3 Eva Moskowitz to take over their school, 4 unauthorized. Because she is a charter school 5 developer and she has been given somewhat of a 6 carte blanche to do so. 7 Now, who else is around here 8 experiencing that kind of mayor control, that 9 kind of success that their schools are being 10 taken over by charter schools? There is not 11 one school in the white community that's been 12 taken over by a charter school in New York 13 City. Why is that, if they're so good? Why 14 is that? 15 We can't continue this. It's 16 dividing our city along racial and class 17 lines. We don't want to face that, but that's 18 a fact. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 20 you, Senator Perkins. 21 Senator Golden. 22 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. 24 I rise first to -- my prayers to

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Thompson's mom and Olga Mendez, who I 2 had the privilege of working with, a great, 3 great lady and a great legislator. 4 We're here today to talk about the 5 mayor of the City of New York, I guess. And 6 we should be talking about the children of the 7 City of New York. What we've seen here is 8 Joel Klein, a chancellor, under the direction 9 of the mayor of the City of New York take 10 1.1 million children and bring them into the 11 twenty-first century. What we see is 12 leadership and what we see is education, 13 education across the board for all of the 14 children of the City of New York. 15 We wouldn't have a committee run 16 the police department. We have Commissioner 17 Kelly. We wouldn't have a commission or a 18 body run the Department of Parks, Department 19 of Transportation, or the Fire Department. We 20 give that right to the mayor of the City of 21 New York so that he or she can make the best 22 decisions for that city. And now we've done 23 that with education, and that's what we should 24 have done.

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(518) 371-8910 1 If I listen to my colleagues here, 2 the one reason we did, I believe, give the 3 education to the mayor of the City of New York 4 is because everybody in this room seems to 5 know how to educate child except for the 6 Department of Education in the City of 7 New York under its chancellor, Joel Klein, 8 under the mayor of the City of New York. 9 But yet if you take a look around 10 the country and the world, they're all taking 11 the SOP, the standard operating procedure of 12 the City of New York, and they're implementing 13 it in their school districts. 14 So I just want to straighten out a 15 couple of facts. And I don't want to go on 16 too long, because I know a lot of you want to 17 go home. But I think it's important to point 18 out that this wasn't a last-minute bill. This 19 bill has been around since the year began. 20 And in May, it was finalized. 21 And when is the last time the 22 Assembly actually passed a bill before the 23 Senate? The Assembly passed this bill two 24 months ago.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And then we hear that the President 2 of the United States, his Secretary of 3 Education, that the paper he wrote on saying 4 that the school system is good and it's 5 working and it's a model, that it's not worth 6 the paper that it's written on. I guess we 7 forget that he is or was the CEO of the 8 Chicago school system. I guess we forget 9 those little facts. 10 And then I hear that education is 11 so much better in foreign lands, that they're 12 doing so much better in India. I think it has 13 a lot to do with what they're paying the 14 people in India to do the job, not the 15 education. 16 We hear about charter schools. 17 Charter schools are competition for the public 18 school system so that we can have a barometer 19 so that we can look and look at the checks and 20 balances within the public school system, 21 compare them, and get a better result. 22 But I guess we left out that the 23 UFT has some charter schools. I guess we left 24 that little piece out. Because the UFT

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(518) 371-8910 1 understands that they can do a good job in 2 charter schools, and they are doing a good job 3 in charter schools. That is part of 4 competition. 5 1.1 million children, $22 billion 6 budget, 140,000 employees, 1500 schools -- the 7 largest school system in the world. Where's 8 the beef? The New York statewide test for 9 fourth-graders in the City of New York was a 10 20-point increase for reading. Not for white 11 children, not for black children, not for 12 Hispanic or Asian children, for children 13 across the board. For all children, the boat 14 has been lifted in the City of New York. 15 The New York statewide test for 16 fourth-graders again, on math, 30-point gain. 17 Never seen before. 18 That's why the people around this 19 nation and around the world are using the City 20 of New York as its SOP so that they can get a 21 better education for their children. 22 I was impressed with Senator 23 Squadron and his presentation, and with 24 Senator Padavan's presentation. I was amazed

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(518) 371-8910 1 to hear that we would attack another Senator. 2 But we send our men and women to battle and 3 they get killed in war at the age of 18, but 4 yet a Senator elected by his community here in 5 the State of New York, elected by a majority. 6 And he represents 350,000, couldn't make an 7 honest and educated decision in voting for a 8 bill that works for 1.1 million children in 9 the City of New York and 8.5 million people. 10 Because he made the right decision. 11 He made the decision for the children. He 12 remembers, as all of us do, in 1998 and 1997 13 the patronage mill in the New York City school 14 system and how our kids were failing. We all 15 remember that. 16 And now we've seen the gains. And 17 we see the graduation-rate gains too. 18 Fifteen percent graduation rate increase in 19 the City of New York. 20 And of course we leave out crime in 21 our public school system. That's only down 22 44 percent in our public school system since 23 our mayor took control of the City of New York 24 under Joel Klein, its leader.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So I just wanted to set some facts 2 straight and to say we should all work 3 together as a body to help to educate the 4 children of the City of New York. And point 5 out how the boat has been lifted for all of 6 its children. 7 And we are great. Not because of 8 government, we are great because of our 9 individuality. We are great because we live 10 in the greatest city in the greatest state in 11 the greatest nation in the world. And we give 12 the opportunity to those kids and those 13 parents like nobody else has ever done before. 14 I'm proud of this system, and I'm 15 proud of this city and state. We should all 16 be. I vote yes, Mr. President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 18 you, Senator Golden. 19 Senator Carl Kruger. 20 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 That was a paid political 23 announcement by the Friends of Mike Bloomberg. 24 (Laughter.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: You know, 2 today we've been hearing some amazing 3 statistics about some amazing facts from my 4 colleagues in government. And if we were to 5 take those amazing statistics and those 6 amazing facts and bring them back to school 7 districts outside of the City of New York and 8 suggest to sell them around an unelected 9 school board, I would like to see which of my 10 colleagues in government would be the first 11 one to propose that prescription for success 12 in their local schools. 13 So today as we move forward and we 14 recognize the fact that we've been bludgeoned 15 to death in accepting this bill, and it's 16 another sad day on the calendar of days here 17 in Albany, that this bill will probably pass. 18 But in the process of this bill passing, we 19 have a dawn of a new tomorrow. We have a dawn 20 that says that this house will be empowered 21 with the mechanism, the methodology, the 22 resources and the subpoena power to reach into 23 the Department of Education to really see what 24 lurks under those rocks.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We will be able to, as a body, move 2 forward and find out once and for all whether 3 we should support the position taken by the 4 Department of Education, which seems to treat 5 the school system like a failing restaurant -- 6 when business is bad, you make the portions 7 smaller and you charge more. So when the 8 school system seems to be going in the wrong 9 direction, let's just screw around with the 10 numbers, change the complexion of the way we 11 are developing our educational programs, bring 12 in and outsource whatever we can, hide behind 13 consultant budgets and no-bid contracts, put a 14 prosecutor in place of a professional 15 educator, call them a chancellor rather than a 16 commissioner, try to run an agency and treat 17 it as a city department but refuse to 18 recognize that as a city department it should 19 be run as an agency, by a commissioner, with 20 accountability, with transparency, with a 21 reporting mechanism, with an inspector general 22 that actually does their job and actually goes 23 back to the electorate with some real hard 24 facts.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So today I say that although the 2 bill may pass -- without my support, I might 3 add -- and even though there will be people 4 here that will say that we have turned the 5 corner, I have to reiterate the fact that not 6 only have we not turned the corner, but we've 7 come to a real fork in the road. The fork in 8 the road is saying to us today that we are 9 going to have to seize the opportunity to go 10 into the Department of Education ourselves, 11 basically armed for hand-to-hand combat for 12 the 1.1 million kids that are part of our 13 school system, for the 8.5 million New Yorkers 14 that call New York City their home, and find 15 out why we are spending more than any other 16 school system in the country and finding 17 ourselves in a failing atmosphere. 18 And no matter how we twist and no 19 matter how the numbers are manipulated and no 20 matter how we degregate the system in order to 21 be able to say that we're doing better, we're 22 worse. Our kids are not getting educated. 23 The system is failing. Our dropout rates are 24 unbelievably high.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Our ability to take high school 2 students and send them on into community 3 colleges, not alone as matriculated students 4 at four-year colleges that do not go through a 5 remedial program, says yards about the failure 6 of the Department of Education. 7 So from high on the hill here in 8 Albany to the folks down south in New York 9 City, I just want to say to them that have no 10 fear. Under the Democratic leadership of John 11 Sampson, Malcolm Smith and Pedro Espada, we 12 will take that committee and bring it to every 13 one of the boroughs, to every one of the 14 districts. We will go to every one of the 15 superintendents. We are going to take 16 information that's supplied to us and we will 17 even, if necessary, hire our own investigators 18 and our own auditors. We will do what has to 19 be done in order to expose what's happening at 20 the Department of Education. 21 Thank you, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 23 you, Senator Kruger. 24 Senator Liz Krueger.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 I've listened very carefully to 4 many of my colleagues today. And I have to 5 say I agree with many of my colleagues who are 6 choosing to vote no for this bill. 7 Senator Perkins, highlighting the 8 enormous differences between what is happening 9 in black and Latino communities in the City of 10 New York and my own community, which is 11 primarily a white community. I agree, Senator 12 Perkins, it is a real concern. 13 I agree with Senator Diaz that you 14 have to find out the facts. And it is not 15 okay to do no-bid contracts. And yes, the 16 mayor asked for a responsibility which 17 requires accountability and scientific 18 evidence. 19 Where I don't agree with my 20 colleagues is one personalizing it to who 21 might be the mayor or who might be the 22 chancellor. Because in fact those people 23 might change January 1, 2010. 24 And where I think my colleagues

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(518) 371-8910 1 might agree with me is that the bill that I 2 will vote for today, along with having voted 3 for the chapter amendments -- and I think they 4 are important -- the bill we are voting for or 5 against today is not the exact same bill that 6 became law in 2002. The bill we are voting on 7 today has many of the corrections and 8 protections built into it that my colleagues 9 demanded. 10 There isn't going to be the same 11 story about no-bid contracts and no review. 12 The Department of Education, like other city 13 agencies, will go through the contracting 14 process with the comptroller, the city 15 comptroller's office having review and 16 oversight on authority. 17 This bill builds in a role for the 18 city's Independent Budget Office, with the 19 mandate to review, to be able to ask 20 questions, to be able to get data. So that 21 there will be more transparency for parents 22 and us and our communities to look and see 23 what is happening in and what is not 24 happening, including very serious questions

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(518) 371-8910 1 that have been raised about what do the test 2 scores actually mean. Because we all know you 3 can lie with numbers. 4 And actually, if you get a good 5 enough education -- and I hope every child in 6 New York City does -- they will actually know 7 how to figure out what does it mean if you're 8 lying with the numbers. 9 And so I can vote for this bill 10 even while I agree with so many of the things 11 that were said by my colleagues today. It's 12 not a perfect bill. But perfect is often the 13 enemy of accomplishing anything we hope to do. 14 It does give us more ability to not only ask 15 the hard questions that we must but get 16 answers to the hard questions. 17 It's a huge system, the New York 18 City school system. There are 1.1 million 19 children. Nothing is ever as clear-cut as it 20 seems. There are always different stories 21 within the system. I am hoping that 22 regardless of who the mayor or the chancellor 23 is today or tomorrow or next year, that the 24 legislation we're passing today will ensure

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(518) 371-8910 1 that moving forward we can continue to improve 2 the New York City school system for the sake 3 of every child. 4 Because as Senator Hassell-Thompson 5 said, as a legislator from the City of New 6 York, I feel my responsibility is to every 7 child in New York City. And as a legislator 8 in the State of New York, I share her view 9 that one of the most important roles we have 10 as elected officials is ensuring that our next 11 generation of children, whether it's on the 12 Canadian border or in Long Island or down in 13 my home city, gets the best public education 14 and opportunities they can ever, ever receive. 15 Because that is a fundamental responsibility 16 of this chamber. 17 So I have concerns. And it is not 18 perfect. But I will be voting yes. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 21 you, Senator Krueger. 22 Senator Stavisky. 23 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you, 24 Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I am a very proud product of the 2 New York City public schools. I attended the 3 public schools, sent my son to the public 4 schools. My husband was a graduate of the 5 public schools. And my father spent 48 years 6 teaching in the New York City public schools. 7 All on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I 8 might add. 9 And I have taught, and I think I'm 10 one of the few people aside from Senator 11 Marcellino who have been in a classroom. We 12 know what it's like from really both sides of 13 the -- I was going to say chalkboard, but I 14 don't think they use chalkboards anymore -- 15 smartboard, excuse me. 16 I know what it's like to work with 17 young people. And I think many people 18 attribute a high calling to that mission. 19 I've taught at some of the best high schools 20 in New York City and some of the most 21 difficult, and I found it a very exciting 22 experience. 23 Secondly, I voted against the bill 24 in 2003. I thought there were many problems

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(518) 371-8910 1 with that bill. There are still problems even 2 with this bill. I appreciated the mention of 3 absolute power corrupting absolutely, and I 4 think that is a point well-taken. Lord Acton 5 I think would be proud that we have been using 6 his phrase. 7 But I think we have to draw a 8 distinction between the word "control" in 9 mayoral control and absolute power, because we 10 cannot continue with even the concept of 11 absolute power. That is a mistake. And 12 that's a mistake that I think everybody makes. 13 This is a question to me not of 14 control, but of governance. And there is a 15 distinction there. The federal government was 16 mentioned here. And what has the federal 17 government done, with all due respect, to 18 education? They've given us No Child Left 19 Behind. Except they forgot to send along the 20 money. The money. If we ever had a mandate 21 without money, that's what No Child Left 22 Behind is. 23 It seems to me that when New York 24 spends more than on education in New York

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(518) 371-8910 1 State than the federal government does in all 2 50 states -- that used to be true; I believe 3 it is still true -- then we have a lack of 4 concern on the part of the federal government. 5 And incidentally, with No Child 6 Left Behind, I think that's the root of some 7 of our problems when it comes to testing. 8 They're now talking about testing children in 9 kindergarten. To me, that's insane. Little 10 children at the age of 5 are going to start 11 taking exams? 12 It seems to me also that the 13 amendments that we pass today are important, 14 particularly the ones dealing with the 15 superintendent and the other three as well. 16 But particularly the superintendent. Because 17 the job of a superintendent is not to be a 18 glorified complaint bureau. The job of a 19 superintendent should be in a superintendent's 20 office in a district, administering to that 21 district, not wandering around the city 22 willy-nilly. 23 And lastly, I think it's important 24 that we passed the resolution on the select

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(518) 371-8910 1 committee, because there are many defects in 2 the current system. And it's my hope that the 3 select committee will do its homework, so to 4 speak, and find these defects, meet 5 periodically, and remedy what's wrong. 6 I could vote either way on this 7 bill. I truly could go either way. I intend 8 to vote for it because I'm an optimist and I 9 hope that we will be able to fix the most 10 glaring defects in the bill. 11 So, Mr. President, I will vote aye. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 13 you, Senator Stavisky. 14 Seeing no other Senators who wish 15 to be heard, the debate is closed. 16 The Secretary will please ring the 17 bells. 18 Read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 17. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Diaz, to explain his vote. 2 (Groans; catcalls.) 3 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 4 Mr. Chairman. 5 Where's the beef? Where's the 6 beef? Where's the beef? 7 Mr. President, Mr. President, 8 ladies and gentlemen, I received a letter from 9 the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats -- 10 President Lucy Koteen, First Vice President 11 Raul Rothblatt, Second Vice President Bobby 12 Carroll, Treasurer Marty Bernstein, Recording 13 Secretary John Keefe, and Corresponding 14 Secretary Joy Romanski. They're asking me to 15 vote against this thing. 16 I have a letter from constituents, 17 a letter from Harlem Commission on School 18 Governance, and they say: "As your 19 constituents, we urge you to vote against the 20 Padavan-Silver bill even with the proposed 21 chapter amendments. Its provisions are 22 inadequate in terms of ensuring checks and 23 balances and giving parents and teachers a 24 seat at the table."

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(518) 371-8910 1 So listening to my constituents, 2 even the Central Brooklyn Independent 3 Democrats -- they're not from my district, but 4 thought that I could say something today. So, 5 Mr. President, I am proudly voting no. 6 And I am telling you have a nice 7 rest of the season, because I'm on my way to 8 the Bronx. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 10 you very much, Senator Diaz. You will be 11 recorded in the negative. 12 Announce the results. 13 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 14 the negative on Calendar Number 958 are 15 Senators Adams, Diaz, Duane, Huntley, 16 C. Kruger, Montgomery, Parker and Perkins. 17 Absent from voting: Senator 18 Stachowski. 19 Ayes, 47. Nays, 8. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 21 bill is passed. 22 Senator Klein, that completes the 23 controversial reading of the bills on the 24 calendar.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Let's have some order. The summer 2 is upon us. Please. 3 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, on 4 behalf of Senator Sampson, I move to recommit 5 Calendar Number 953 to the Committee on Rules. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: So 7 ordered. 8 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, is 9 there any further business at the desk? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: No, 11 Senator Klein, there is no further business. 12 SENATOR KLEIN: We do have one 13 announcement, if you could just call on 14 Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson for a brief 15 announcement. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 17 Senator Hassell-Thompson. 18 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 19 you, Mr. President. 20 Immediately following today's 21 session there will be a conference in the 22 Majority Conference Room, 332. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: There 24 will be a conference of the Majority in Room

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(518) 371-8910 1 332 immediately after. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 3 there being no further business, I move that 4 we adjourn the Senate at the call of the 5 Temporary President, intervening days being 6 legislative days. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 8 Senate is adjourned at the call of the 9 Temporary President, intervening days being 10 legislative days. 11 (Whereupon, at 2:30 p.m., the 12 Senate adjourned.) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

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(518) 371-8910