Sunday, November 8, 2009

Suozzi wants control of schools, wins criticism


Suozzi wants control of schools, wins criticism:

"A proposal by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi for the executive to control school districts was dismissed out of hand by superintendents and local politicians Saturday.

In an op-ed piece in Newsday Sunday, Suozzi argues Tuesday's election convinced him that the county executive should be in charge of public schools.

Democrat Suozzi, whose re-election race against Republican Edward Mangano will be decided by more than 6,000 absentee ballots, said he believes voters blame him for Nassau's high property taxes even though schools account for 65 percent of their bill.

He suggests using Mayor Michael Bloomberg's takeover of the New York City school system in 2002 as a model for Nassau to achieve savings, though he acknowledges the move needs state approval. 'I'm sure this will be the beginning of a long debate,' Suozzi said Saturday. 'I encourage others to present additional ideas on how to address our property tax problem.'"