"This year's New York state budget passed the Legislature just hours before the first pitch of the new baseball season sailed across home plate," said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi in audio commentary that recently aired on WAMC Northeast Public Radio's Midday Magazine.

"Like a good knuckle ball, it wobbled in a myriad of directions and then miraculously crossed the plate right down the middle, although some might say a little high and outside!"

• Download: MP3 Audio (4 MB). Complete commentary.

Audio file courtesy WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Compromise is in everyone's best interests

By Richard Iannuzzi

This year's New York state budget passed the Legislature just hours before the first pitch of the new baseball season sailed across home plate. Like a good knuckle ball, it wobbled in a myriad of directions and then miraculously crossed the plate right down the middle, although some might say a little high and outside!

Baseball and the state budget have a lot in common. For example, both spark passionate debate among spectators as April 1st draws near. In fact, many people consider budget-watching a sport, just like baseball. And, both certainly involve keeping score.

While declaring winners and losers in a ballgame is as American as hot dogs and Cracker Jacks, that's not how we should look at a state budget… especially an education budget.

I learned in my 34 years of teaching that when there's disagreement, and there were many in this budget round, there are tried and true ways of reaching a resolution. I taught my fourth-graders that first they needed to calm down, and then respectful discussion, careful listening and reasonable compromise are the best ways to solve problems.

The final education budget forged by the Governor and the Legislature suggests they practiced compromise, although it may have started a little late in the game.

Governor Spitzer had proposed targeting significant new resources to educate our neediest children … as part of a spending plan that would add resources for every school district. State senators wanted a budget that helped soften the impact of rising property taxes and added additional resources.

Assembly leaders emphasized the importance of class size reduction and pre-kindergarten programs, and raised concerns about increasing the number of charter schools without reforming flaws in the charter law.

Each showed considerable perseverance and a willingness to get the job done. Despite more than a few foul balls, in the end, they forged a well-crafted education budget that was adopted right on-time… give or take a few hours.

The Governor's historic foundation approach to educating children in poverty carried the day in the final budget. At the same time, the Senate added resources to mitigate the tax impact in a significant number of communities and the Assembly proposal for pre-kindergarten, as well as some reforms for charter schools, made the final budget agreement.

Some in the news media tried to magnify the differences. More than a few newspapers kept score like the budget was a baseball game, declaring winners and losers in their post-budget analysis.

While that's easy to do, I see it differently. Our state leaders thought seriously about how to craft an education budget that was in the best interests of children and public education. They tied increased resources to needed reforms and now it's up to all of us to make it work. It may not be perfect, but there are few perfect games, and there is still time in this legislative session to address concerns.

In fact, the next big issue should be how the Governor and Legislature can re-tool the Berger Commission's recommendations and prevent the devastation caused by, in some cases, the unwise closing of hospitals.

Among the most glaring is a proposal to fold the public SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital in Syracuse into the private Crouse Memorial Hospital. Central New York residents rely on University Hospital to service the needs of their region and most importantly the needs of the most impoverished citizens.

Because of how the Commission was structured, its recommendations will go into effect unless the Governor and Legislature can work out a compromise. This effectively by passing the newly elected administration and Legislature. Not very democratic by any account.

It is vital for the Legislature and Governor to take a thorough look at the implications of the Berger Commission's recommendations on SUNY hospitals and other institutions.

I'm confident that, as the facts emerge, our state leaders will again be able to work together and arrive at a compromise that's in the best interests of all New Yorkers.

There is still time to win this one for New York's most needy residents who rely heavily on SUNY hospitals, remembering the words of baseball's philosopher king, Yogi Berra:

"It ain't over 'till it's over!"