The Monroe County School Boards Association has filed suit in state Supreme Court to prevent county legislators from following through on a short-sighted and illegal plan to divert funds intended for local school districts.

The Monroe County Legislature recently passed a plan that would subsidize county Medicaid costs by diverting $29 million in annual sales tax revenue normally shared with 24 suburban districts.

Aside from stripping schools of funding they need to provide education and support services for children, the "FAIR" plan, as it has been dubbed, would result in higher school property taxes as districts struggle to recoup their losses.

The lawsuit contends that the plan would violate state law and agreements with several Monroe County communities.

"The county government does not have the legal authority to unilaterally change the law for distributing sales tax money or to pick and choose who will receive those dollars," said MCSBA Executive Director Jody Siegle. "The distribution of the money is a matter of state law. This is not the county's money to use as they please."

NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi said the union and its Monroe County affiliates are fighting the plan. "At a time when schools are being asked to meet new mandates and are working hard to deliver achievement gains, the plan put forth by the Monroe County executive and Legislature is illogical and irresponsible," he said.

NYSUT Vice President Kathleen Donahue, who led the Monroe County Federation of Teachers for 21 years, said, "The citizens of Monroe County deserve better than a fiscal plan that drains funds from schools and shifts additional burdens to property taxpayers." Donahue was a member of the Monroe County Education Coalition.