Without parochial systems and other options, an extra $4.1B would be needed to educate all kids

Staten Island Advance/Irving SilversteinBarbara Bortle Gainey, foreground, says study confirms what Staten Island's Catholic school community has known for years.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Even as Catholic schools on Staten Island struggle to keep their doors open, a new budget analysis has found that parochial and private schools are saving the city billions of dollars each year.

The Department of Education (DOE) budget would increase by $4.1 billion were the city's 225,000 non-public school students to be absorbed into public schools at the current spending-per-pupil rate, according to a study released by the Independent Budget Office (IBO).

Or, if the city absorbed all of those students without any budget increase, spending per student would drop 16 percent, the study found.

The study was requested by Staten Island City Councilmen James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn) and Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore) in May, in response to several proposals to cut government subsidies to the city's non-public schools.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed cutting nurses at hundreds of schools -- most of them non-public -- during budget negotiations, while some Albany legislators wanted to reduce state reimbursements to non-public schools for mandated services, such as state testing.

The results of the study hold even more significance given recent news that 32 city Catholic schools -- four of them on the Island -- are facing closure because of a budget crisis.

Oddo and Ignizio, both products of Island Catholic schools, said the IBO figures help substantiate a longstanding argument that non-public schools provide both an educational and economic benefit to the city.

"There is a symbiotic relationship between the public and the private schools. This is not an 'us versus them.' Every taxpayer benefits," Ignizio said.

Oddo said he hopes it answers some of the critics who believe taxpayer money should not be spent on non-public schools. State and city law requires the city provide nurses in every school, transportation for students up to sixth grade and reimbursement for some mandated programs.

"I just want to stop all the hating. They way I see it, [non-public schools] provide a property tax relief of sorts," Oddo said.

The councilmen asked the IBO how much the city saves as a result of students attending non-public schools. While it could not give a definitive number due to too many "unknown" variables, the agency provided several scenarios that show the city's parochial and private schools do provide a substantial fiscal benefit for the city.

There were 868,678 K-12 students enrolled in public schools, excluding charter schools and special education programs, according to Fiscal Year 2010 enrollment figures. Excluding federal and categorical aid, the per-capita cost of education for each student was $16,542, the IBO found.

There are 224,548 K-12 students enrolled at non-public schools, including about 14,000 Catholic school students on the Island. Add those students into the public system, and spending would either decrease to $13,943 per student or increase overall by $4.1 billion, the study found.

"Of course, the reality is that the outcome would be somewhere between these two extremes," IBO director Ronnie Lowenstein wrote in a response included with the analysis.

The IBO's cursory analysis does not delve into other benefits of non-public schools. For many parents, the city's diverse education options are a big reason they don't move to the suburbs.

Barbara Bortle Gainey, head of the Staten Island Federation of Catholic School Parents, said she has been making this argument for years, to little avail.

"We can say it until we are blue in the face, but there are those in Albany who simply do not care," Ms. Gainey said.

Ms. Gainey's organization and others have been pushing the state Legislature to pass measures to help keep non-public schools viable. They include reimbursing the schools for the MTA payroll tax, a move that already has been approved by the Assembly but is awaiting action in the Senate; providing refunds to private and Catholic schools for the Comprehensive Attendance Policy reimbursement, and a tuition tax credit based on income.

The average tuition at a Catholic high school in the city is about $7,000 per year, and paying for other private schools can be the equivalent of paying for college. That cost, Ms. Gainey said, is the main reason enrollment at Island parochial high schools has dropped by 10.5 percent between 2008 and 2009.

"The parents say they love the education their kids are receiving but they just can't afford to send them to Catholic schools anymore," Ms. Gainey noted.

51 percent surveyed say magazine exec does not have right experience to be chancellor

Associated PressCathie Black speaks while Mayor Michael Bloomberg looks on during a news conference at City Hall on Nov. 9.

State education commissioner expected to grant waiver Monday The state's education commissioner will grant media executive Cathie Black a waiver Monday to serve as chancellor of the nation's largest school system, an official with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press yesterday.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and the mayor's new choice for chancellor, Cathie Black, attend a cabinet meeting at the city Department of Education headquarters earlier this month. (Associated Press)

More men are shaking the stigma and taking the role of president

Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-HammelGeorge Leicht, with his 14-year-old son Christopher Dileone, is PTA president at the Hungerford School.

View full sizeStaten Island Advance/Anthony DePrimoEddie Wu of Port Richmond, president of the PTA at PS 65, takes his 6-year-old son Chase to school.

Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-HammelDiscussing Hungerford School business as, from the left, teacher Christine Longo; George Leicht, Hungerford School PTA President; Lindsey Miller, school administrator, and Jacqueline Stokes, ADL teacher.

Here are the Staten Island schools that have men as president of their PTAs:

* Ron Selznick, co-president, Michael J. Petrides School;

* Aaron Bogad, president, PS 5;

* Christopher DiForte, president, Morris Intermediate School;

* James Curd, president, Laurie Intermediate School;

* Jessup Reid, president, PS 74;

* Eddie Wu, president, PS 65;

* George Leicht, president, Hungerford School at the Marsh Avenue Expeditionary
Learning School, New Springville;

* Donald DeRosa, Susan Wagner High School.

NEW YORK -- The future head of New York City's public school system is continuing her tour of the schools she will lead. Magazine executive Cathie Black visited two Queens elementary schools today. The visits were closed to the media, and the Department of Education did not disclose which schools Black had visited until afterward. Department spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz said...

Associated PressCathie Black, New York's new schools chancellor, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, center, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, right, arrive for a visit to Public School 109 in the Bronx yesterday.

Shael Polakow-Suransky will introduce himself during CEC 31 soiree at the Petrides School, Sunnyside

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The recently appointed second-in-command of the city Department of Education will introduce himself to Staten Island parents at a Community Education Council 31 meeting on Monday.

Shael Polakow-Suransky, who is currently serving as a deputy chancellor, will begin his new post as chief academic officer in January, once Hearst Magazines executive Cathleen Black takes the helm as the new schools chancellor.

Associated Press file photoCathie Black speaks while Mayor Michael Bloomberg looks on during a news conference at City Hall on Nov. 9.

At the meeting, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Michael J. Petrides School in Sunnyside, Suransky will discuss school progress reports and the national Common Core Standards initiative.

Suransky began his career with the city school system in 1994 as a math and history teacher. He was an assistant principal for a year before founding the Bronx International High School in 2001. He holds a degree in education and urban studies from Brown University, as well as a master's in educational leadership from the Bank Street School of Education.

His new duties will include administering education politicies and serving as an adviser to Ms. Black.

Ms. Black was chosen by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to be the new schools chancellor last month, after Joel Klein resigned to take a job as an executive vice president at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Though critics felt the leader of the schools system should have an education background, Bloomberg said he opted for Ms. Black because of her managerial experience.

Suransky was appointed to assist her after the state refused to grant Ms. Black a waiver -- because of her lack of credentials as an educator -- unless a seasoned educator worked at her side.

'Soft landing' sought for 37 instructors

Staten Island Advance/Anthony DePrimoSt. Mary School in Rosebank is among four Staten Island schools that the Archdiocese of New York will cease to subsidize.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Anticipating layoffs by the end of the school year, 37 Staten Island Catholic school teachers are asking for help from the Archdiocese of New York if their "at-risk" schools cannot be saved by a deadline next month.

The teachers' union, at a meeting, asked that the archdiocese assist in providing a "soft landing" for those whose jobs hang in the balance, though officials would not specify what that would entail.

"This is a very difficult time for the teachers," said Patricia Gabriel, who heads the Federation of Catholic Teachers. "We worry about them and how they'll come out of this. That's really what the meeting was about."

Of the 37 teachers on Staten Island, 30 work full time. Throughout the archdiocese, 373 teachers may lose their jobs, including 290 full-time workers. Dozens of principals, custodians and support staff also will be behind the eight ball.

The archdiocese announced last month that it can no longer provide $12 million to support 32 schools, of which $1.3 million was spent on four borough schools: St. Margaret Mary School, Midland Beach; St. Sylvester School, Concord; St. Roch School, Port Richmond, and St. Mary School, Rosebank. It said the criteria evaluated in selecting the schools included enrollment, financial subsidies, infrastructure, test scores, demographic trends and the proximity of other parochial schools.

A former first-grade teacher at St. Sylvester, Ms. Gabriel said she's heartbroken over the school's possible closure.

"On so many levels, this hurts," she said. "For the kids, for their parents, for the teachers, for the entire community," she said, adding, "We're hopeful not all these schools will be closed, but we have to prepare for that."

When asked last weekend what he thought of potentially shuttering those schools, Archbishop Timothy Dolan told the Advance he was saddened, but said it would strengthen archdiocese schools overall.

"I'm worried, too, but what's most important is that our kids have access to a quality Catholic education," he said.

Any school that wishes to remain open is enjoined to submit a proposal in the coming days to the archdiocese explaining how the school might maintain financial sustainability. The archdiocese is expected to make its final decisions in January.

Ms. Gabriel said meetings between the union and the archdiocese will continue, with the next one scheduled for early January.

The incoming chancellor of the city's public school system is asking the public to give her a chance to show that she can do the job. Publishing executive Cathie Black defended her skills and experience as a manager of large, complex organizations in her first interview, broadcast yesterday on WABC-TV. "Give me a chance. I will listen. I will...

View full sizeAP PhotoThe new chancellor of New York City Public Schools Cathie Black listens during a news conference at City Hall in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. Mayor Michael Bloomberg named Black, a top publishing executive, to head the nation's largest school system on Tuesday after announcing that New York City's longterm chancellor was stepping down. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The incoming chancellor of the city's public school system is asking the public to give her a chance to show that she can do the job.

Publishing executive Cathie Black defended her skills and experience as a manager of large, complex organizations in her first interview, broadcast yesterday on WABC-TV.

"Give me a chance. I will listen. I will be out in the community," she said. "Don't judge someone that you have never even met."

The 66-year-old Hearst Magazines chairwoman has faced criticism over her lack of education experience since being appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

During the interview broadcast yesterday, Black was at times prickly and seemed to sidestep questions about her lack of educational experience, saying the mayor had told her he was seeking a "proven manager" to serve as chancellor.

"I believe that one of the reasons that the mayor wanted somebody with a different set of skills is that we need to think differently," she said. "It's tough times out there."

The state granted her a waiver last week to bypass a requirement that chancellors have credentials as educators.

Speaking about her decision to send her own children to private schools, Black said that "schools in New York City 15 years ago were not at the caliber that they are today."

"At the end of the day, it is about choice. And we made that choice. But I'm here to serve New York City's 1.1 million children in the most effective way, to give their parents choice to choose the best schools possible," she said.

She defended mayoral control of the city and deflected questions about the transparency of her selection. "I can't talk about the process," she said.

She was critical of teacher tenure, saying she couldn't imagine saying to somebody at age 24 or 25 that they "have lifetime guarantee for this position, just show up every day. It's inconceivable."

When the interviewer hinted that such a view might stir up resentment from teachers, she was resolute.

"If children first is really at the heart of what a teacher should be doing, there should be ways that we can work at this," she responded.

Asked how she felt about the opposition to her selection, she said she did not take it personally and felt that critics were simply "venting their own anger" because they do not know her personally.

"None of this is going to change the outcome," she said. "So let's go forward -- together."

But Department of Education vows an immediate appeal

Advance file photoNearly 3,000 Island students lost their free rides to school due to planned cuts to yellow bus service.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. --
A Supreme Court judge ruled today that the city's decision to take away yellow bus service for thousands of seventh and eighth grade Staten Island students was made "without concern for the welfare and safety of the affected students."

In a 26-page decision, the Hon. John Fusco said he was "sympathetic" to the city Department of Education for having to make tough budget cutbacks, but said taxpayers residing in the five boroughs "deserve" more thought first, including studies demonstrating there would be minimal impact on students should the transportation be taken away.

"This court is aware of the painstaking work involved in reaching the decisions that affect the citizens of this city, whether those decisions are received with applause or anger," the ruling reads. "However...budgetary decisions that affect pupil education cannot be made on assumptions without a factual basis to support those assumptions."

Parents and local elected leaders had filed a contentious lawsuit against the city after school bus variances were taken from nearly 3,000 seventh- and eighth-graders across the borough starting this school year.

City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore) said he was thrilled by the ruling, but that the fight isn't over just yet. The city still has the opportunity to file an appeal, which could keep the buses off the roads as it is being reviewed in court.

"We're extremely happy that the judge saw it as an act that was made arbitrarily and capriciously and endangered children," he said. "Our hope is that the new chancellor will take a fresh look at this and not seek to appeal."

Ignizio said he would reach out to newly-appointed School Chancellor Cathie Black this week to discuss the issue.

It was clear from the city's response to the decision, however, that his conversations could prove fruitless.

"The city and its Department of Education strongly disagree with the court's conclusion that the DOE's budgetary decision to discontinue yellow-bus transportation for 7th and 8th graders in Staten Island and on the Rockaway Peninsula was arbitrary and capricious," a statement issued by the city law department read. "In determining that these students must be provided yellow-bus transportation, while 7th and 8th graders throughout the rest of the city are not, the court ignored both the law, the record and equity. We will be taking an immediate appeal, and will invoke our automatic stay."

Parents, pols win suit vs. city, which will appeal

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A state Supreme Court justice ruled yesterday that the city's decision to take away yellow bus service from thousands of Staten Island seventh- and eighth-graders was made "without concern for the welfare and safety of the affected students."

Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-HammelStudents board buses after being dismissed from Paulo Intermediate School in Huguenot in May. Justice John Fusco ruled that the city was wrong to cut service for seventh-and eighth-graders.

The decision was in response to a lawsuit that parents and local elected leaders on Staten Island filed against the city after the school bus variances were taken from nearly 3,000 students across the borough at the start of the school year.

The city has said it will immediately appeal, a process that could keep the buses off the roads for some time, as the court case continues to play out.

In his 26-page decision, Justice John Fusco acknowledged the tough budget choices faced by the city Department of Education but said the denial-of-service decision should have been more considered. The impact on students and their families should have been intensively studied, he maintained.

"This court is aware of the painstaking work involved in reaching the decisions that affect the citizens of this city, whether those decisions are received with applause or anger," the ruling reads. "However ... budgetary decisions that affect pupil education cannot be made on assumptions without a factual basis to support those assumptions."

City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore) said he was thrilled by the ruling. "We're extremely happy that the judge saw it as an act that was made arbitrarily and capriciously and endangered children," Ignizio said. "Our hope is that the new chancellor will take a fresh look at this and not seek to appeal."

Advance file photoIn his decision, Justice John Fusco faulted Department of Education for haste with which it decided to deny bus service to seventh- and eighth-graders.

Assemblywoman-elect Nicole Malliotakis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn) said she spoke with newly appointed Schools Chancellor Cathie Black yesterday to stress that "it is unreasonable to strip Staten Island students of such a vital service."

It was clear from the city's response to the decision, however, that their conversations could prove fruitless.

"The city and its Department of Education strongly disagree with the court's conclusion that the DOE's budgetary decision to discontinue yellow-bus transportation for 7th and 8th graders in Staten Island and on the Rockaway Peninsula was arbitrary and capricious," a statement issued by the city law department read. "In determining that these students must be provided yellow-bus transportation, while 7th and 8th graders throughout the rest of the city are not, the court ignored both the law, the record and equity. We will be taking an immediate appeal, and will invoke our automatic stay."

Ronald Castorina, the Sunnyside attorney representing parents pro bono, said he's hopeful Fusco's ruling will stand strong in the appellate division.

"The court was very sensitive to all the issues that were raised," he said. "It was a very well-written, well-drafted decision that hit each of the points of the proceedings. It's an iron-clad decision, rooted in law -- rooted in facts."

Though the city plans to ask for a stay -- meaning buses would stay off the roads until the appeal is considered, there is a chance the court could refuse it immediately.

There is also a chance the stay would go to a hearing, though the decision would likely be made in a matter of days.

An appeal, however, could take up to a year by some estimates.

While awaiting the news, parents have been celebrating their victory.

"I'm just really overjoyed the court took as much time as it did considering the evidence, considering the facts, considering the testimonies," said Peter Calandrella, a member of the Community Education Council 31. "It's tremendous."

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The incoming second-in-command for the city Department of Education faced one of his first challenges last night since his new post was announced: facing the criticisms of Staten Island education leaders on the weaknesses of the school system. Shael Polakow-Suransky, the soon-to-be chief academic officer, was grilled last night by parents, principals and education advocates...

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The incoming second-in-command for the city Department of Education faced one of his first challenges last night since his new post was announced: facing the criticisms of Staten Island education leaders on the weaknesses of the school system.

Staten Island Advance/Hilton FloresShael Polakow-Suransky, the incoming second-in-command for the city Department of Education, looks over a report during his visit to the Petrides School in Sunnyside.

Shael Polakow-Suransky, the soon-to-be chief academic officer, was grilled last night by parents, principals and education advocates on everything from the overreliance of test scores to the most recent controversial decision by the mayor to appoint Hearst Magazines executive Cathleen Black as the new schools chancellor, effective in January.

At no point did he break a sweat. Rather, during the Community Education Council 31 meeting held at the Michael J. Petrides School in Sunnyside, Suransky, seemed to have a genuine interest in hearing what parents had to say; he listened attentively and answered each question thoroughly and gracefully.

At the meeting, he gave a presentation on changes to be made in schools by 2013, particularly with regard to state tests, including adding more writing and researching components. 

Among his goals, he expressed a desire to take advantage of the city's "talented educators" and seek parental input in major decision-making processes -- a main criticism of outgoing Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

"I think having conversations like this tonight where there's an honest dialogue about where people's concerns are is one place to start," said Suransky, who is currently a deputy chancellor.

His first order of business, however, was defending his new boss.

"I would ask you, for whatever concerns that you may have, to actually get to know her," he said. "Because I've spent some time with her over the past few weeks and I'm very impressed. I think she's a strong leader. I think the mayor really knows how to pick people and I think...we're going to be a good team."

NEW YORK -- A lawsuit over whether to release performance ratings for 12,000 New York City schoolteachers based on student test scores is headed to court this week. The city Department of Education says the public has a right to know which teachers are making the grade. But the teachers union fears its members will be unfairly subjected to...

NEW YORK -- A lawsuit over whether to release performance ratings for 12,000 New York City schoolteachers based on student test scores is headed to court this week.

Staten Island Advance/Irving SilversteinOutgoing Schools Chancellor Joel Klein

The city Department of Education says the public has a right to know which teachers are making the grade. But the teachers union fears its members will be unfairly subjected to ridicule based on student test scores they cannot control.

A hearing is scheduled tomorrow in Manhattan state Supreme Court.

Outgoing schools chancellor Joel Klein says the so-called value-added scores prove that not all teachers are equally effective.

But the union argues that the value-added scores cannot account for all the factors that affect student performance on tests.

Supreme Court Justice John Fusco has ruled that city Department of Education was wrong to deny yellow-bus service to seventh- and eighth-graders on Staten Island. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If you thought a big court loss might induce Mayor Michael Bloomberg to back down in the fight over school bus cuts on Staten Island, think again. "We will argue...

Supreme Court Justice John Fusco has ruled that city Department of Education was wrong to deny yellow-bus service to seventh- and eighth-graders on Staten Island.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If you thought a big court loss might induce Mayor Michael Bloomberg to back down in the fight over school bus cuts on Staten Island, think again.

"We will argue all the way to the Supreme Court" for the right to make budget cuts, Bloomberg said yesterday.

"We have to balance the budget, and sometimes the judges just don't understand," the mayor said, speaking to reporters at City Hall.

That was in response to state Supreme Court Justice John Fusco's ruling Monday that the city took away yellow-bus service from thousands of Island seventh- and eighth-graders this year "without concern for the welfare and safety of the affected students."

Fusco ruled in favor of the Island parents and legislators, led by City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore), who sued the city over the bus cuts in June.

The Department of Education vowed to appeal the decision, which means the case could drag on for at least a few more months. The agency said it needs to eliminate the bus variance for the Island to save about $1.7 million -- the DOE generally provides transportation for students only through sixth grade.

"This is a relatively small sacrifice compared to the teachers that we would lose. And you can say it's a small amount of money, but it is not a small amount of money to the 20-25 teachers we would have to lay off," Bloomberg said.

"We are going to have to start making 'either/or' decisions. Every one of them is going to be controversial. If you were to have judges stop a number of them, the consequences would be disastrous for the city, because then you have no choice but to go to what you are trying to prevent," he added.

Fusco would disagree. In his decision, he acknowledged the DOE had to make tough choices to cut its budget. However, the testimony and evidence in the lawsuit proved to him the agency's decision to cut the school variance was "made on assumptions without a factual basis to support those assumptions."

With that court decision as leverage, Ignizio and others were hoping to resolve the issue diplomatically. The mayor's comments yesterday would seem to have scotched that idea.

"The mayor continues to have a tin ear when it comes to Staten Island-specific issues," Ignizio said.

"This is not a budget issue. No other borough would tolerate this amount of neglect when it comes to public safety. And that's what this is about -- public safety."

The public pins most of the blame for poor college graduation rates on students and their parents and gives a pass to colleges, government officials and others, a new Associated Press-Stanford University poll shows. All sectors of American higher education received high marks for quality. That extends to for-profit colleges, despite recent criticism of dubious recruiting tactics, high student loan...

All sectors of American higher education received high marks for quality. That extends to for-profit colleges, despite recent criticism of dubious recruiting tactics, high student loan default rates and other problems at some schools.

The belief that students are most at fault for graduation rates is a troubling sign for reformers who have elevated college completion to the forefront of higher education policy debates and pushed colleges to fix the problem, said Michael Kirst, professor emeritus of education and business administration at Stanford.

"The message is, 'Students, you had your shot at college and failed and it's your fault, not the college,'" Kirst said.

When asked where the blame lies for graduation rates at public four-year colleges, 7 in 10 said students shouldered either a great deal or a lot of it, and 45 percent felt that way about parents.

Others got off relatively easy: Anywhere between 25 percent and 32 percent of those polled blamed college administrators, professors, teachers, unions, state education officials and federal education officials.

"We're all responsible for our own education, and by the time you get to college you are definitely responsible and mature," said Deanna Ginn, a mother of 12 from Fairbanks, Alaska.

Taking a closer look at the numbers:

-- Republicans are likelier than Democrats to blame federal officials for today's college graduation rates -- 34 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of Democrats point at them.

-- There's a small partisan difference on the student blame question: Seventy-seven percent of Republicans and 68 percent of Democrats fault students heavily.

-- Minorities are more prone than whites to blame professors and teachers for college graduation rates, with 40 percent of minorities but just 29 percent of whites doing so.

-- Fifty-seven percent of minorities blame parents for college graduation rates, while just 40 percent of whites do.

Sara Goldrick-Rab, assistant professor of educational policy studies and sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the results are deeply troubling and mean elite colleges and universities have succeeded in diverting blame from themselves.

"Those supporting the completion agenda need to push back -- hard -- and emphasize the role colleges play in supporting or undermining student success," she said.

After long emphasizing access to college, higher education policy debates have shifted only recently to focusing on getting students through. The Obama administration has called for the United States to again lead the world in number of college graduates by 2020.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation and others have directed money and attention to states and colleges to improve completion rates, and several states are taking action.

Stan Jones, president of Complete College America, which championed such efforts, disagreed that the poll spells trouble for reform.

"This will play out like the high school dropout issue," he said. "The more it becomes a subject of public discussion the more advances we will make on confronting the college dropout problem."

Just over half of first-time students who entered college in 2003-04 had not earned a degree or credential within six years, the Education Department reported recently. That's slightly worse than students who started in 1995-96.

Experts caution it is tricky to measure success and compare graduation rates because today's older, less-traditional college student population takes more time to finish school and is harder to track.

The AP-Stanford poll found most people were happy with the quality of higher education in their states.

Despite severe budget cuts and spiraling tuition at many public four-year colleges, those schools received the highest marks: Seventy-four percent in the poll called them excellent or good.

But others institutions got strong marks, too: Four-year private nonprofit colleges (71 percent), two-year public colleges (69 percent), private for-profit colleges (66 percent) and private for-profit trade schools (57 percent).

That's a rare glimpse at public opinion about for-profit colleges, which have been fighting proposed regulations that would that would cut off federal aid.

The poll also found overwhelming agreement that there is a link between the nation's prosperity and the quality of its education system.

Overall, 88 percent say economic prosperity and quality education are closely entwined, a 12-percentage-point increase over a similar poll two years ago. Nearly 80 percent said that having all Americans graduate from a two- or four-year college would help the economy.

Yet most in the poll are unwilling to invest more in the nation's school systems in order to obtain that economic payoff -- just 42 percent favor raising taxes to pay for better education.

The poll was conducted September 23-30 by Abt SRBI Inc. It involved interviews on landline and cellular telephones with 1,001 adults nationwide, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Stanford University's participation was made possible by a grant from the Gates Foundation.

NEW YORK -- U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is in New York City for a meeting with the publishing executive who is poised to take over the city's public school system. Duncan says he will meet with Cathie Black today and he hopes to support her in any way he can. The chairwoman of Hearst Magazines will take over...

Associated PressThe new chancellor of New York City Public Schools Cathie Black

NEW YORK -- U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is in New York City for a meeting with the publishing executive who is poised to take over the city's public school system.

Duncan says he will meet with Cathie Black today and he hopes to support her in any way he can.

The chairwoman of Hearst Magazines will take over for outgoing Chancellor Joel Klein next month.

While in New York Duncan also will be announcing a plan to beef up GED preparation courses.

He says he's a "huge fan" of Klein and that Black deserves credit for taking on such a tough job.

Duncan was head of Chicago's public school system before President Obama chose him for a Cabinet post.

But i-n-o-c-u-l-a-t-e is just what the doctor ordered for Rain Cinco, an eighth-grader at St. Patrick School

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Rain Cinco credits the hours she spent online studying commonly misspelled words for inoculating her against that particular doozy -- "inoculate" -- the polysyllabic mouthful that stumped the runner-up in yesterday's Staten Island Catholic Schools Spelling Bee.

Staten Island Advance/Bill LyonsRain Cinco of St. Patrick School won the Staten Island Catholic Schools Spelling Bee by spelling "inoculate" correctly while Meredith Forseyth of St. Rita School came in second. (Staten Island Advance/Bill Lyons)

The soft-spoken St. Patrick School eighth-grader cinched the title in front of a packed auditorium of spellbound parents and educators at St. Christopher School, Grant City, by then correctly spelling "catastrophe" -- making her second showing in the districtwide competition (she finished second as a sixth-grader) anything but.

"I pretty much looked online and Googled commonly misspelled words and 'inoculate' was one of them," said Miss Cinco, who lives in Richmond, admitting to having winged two previous successfully spelled words, "knish" and "incendiary."

To be sure, the student's quick mind and passion for reading also had a hand in the victory, said proud St. Patrick Principal Deborah Brochin, who was among roughly 150 parents, teachers and principals in the audience, watching as 35 fifth- through eighth-grade contestants from borough Catholic schools engaged in an intellectual battle for spelling supremacy.

"It's well-deserved," said Ms. Brochin, throwing a nurturing arm around Miss Cinco's shoulder and smiling.

Though some students might have taken "umbrage" (not umbridge) at their dismal luck to have been on the receiving end of such words as "nonage" "discotheque" and "brigadier," they gained invaluable skills merely by appearing in the competition, said Kathy Curatolo, principal of St. Christopher, which was hosting the event for the fourth year.

OTHER SKILLS
"Yes, spelling is tried and true but it's not the only important thing, they're learning public speaking, concentration," she said, as she watched the youngsters, representing 28 borough schools, quietly take the microphone from each other, hold it mouth-level and move to center stage.

When their turns came, they clasped their hands behind them, wobbled on their heels or tugged on their shirts. As they spelled, their eyes found distant spots on the ceiling, looked back into their heads, or they stared out at the audience for their parents, hoping to see their heads nod "yes" with each correct letter.

With Christmas lights strung on the stage behind them and dressed in their neat school uniforms, the students seemed to have taken a page from the storybook of quintessential American childhood.

Calling Judge Theresa Simmonds, a retired principal, read each word with Old-World diction -- a crisp, exacting style of speech sometimes lost on Staten Island youngsters, who asked her to repeat the words and use them in sentences -- then would restate the words through the filters of their everyday accents, making, for example, correctly spelled "mortar" morph into something sounding more like "mordeh."

BELL OF DOOM
In the initial rounds, the silence in the room was rarely punctuated by the high-pitched metal bell on the judges' table. But as the words escalated in difficulty, the bell began to sing.

"Benumbed," "equestrian," "stentorian", "alpaca" -- ding, ding, ding, ding.

When Miss Cinco became the last one standing, she received graceful congratulations from Michael McMilen of St. Joseph School, who came in fourth, and Kristen Campbell of Sacred Heart, who came in third, along with Meredith Forseyth of St. Rita School in second.

"I am pretty calm right now," said Miss Cinco, hardly cracking a grin. "But I know when I get home, I'm going to be jumping up and down."

Former Hearst Magazines chairwoman Cathie Black started work today as chancellor of the nation's largest public school system, visiting classrooms and expressing enthusiasm for her new job despite some vehement backlash over her credentials. "For me, this is a dream. It's a dream job, a dream opportunity, a chance to make a difference," Ms. Black said at PS 262...

Associated PressNew York City Schools Chancellor Cathie Black looks over a student's shoulder during a tour of PS 262 in Brooklyn on her first day as chancellor. She will be visiting schools in all five boroughs throughout the day.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo is assigning the State University of New York a high-profile role to help turn around the state's economy, after the school got a decade of underfunding and little attention from Albany despite enrollment increases. Cuomo's lieutenant governor, Robert Duffy of Rochester, joined SUNY officials today in a meeting to create regional economic development...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo is assigning the State University of New York a high-profile role to help turn around the state's economy, after the school got a decade of underfunding and little attention from Albany despite enrollment increases.

Cuomo's lieutenant governor, Robert Duffy of Rochester, joined SUNY officials today in a meeting to create regional economic development councils. They will rely heavily on the expertise and resources at SUNY's 64 campuses.

Associated PressGov. Andrew Cuomo

SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher seized upon the latest pronouncement by a governor that SUNY would get more attention to try to make this effort stick.

"Governor Cuomo and Lt. Gov. Duffy have called us to action -- our campus presidents, our faculty, our staff, students, alumni and all New Yorkers," Zimpher said. "As their partner, SUNY accepts and embraces that challenge."

The regional centers will try to exploit each area's attributes -- such as a skilled work force, a transportation hub, or natural resources -- and coordinate local and state economic development funds and tax breaks. Under Cuomo's plan, the regional centers would also compete for the first time for a share of up to $200 million in funding for the most innovative approach.

In a lingering state fiscal crisis, taking on a role to attract private sector jobs and generate tax revenue gives SUNY a more protected spot among state agencies, all of which face Cuomo's cuts to address a projected deficit of more than $10 billion.

SUNY Chancellor Carl Hayden, the former state schools chancellor, called SUNY "a ready-made asset for their recovery plan."

Cuomo singled out SUNY in his State of the State address Wednesday.

"Higher education will be the key economic driver," Cuomo said. "We look to partner with our great SUNY system, especially across upstate New York in making this a reality."

SUNY, with its millions of graduates and its role as a major employer in communities statewide, is used to such praise. Previous governors George Pataki, Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson had had similar rhetoric for the nation's largest public university system, only to cut or freeze funding despite SUNY's rising enrollment and national recognition of many campuses as best buys for families.

That treatment over the years has led to an overreliance on adjunct or part-time instructors, reduced class offerings and hurt performance, and stunted growth of campuses as national academic powers, the union representing most SUNY workers said.

"If we are to stem the tide of reduced retention and graduation rates, we must find ways to protect the State University's operating budget from any further reductions," said Phil Smith, president of the United University Professions at a recent legislative hearing following $585 million in cuts over the past two years.

David Paterson, with newly chosen Chancellor Zimpher, had sought a plan that would make SUNY's top university centers among the best in the nation and allow the most competitive campuses to charge higher tuition and enter into private partnerships to expand offerings. But the effort was defeated in the Legislature, and Paterson, by then a lame duck, had too little power to force the issue.

NEW YORK -- A judge has ruled that New York City's Department of Education can release performance ratings for 12,000 teachers. Justice Cynthia Kern of Manhattan state Supreme Court issued the ruling today. She says releasing the ratings with the teachers' names attached would not be arbitrary or capricious under the law. The judge denied a petition by the United...

NEW YORK -- A judge has ruled that New York City's Department of Education can release performance ratings for 12,000 teachers.

Justice Cynthia Kern of Manhattan state Supreme Court issued the ruling today. She says releasing the ratings with the teachers' names attached would not be arbitrary or capricious under the law.

The judge denied a petition by the United Federation of Teachers to keep the teachers' names private.

A lawyer for the union argued last month that releasing the data would unfairly subject teachers to public ridicule. The union said it would appeal the decision.

The teacher ratings are based on how well students performed on standardized tests. Five media organizations filed Freedom of Information Law requests for them.

Upward of a foot of snow expected on Staten Island

Staten Island Advance/Irving SilversteinMinerva Place in St. George is still unplowed, two weeks after the Blizzard of 2010.