Gov. rallies education troops on endowment plan
-
- March
- 6
  Gov. Eliot Spitzer led what was essentially a cheerleading session to get leaders of the State University of New York, City University of New York and other schools revved up about his plan to privatize the state Lottery and create a $4 billion education endowment. Legislative leaders have been wary and skeptical of the plan so far, saying they need more detailed information about how the endowment would work.
 “We need your help,” Spitzer told educators during a conference call this afternoon. “This sort of transformational event doesn’t occur … unless there are enough voices being heard, articulating the need, demonstrating the support …”
  The governor urged educators to work with alumni, write opinion pieces for newspapers, get faculty members involved in the campaign and reach out to their local business communities.
  With an endowment of $4 billion, the state could distribute about $220 million a year. The endowment would be expected to grow to $6.3 billion and generate more than $330 million a year for higher education.
  The governor said the endowment money would not replace of funding that would already be spent on higher education, and the state would not market the Lottery or promote gambling in an inappropriate way (a response to some leaders’ concerns).
  “Let’s see if we can make this a reality,” the governor told those listening on the phone after a half-hour session of his comments and responses to questions from educators.
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on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 2:52 pm by Cara Matthews.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
