New York State Comptroller H. Carl McCall '58, who has repeatedly denied that he will challenge New York Governor George Pataki in the next gubernatorial election, presented a plan for rebuilding Americans' confidence in government at the Rockefeller Center last night.
Speaking in front of about 60 people, McCall defined the source of the "crisis in confidence" -- citizens' frustration with their elected officials -- as a lack of unified demands from the people. Without strong issues that the people are united on, said McCall, "the government ... sees no clear path to walk."
McCall then spent much of the lecture presenting a platform to resolve the crisis. His plan was based on two principal changes -- increasing the quality of education and preserving a compassionate system of public assistance.
McCall expressed opposition to the growing movement for charter schools and vouchers, which he said would create a "two tier system of education."
Rather than creating alternatives to public education, McCall advocated putting money and energy into improving the current system by installing computers in every school, raising the educational standards nationwide and into providing teachers with the training and resources to effectively help students.
McCall, who served as president of the New York City Board of Education from 1991 to 1993, said the top priority is increased spending. He also championed improving classroom conditions, calling New York City public schools' use of locker rooms and bathrooms as classrooms a disgrace.
McCall said he would like the goal of improved education to reach beyond the realm of the public school system. McCall noted that government often sees higher education "as an expense to be cut, not an investment."
New York State spends $84,000 a year to incarcerate a child in a correctional institution, but "can't come up with a fraction of that amount to fund education," he said.
McCall also proposed a system of public assistance that would be a "hand up to a good job." Public assistance would include training, child care and job placement.
He championed affirmative action as a means of "systematically including" people who had been excluded in the past. The concept of affirmative action -- particularly in higher education -- is beneficial not only to minorities but also to the community as a whole, McCall said.
"We must prepare people for the real world, and therefore keep institutions like this one open so people can interact," he said.
McCall said he will not seek the governorship because he is satisfied in his current job, and because he wants to avoid the necessary frantic campaign fundraising. To run for the position, McCall said a candidate must raise $15 million through contributions and he noted that he "had problems with the issue of fundraising" and its entanglements.
Before he was elected comptroller, McCall served as a New York State Senator and an Ambassador to the United Nations. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1958 and also studied at Andover Newton Theological School and the University of Edinburgh. From 1985 to 1993, he worked as Vice President of Citicorp/Citibank.
