Once in a Lifetime Came Jim Vetro

Once in a Lifetime Came Jim Vetro

By Jeffrey M. Bowen

When James Vetro interviewed me for a position as his assistant, he quickly discovered I knew almost nothing about state aid to our public schools.  In 1975, this amounted to over three billion dollars’ worth of ignorance.  I knew that Jim’s position as director of research for the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) was closely identified with his expertise in school finance.  I was finishing a doctorate in school administration at the state university at Albany, but only one course in all my studies had involved school business administration, much less state aid, so I figured my chances of employment were slim.  Thankfully I was quite wrong!

Jim Vetro’s priority was someone he could get along with, someone with a decent personality, as he told me a few years later.  Apparently, mine fit.  I guess he figured he would always be around to field the multitude of complex finance questions that came daily from superintendents and board members, while I would learn to fill in the gaps.   

Within a couple of weeks, I discovered that Jim had meetings and other duties that often called him away.  When state aid negotiations demanded technical expertise, quite regularly the media called or arrived for an interview.  Further, I discovered that superintendents phoned frequently because their annual proposed or actual school aid entitlement was falling short.  Why the hell, they wanted to know, were they being shortchanged?  When this happened, they were usually scrutinizing pages of computer runs, finding unpredictable formula-driven variations.  Of course, I had no idea what to tell them.  And when the news media got to me because Jim was elsewhere, I was terrified that I would make a dump ass of myself.  However, Jim had a solution of sorts.

He introduced me to a couple of well-seasoned colleagues in the state education department who were patiently willing to rescue me with simplified details about operating aid’s dependence on weighted pupil counts, full or market valuation of property, and all kinds of separate categorical aids for everything from transportation to excess cost for children with disabilities.  I worried that the old finance guys would soon retire, but in the meantime, I called them with frantic abandon, and then proceeded to make seemingly calm calls back to superintendents.  I fooled them unless they asked me yet another question.  Still, I was relieved to find that most superintendents had no more technical knowledge of formulas than I did.

Within a few months, I became conversant with the basics of school finance.  My responsibilities expanded with Jim Vetro’s good-humored, consistently genial mentoring.  School board members and superintendents really adored him simply because he was genuinely likeable and deeply knowledgeable about his field.  I benefitted from being around him.  In retrospect, I realize that Jim really changed my professional and personal life in so many unusual ways. 

Jim Vetro thrived on habits.  One was singular dedication to staying in shape.  Thus he took time on many days of the week to walk to the nearby Albany downtown YMCA where he enjoyed an abundant group of workout friends.  I joined his athletic fraternity enthusiastically, thereby connecting with a host of state agency pros who added to my sense of belonging. 

One of Jim’s fortes was school budgeting workshops, conducted around the state during the winter months.  He recruited superintendents, NYSED managers, and school business officials to present at these, and I believe they felt it was an honor.   My job was to sweat bullets while dealing with banquet managers who all too often forgot to arrange for a meeting room, or a speaker system, or a group lunch.

I also importuned the speakers to give me their written remarks, and tried to keep them on schedule.  As I look back on it, however, winter weather on the N.Y. Thruway was our biggest challenge.  Thankfully Jim seldom hesitated to drive his monster Cadillac through lake effect snowstorms to get us to and from our workshops.

Jim represented the Association as a founding member of the Educational Conference Board (ECB) which included representatives from the teacher unions, superintendents, school business officials, and principals.  The ECB always advocated more state aid, levelled up so no organization would experience equalization at the expense of another.  Through this organization, I became acquainted with Jim’s counterparts in these organizations.  The networking helped me gain confidence and valuable contacts, especially because my duties included sitting with the ECB members routinely at meetings of the Board of Regents. 

Over the years my two children were born.  My wife and I had no relatives nearby to step in when emergencies arose, so we were immensely grateful that Jim unfailingly supported me with no questions ever asked.  He and his wife Peg were always tuned in to our needs; conversely everyone stood ready to help the Vetros when they encountered tragedies.   

Jim’s physical appearance accentuated his big moustache and a curly head of brindled hair, combined with a deeply tanned complexion.  Reinforced by his genial, though sometimes stubborn personality, his bearing earned Jim the moniker of “Italian stallion”.   This was often previewed by a chronically strong cologne that announced his presence beforehand. 

Colleagues, board members, and superintendents all found Jim Vetro an open, honest, and truly likeable man with a disarming sense of humor.  I thrived on his dynamic personality and interpersonal ease.  He always seemed to be in my corner, to willingly protect me from the slings and arrows of state association work.   When someone like James Vetro comes along, with assets that combine both professionalism and personal charms, it may well happen only once, and we must count ourselves just plain lucky. 

2/6/19