The public's disgust with the Rochester School Board is palpable. The district's $630 million budget, its low graduation rate, and its low test scores have revived talk of mayoral control. Some critics argue that at the least, the mayor should be able to appoint two board members.

Voters may feel that the November 6 election offers a chance to change things: four Republicans are competing with the Democratic primary winners for four board seats. But the district's problems don't originate with the School Board. And they don't originate with the superintendent or the teachers.

The problems stem from the city's concentration of poverty. And as long as that's the case, the School Board can't produce the results the public wants, any more than a medical staff can cure a hospital full of terminally ill patients.

Having a two-party board could be a plus. But none of the three Republicans we interviewed - Michael McManus, Nicholas Manuele, and Priscilla Cromer -are as strong as the four Democrats. (The fourth Republican candidate, Mike Roberts, did not respond to our requests for an interview.)

The Republicans say they are completely different from Democrats, but their differences tend to be more philosophical than practical. They talk about the need for law and order, respect for authority, and conservative values. They say Democrats have been too permissive, which has contributed to low student achievement as well as some social ills.

All three say that the School Board should be able to find a superintendent in the Rochester area and that it shouldn't have to spend money on a nationwide search.

Manuele, a machine operator with Klein Steel, urges the district to promote from within. McManus, a former medical technician with the Air Force and a former school-bus driver, wants to give military recruiters greater access to students. The military can offer the career and educational options some city students need, he says.

Cromer, a nutritionist and auto salesperson, says she would look at some bold initiatives, such as enforcing a dress code or school uniforms, to encourage better behavior.

On the big issues, however, their views are the same as the Democrats'. All say improving the graduation rate is their Number 1 priority. All want stronger financial oversight. None want mayoral control of the district.

Democratic newcomers Allen Williams and Melisza Campos have more depth on school issues than the Republicans, and should be good additions to the board. Incumbents Malik Evans and Willa Powell are bright, forceful advocates for the district and its children, and the board needs their experience. (Our August 29 analysis of the four Democrats is online.)

The current board has taken harsh criticism for what many consider an excessively large budget, but as Powell and Evans note, the district is trying to counter the effects of its high student-poverty rate -now about 80 percent. The addition of pre-kindergarten programs and full-day kindergarten has increased the budget, as have new state and federal requirements.

Critics charge that the district has too many highly-paid administrators, and yet it was the current School Board that hired popular Interim Superintendent Bill Cala, and he was charged specifically with conducting an administrative housecleaning.

Critics also tend to dismiss the influence of societal problems on student performance and low graduation rates.

"That's idiotic," says Evans. "You have a lot of the district's children coming from families where a parent is in prison, where there is little support for academic success, where there are serious issues about personal safety and adequate health care."

If voters are hungry for change, they can give incumbents the boot. But that won't bring the kind of change the public wants. That change needs to happen in Albany and Washington, where lawmakers have a greater influence on Upstate New York's economy and education funding.