ALBANY - New York's $24.6 billion share of the federal economic stimulus package will first address bridges and roads in need of repair and proposed school aid cuts that threatened districts and taxpayers, according to details of the package released in Albany and Washington.

But even as the spending was detailed, lobbyists and state legislators staked out positions and concerns.

The Legislature's top Republicans, Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, questioned whether upstate and Long Island will get fair shares of the new federal money coming over the next two years. Skelos of Nassau County and Tedisco of Schenectady made the comments Wednesday in Gov. David Paterson's first meeting to discuss the funding with all of the legislature's leaders.

His staff is trying to meet strict federal guidelines and deadlines for using the aid on job-creating public works projects.

In a separate teleconference from Washington, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said $4.7 billion of the stimulus money will replace state funds slated to be cut from local education aid and could leave some extra cash for schools. That will mean $1.7 billion sent directly to school districts to cover proposed state aid cuts, including $1.05 billion to New York City schools, $496 million to upstate schools, and about $114 million to Long Island schools.

More than $3 billion remaining will be put in an “education stabilization” fund to cover any state aid cuts and pay for high-priority academic needs and vital services such as public safety, Schumer said Wednesday.

“We didn't want to see large increases in tax or large cuts,” Schumer told reporters in a conference call. “The fears have been completely allayed.”

But school advocates, while praising the amount of school aid, said it's still short of what was promised in a 2007 state law.

“It's not enough to fully fill in education specific funding, but there is this, plus income tax reform ... which we can use to protect our school systems,” said Billy Easton, director of the Alliance for Quality Education. He referred to Democratic proposals in the Legislature that could increase income taxes on New Yorkers making more than $250,000 a year.

The stimulus aid would cover the $698 million cut in school aid for 2009-10 that Paterson proposed in December. But Easton said schools were expecting to see as much as a $2.5 billion. The projected aid is part of a 2007 law forced by a court ruling that the state failed for decades to fulfill its constitutional duty to adequately fund schools.

Paterson budget spokesman Jeffrey Gordon said that although the $1.7 million must go directly to schools, use of the $3 billion stabilization fund will be negotiated with the Legislature.

Paterson also caught heat from Republican lawmakers, out of power in the Legislature now controlled by Democratic majorities in both chambers.

Skelos said he was concerned the federal criteria - aimed at quickly funding shovel-ready public works projects - wouldn't fairly serve rural and suburban areas that might not have the same resources to prepare or lobby for their projects. He said it's critically important to split the funding according to Albany's traditional “share” system, with money directed to regions of the state based on their population rather than political power.

Paterson's senior adviser on the issue, Timothy Gilchrist, is working with state agencies and local governments in choosing stimulus-funded projects. He said “shares” would be a guide, along with the federal requirements and the need to pick projects that could start within weeks in order to meet the deadlines. Paterson warned that missing the federal requirements could result in lost aid, while a strong showing could bring more money to New York.

“This is what the whole thing is about: Jobs and speed,” Paterson said.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith of Queens, both Democrats, said their members are concerned they might not have a role in directing the federal aid to their districts.

“Let them know we need them. It's not just their participation we're looking for, it's knowledge,” Paterson told the leaders. “Tell them I said so.”