The latest New York State budget deal, announced today gives New York City charter school promoters a huge windfall that can only come at the expense of 1,000,000 children in increasingly overcrowded public schools. Charters schools will be given priority for space in New York City Public
Schools, existing or new.
“This is a land grab, a power grab,” said Diane Ravitch, an education historian who endorsed Mr. de Blasio during his campaign. “They loved mayoral control when it was Mayor Bloomberg, but now it’s a progressive mayor, and they’re gutting it.”
-from The New York Times
Additionally Campaign Finance Reform - which Cuomo said (did he really?) he promoted - was passed but for only ONE office (Comptroller).
Finally NYC Mayor de Blasio's proposal for a 1/2% income tax to fund universal pre-K in the city is nowhere to be found. True, the budget provides $300 million this year for NYC's pre-K, but it remains unclear whether the legislature will provide the funds in the future.
Cuomo - who received $800,000 in re-election from hedge funders that support charters seems to have given new Charter schools first priority in new school buildings s in New York City. This despite the fact that most kids in public schools and neighborhood schools that aren't charters are already in classrooms way above the supposed legal maximum.
Why doesn't Cuomo just run as a Republican? Let's primary him now. This is so depressing. As Kos wrote two weeks ago
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Here's Diane Ravitch's take on the deal
The following just in as the New York State Legislature responds to the pressure of a $5 million advertising campaign demanding free space for privately-managed charters. Also, the billionaires behind this ad campaign have given handsome sums to Governor Cuomo and other key politicians. Cuomo has received at least $800,000 from the charter advocates. Under the legislation below, the charters are given the right to expand as much as they want, without paying rent, pushing out the public school that once was sited in the building. The charters can afford to pay their “CEO” half a million dollars, but they can’t pay the rent. They can pay millions for attack ads on television, but they can’t pay the rent. They can hire the politically-hot public relations firm SDK Knickerbocker more than $500,000 a year, but they can’t pay the rent. Their biggest boosters are billionaires, like Paul Tudor Jones, whose Robin Hood Foundation raises $80 million in a single night, but the charters can’t pay the rent. The charters are proving to be public parasites in New York City, invading the host and doing harm to the 94% of children who are not in charters.
More from Diane Ravitch
here.
So where will the new Charter Schools get the space? By taking it from the already overcrowded 1,000,000 kids not in charter schools. Under the last mayor (Bloomberg) class sizes went up. Bloomberg deliberately let them grow:
Over ten years after the CFE ruling, class size has grown to the levels found impermissible by the Court of Appeals. According to data from the New York City Department of Education and the Independent Budget Office, half of children in grades K-3 are in classes of 26 or larger, and once again tens of thousands of children in these grades are in classes over 30. Over 70% of middle school students are in classes larger than 26. Class sizes have been increasing across the city for six consecutive years, climbing 19% since 2006. Average class size is as large as it was when the CFE case went to trial.
-from
Education Law Center.
Additionally, Campaign Finance Reform advocates were dealt a huge blow. Only one statewide office and no legislative elections are given public funding. Not surprisingly, the Governor's race remains dependent upon contributions, like the $800,000 given to Cuomo, mentioned above.
What government watchdog groups viewed as the centerpiece of the governor’s proposals was also whittled down: The state would set up a public financing system for one office, state comptroller, as a test case in the 2014 election.
-from
New York Times.
Cuomo is up for re-election this year. He has been undermining efforts to reform the Republican controlled State Senate for years. Gerrymandering has given the Republicans a firm grip on the Senate, even though many more New Yorkers vote Democatic at that level.
But Cuomo seems to want to have an image as a 'moderate' 'bi-partisan' guy.
He has betrayed the Democratic party.