New York’s
Governor Andrew Cuomo has failed to keep his pledge to be the chief lobbyist
for public school children. Cuomo said in his 2012 State of the State Address, “This year, I will take a second
job — consider me the lobbyist for the students. I will wage a campaign
to put students first, and to remind us that the purpose of public
education is to help children grow, not to grow the public education
bureaucracy.” What happened?
What made Cuomo change his
course? He has apparently chosen to abandon
the fight for public education, and thus the children. I, like others, believe
he has chosen to focus on a presidential run in 2020 instead. This is sad.
At one point in
2015, Cuomo seemed eager and ready to take on his most formidable foe, the
teachers’ unions. He pledged to fight for effective teacher evaluations, turn failing
schools around, expand charter schools, and quicken the removal of ineffective
teachers. What happened?
The teachers’
unions unleashed a barrage of strategic media attacks. They apparently hit
their mark. Cuomo quickly retreated and waved a white flag. Since then, he has
been relatively silent on public education reform.
Instead of
tackling challenges related to K-12 challenges, Cuomo announced his college
tuition initiative. If his goal was to distract folks from his K-12 debacle, it
worked. Ironically, the college tuition initiative is likely to fail if K-12 is
not fixed.
However, when it
comes to his inability to improve public education, Cuomo does have a trump
card: he can blame the New York State Legislature and the New York State Board
of Regents. While the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives
the states authority to run public education, the New York State Constitution specifically
gives authority to the legislature to run education. The legislature appoints
members to the board of regents (education policymakers), who in turn hire the
New York State commissioner of education.
Interestingly, Cuomo
appears to be comfortable with not being in control of education. Perhaps he
has concluded that the problem with public education is irresolvable. Furthermore,
a battle with the teachers’ unions might jeopardize his 2020 presidential
aspiration.
As a teacher of
teachers and a chief child advocate, I am disappointed in Cuomo’s lack of fight
when it comes to public education. It takes a lot of courage to fight for
children, particularly since they do not vote.
Cuomo has the gift
of rhetoric. Unfortunately for children, he does not have the gift of
delivering on his pledge to fight for them.
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