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UFT Backs Meng, Rangel, Stays Out of NY-8, NY-11
May 23rd - 5:29 pm
Earlier today we looked at the ongoing race for union endorsements in the NY-6, noting that Assemblyman Rory Lancman so far was receiving the lion’s share as he hopes to position himself as the labor candidate.
Not to be outdone, rival Democrat Grace Meng today received the backing the United Federation of Teachers, New York City’s powerful teachers’ union, the organization announced late this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Rep. Charles Rangel, working to save his political life while facing a spirited challenge from state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, also received the union’s support as well (Espaillat earlier announced he had the backing of former Rep. Herman Badillo).
The UFT also endorsed a slate of incumbent city Democrats.
Still more interesting was who the union chose not to endorse. For now, no recommendation is being made in the NY-8 in Brooklyn, where Councilman Charles Barron and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries are vying to replace outgoing Rep. Ed Towns.
And the union chose not to endorse anyone in the NY-11, the Staten Island and Brooklyn district held by GOP Rep. Michael Grimm, who is considered a top Democratic target.
The union endorsements are especially valuable in low-turnout primaries, where a labor organization’s get-out-the-vote infrastructure can prove vital for a candidate.
Nearly All School Districts Tap Reserve Funds
May 16th - 10:50 am
The New York State School Boards Association is celebrating the passage of the overwhelming majority of school budgets across the state yesterday, even as local districts contend for the first time with a limit on property tax increases.
The tax cap for schools, which varies depending on the local circumstances, pensions costs and other factors, was overriden in only a handful of the state’s 623 school districts.
The association says that 48 districts had spending plans that exceeded the tax cap, requiring a 60 percent supermajority to pass. Of those districts, 60 percent were approved.
But the school boards association also notes that 99 percent of the districts had to tap into their reserve funds, rainy day funds, in order to cover budget gaps.
The average statewide tax levy increase of 2.3 percent for 2012-13 is more than a full percentage point below the average of 3.4 percent in 2011-12.
“The voting public has once again shown its strong support for education. Voters recognized that school leaders did everything they could to comply with the spirit and intent of the property tax levy cap,” Association Executive Director Tim Kremer said. “They were responsive to their communities.”
This is going to be one of those issues in which everyone — the school administrators, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and teachers unions — are going to be spinning some sort of victory either because of the broad approval of the budgets or claim that the tax cap is working.
SGLF: Teachers The Real Bullies
May 7th - 10:39 am
A conservative Virginia-based organization, the State Government Leadership Foundation, has launched a six-figure multi-state ad campaign – including here in New York – that casts teachers unions as “bullies” and enemies of public school kids.
According to the accompanying press release, the campaign “targets states where teachers unions have most onerously abused their influence over our nation’s public schools.”
The other states are: Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and New Mexico. This effort includes a cable TV buy and geotargeted online ads.
“Teachers unions in New York consistently block attempts by the state government to allow public school teacher evaluations to be made public and use their huge pool of resources to protect their own at the cost of improving education for students,” said SGLF’s senior policy advisor Sarah Lenti.
The release also cites an April 9 Siena poll (misspelled “Sienna” here) that SGLF says “showed that New Yorkers strongly support holding school districts, principals and teachers accountable.”
I did find an April 10 Siena poll that found voters support, 59-35, the creation of a new teacher evaluation system and the idea that if districts fail to institute such a system by January, they will lose the 4 percent increase in state aid included in the 2013-13 budget.
The ad is almost a parody, with terrified looking kids scattering in the path of a rampaging mean union official in the shadowy halls of a generic school. (You can tell he’s a union official because it says so on his sweatshirt).
Here’s the script:
“They’re bullies. And they’re destroying our children’s future. But this bully is no student. It’s teachers unions bullying our kids.”
“These bullies make hundreds of thousands of dollars and protect failing teachers at the expense of children.”
“Teacher union bullies block education reform while American kids fall further behind the Chinese. Their dreams crash. Their futures vanish. Our kids are made invisible.”
“SGLF stands up to bullies. Join us.”
Skelos: Bullet Aid Isn’t Pork
May 2nd - 1:03 pm
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, acknowledged yesterday’s contretemps over $9.9 million in bullet aid for education became “testy” but defended the money, which was doled out exclusively to Republican-represented school districts.
“I know it was a bit testy, but all the items that were in that resolution, have been published, they were agreed to in last year’s budget, they’ve been publicized according to law,” Skelos told myself, CapTon’s Mike Whittemore and Gannett’s Jon Campbell.
Critics of bullet aid have compared the funding to legislative pork, a notion that Skelos, naturally, disagreed with.
“This is to help school districts, our school aid is not perfect and it’s really an opportunity to plug perhaps some of the inequities that have occurred in the school districts,” Skelos sid.
On changes to the state’s campaign finance laws, Skelos indicated he would be open to reforms that did not include a public financing system that is modeled after the New York City system.
“I’m not going to answer as to those specific questions, but if there are certain reasonable things that we can do with campaign finance reform, I would certainly consider it. Public financing, I don’t agree with,” Skelos said. “It could be upwards of $200 million. That better go to school districts and helping go to real property taxpayers.”
Skelos reiterated his opposition to Silver’s bill to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 and then tie it to the rate of inflation.
“If he wants to create jobs, he’ll pass our tax credit bills,” Skelos said.
Polls show broad support for increasing the state’s minimum wage and while Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t taken a position on Silver’s proposal, he’s said he agrees in theory raising the wage wouldn’t be the “job-killer” that Skelos has warned about.
Skelos insisted there would be no linking of the wage increase to the business tax credits package that he said would be introduced in the next two weeks.
“The speaker has indicated that one shouldn’t be linked to the other. I agree with him,” Skelos said. “I certainly do not want to hurt jobs, so we will not be passing his minimum wage bill.”
Debate Erupts Over Bullet Aid
May 1st - 7:38 pm
A debate over distributing $9.9 million worth of so-called “bullet aid” erupted on the floor of the state Senate late this afternoon after Democrats decried a resolution that sent the money to schools Republican-controlled districts.
The resolution was approved, but only after a lengthy floor debate, which included diversions from Democratic lawmakers over typographical errors in the resolution, highlighted yet another election-year spat between the two conferences which remain bitterly at odds in a year in which the majority may be up for grabs.
“What we are seeing on the floor of the Senate is another outrageous Republican ploy near the end of the day’s legislative session,” said Senate Democratic spokesman Mike Murphy. “They are attempting to sneak through almost $10 million in political pork ignoring more than half the state. This is old Albany at its worst.”
But Senate Education Chairman John Flanagan noted that there is both an allocation of $16 million for aid sent to the Senate and Assembly each. The money is meant to shore up school district finances in the middle of the year.
“I’m not going to apologize for any of this. If you look at the budget process, it’s largely about compromise… at the end of the day we come up with a budget that reflects some kind of compromise,” Flanagan said on the floor of the chamber. “In the context of what we’re talking about today, it can’t be looked at in isolation.”
Flanagan also said the money was being re-appropriated from a prior year budget.
Democrats were livid, however. Sen. Ruben Diaz, D-Bronx, went on a lengthy floor speech decrying the resolution which included Sen. Joe Griffo telling him several times he was being uncivil.
“God bless, you. Enjoy your power,” Diaz said.
Diaz became embroiled in a heated exchange with Senate Finance Chairman John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse. Diaz had asked him he felt “remorse” for the resolution.
“I feel as much remorse now as when you delivered all of your discretionary education funding to Democratic districts,” DeFrancisco said.
Still, some Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Malcolm Smith, said they were voting for the resolution, but took issue with how it was presented at the end of the day’s work.
“We always gave you the opportunity the document as a courtesy to review it,” Smith said. “All I’m saying is give us the opportuntiy to review it.”
But the accompanying resolution shows that Republican districts did benefit well.
For instance, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’s hometown of Rockville Centre received $75,000 in bullet aid.
Cuomo Appoints Education Commission With Broad Purview
Apr 30th - 2:26 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo today appointed a commission that he’s tasking with putting together an “action plan” for overhauling the state’s pricey education system.
The panel is composed of advocates, business leaders and union members.
Cuomo said he wanted a plan that could be converted into legislation and passed.
“I don’t want a plan that just sits on a shelf,” Cuomo said.
But commission members, led by former Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons, at a news conference earlier this morning did not provide any concrete areas of where they would like to see improvements.
Parsons, responding to a general question asked by Karen DeWitt of Public Radio if there were any areas of needed improvement in the education system, noted the commission was just getting underway.
Later, Cuomo echoed that sentiment, deflecting specific questions, such as whether the commission will look at charter school spending, tax credits for private schools and standardized tests.
“They have an open-ended agenda,” Cuomo said. “They can look at anything that is necessary.”
The governor did note that the commission won’t be dealing with the question of disclosing teacher evaluations, an increasingly contentious issue for the state’s teachers unions.
Cuomo said he wants the disclosure issue resolved by the end of the legislative session, which concludes June 21.
“The commission is operating on a different time frame,” Cuomo said. “I would hope to have some answer to the disclosure of teacher evaluations sometime by the end of session.”
But generally speaking, should the commission look at the evaluation issue?
“I think this commission should really look at an evaluation as a tool and how you can improve upon it,” Cuomo responded.
A news release sent out after the press conference gave more specifics, saying that the commission would address school spending and performance, efficiency in spending and the wealth divide between districts, along with how best to use teacher evaluations.
Next to health care, New York spends the most of its money on education, a fact that Cuomo frequently notes alongside with the low test scores for standardized tests and 73 percent graduation rate. The governor sought to get a handle on local school spending by pushing through a tax cap for municipalities and school districts.
The cap is in its first year in use for school districts.
DiNapoli: School Districts Meeting Cap Requirements
Apr 23rd - 12:42 pm
The same day the state United Teachers union launched a multi-million dollar ad campaign touting school achievement, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office finds most districts are meeting the new requirements under the recently enacted property tax cap, with “high needs” districts showing higher rates of taxation.
The tax cap for districts varies based on a formula in the law, which passed in June last year.
The cap can be overriden by a 60 percent vote.
“The majority of school districts are meeting the new spending limits,” said DiNapoli in a statement. “The average growth allowed under the law amounts to about 3 percent but there are some school districts with double digit reductions or increases because of how the formula is calculated.”
Growth in the tax levy for school districts allows them certain exemptions, including capital expenditures, payment in lieu of taxes and pension growth. Because many districts vary, there are broad variations from district to district, the comptroller’s office found.
An analysis by DiNapoi’s office alos found the higher rates of tax growth occured in districts labeled “high needs” due to student profiles and relative wealth.
NYSUT Launches Ad Campaign Touting School Performance
Apr 23rd - 11:02 am
The state United Teachers union is launching a television and radio campaign urging voters to support local school district budgets while also touting what they see as the success in New York schools.
The $2 million campaign began today.
In a statement, President Dick Iannuzzi makes an oblique reference to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s criticism of the education system for costing too much money, but offering little in the way of success when it comes to test scores and other indicators.
“Despite assertions by some in public office, New York is clearly moving in the right direction, and that’s a credit to the hard work and dedication of teachers and students across the state,” Iannuzzi said. “The challenge now is to continue making progress despite the cumulative impact of devastating budget cuts. These cuts — along with reductions being implemented around the state because of the new, horrific tax cap — are resulting in a new round of program cuts as well as reductions in teaching staff and support personnel. Together, these cuts are hurting every public school student in New York.”
This is the first year in which school district voters will consider budgets that include a cap on property taxes, a ceiling that varies from district to district and includes some narrow exemptions.
The TV ads will air in the Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Elmira, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica and Watertown markets and on the News 12 Cabelvision stations in Westchester, Rockland and Long Island.
NYSUT Reviews Political Giving From Cuomo On Down
Apr 13th - 1:34 pm
Although they haven’t been anywhere near as public about it as their colleagues at CSEA, officials at the statewide teachers union, NYSUT, have also quietly turned off the campaign cash spigot and is reassessing its contribution habits for everyone from Gov. Andrew Cuomo on down following the passage of Tier VI.
That’s what NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi told me during a CapTon interview that will air tonight at 8 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. He also said he could not recall a political function in which the union has played a major role in recent months, noting that NYSUT – along with several other unions – withdrew its partcipation and support from Somos el Futuro in Albany last month.
Tier VI isn’t the only issue for the union. Last year’s massive $1.3 billion education aid cut – offset somewhat, but not completely, but this year’s 4 percent increase – coupled with the 2 percent property tax cap and the teacher evaluation system battle and the current fight over whether to publicly release the grades generated by the system have all combined to make NYSUT members unusually unhappy with their elected officials in Albany.
“We’re in the same place with respect to our involvement in campaign contributions,” Iannuzzi said. “We have unquestionably we need to make real decisions before we before we involve ourselves with fundraisers moving forward.”
“We want to be able to hear – we are hearing – from our leaders and our members that the level of anger and distrust is at the highest point it’s certainly ever been in my seven years here as NYSUT president. So, with that in mind we have said let’s stop business as usual and let’s be sure we can take their pulse before we make any decisions…Unquestionably starting with the governor.”
As you’ll reacll, NYSUT was one of the few unions that did not endorse Cuomo during the 2010 campaign. Iannuzzi did suggest the governor’s indication that the initial release of teacher evaluation data by the Bloomberg administration was a “knee-jerk” reaction and some compromise that protects teacher privacy needs to be considered might help repair his relationship with NYSUT members. But the jury’s still out on that one.
After CSEA announced in mid-March that it would not issue any campaign contributions or endorsements until further notice, Politics on the Hudson reported that NYSUT would not be following suit on the endorsement end. The teachers union had also cut a few checks to the Assembly and Senate Democrats, but NYSUT spokesman Carl Korn said those had gone out several weeks before the Tier VI vote.
Iannuzzi told me NYSUT hopes to expidite its endorsement process for competitive House primaries since the primary date was bumped up to June 26. The regular endorsement conference for state legislative races will take place in August as usual.
Weingarten To Cuomo: More School Aid, Please
Apr 13th - 8:37 am
ICYMI: AFT President Randi Weingarten joined me for a CapTon interview from Ithaca last night, where she was in town to teach several classes at her alma mater, Cornell University.
Weingarten and I discussed Tuesday night’s advance screening of the documentary “Bully” that was co-sponsored in Washington, D.C. by the AFT and National Education Association.
(The film, which is garnering widespread acclaim and generating some serious conversation about a troubling phenomenon, opens in theaters across the nation today).
Weingarten also expressed concern about the massive education aid cuts pushed through by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year, which districts say were not completely ameliorated by the 4 percent aid increase this year – in part due to pressure placed on them by the 2 percent property tax cap.
“Last week I was actually in Rockland County all day, or one day last week, which is the county in which I grew up, the county in which I went to school…I’ve heard stories, both in Ithaca as well as in Rockland County, about the effects of these budget cuts,” Weingarten said.
“We are being asked to do more with less at the very same time when kids need more…We need to be more in terms of after-school activities, in terms of making school safe.”
“At one point or another there is these conflicting priorities, and I would go with, frankly, we need to invest more in schooling for children.”
I asked Weingarten if she has expressed her concerns to Cuomo and impressed upon him that these cuts could be problematic if he tries to take his political act national:
“I have spent many hours in conversations not only with Governor Cuomo but with many other governors throughout this country about the need to invest in education,” Weingarten, ever the pragmatist, replied.
Weingarten, who used to head the UFT, has kept her hand in New York politics. She reportedly helped broker a deal between PEF and the governor after the union rejected its first contract last year, reminding Cuomo that it won’t help him to have a reputation of being anti-union if he does decide to run for president in 2016.
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