Andrew Cuomo's war on public schools, teachers and their unions is drawing fire from school boards and teachers, and now is being hit by political allies and policy wonks from the left and right.
Today State Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins called for an end to the demonization of teachers. Her reference to Cuomo was implicit but clear:
http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/...
Also today, Lori Bezalhzer, President of the Edward W. Haven Foundation, blasted Cuomo's tax credit plan, which would drain money from the public schools and which comes straight out of the ALEC playbook:
http://tablet.olivesoftware.com/...
Why would a man who claims to be a progressive do the bidding of ALEC?
And, today, Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a right leaning think tank, criticized Cuomo's proposal to base 50% of teacher evaluations on standardized state tests, noting that in the rest of the country the trend is exactly the opposite:
http://ny.chalkbeat.org/...
Corruption comes in all forms. Cuomo got lots of campaign dollars from billionaires who have a vested interest in privatizing public and monetizing public schools. He is livid that the teachers' union did not endorse him for reelection. Rewarding his donors and punishing school teachers who had the temerity to stand up to him seem to be the twin drivers of his destructive agenda.
Cuomo has a "D" after his name, but he is no progressive. Schoolyard bully is more like it.