Cuomo Has Crony Attack Astorino Over Common Core Opt Out Video

Earlier today I posted video of Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino announcing he and his wife had decided to opt their children out of the Common Core tests that start tomorrow.

According to State of Politics, the Cuomo Campaign didn't wait long to launch a counterattack:

Sen. George Latimer, a Westchester County Democrat, has been deployed to respond to County Executive/GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino’s announcement this morning that he and his wife have decided to have his kids opt out of the upcoming Common Core exams to protest the controversial curriculum.

In a statement, Latimer, who is the ranking minority member on the Senate Education Committee, accused Astorino of sinking to a “new low” by “using his children as political props to make points that are pure fiction.”

Latimer went on to mock Astorino for claiming that the Common Core standards were created by Bill Gates, calling the charge "absurd".

Apparently Latimer is not familiar with how much money Gates has put into developing the CCSS and promoting them - he should check out Mercedes Schneider here to educate himself about that.

In any case, Liz Benjamin at State of Politics responded to Latimer's charge that Astorino was using his kids as "political props" thusly:

Astorino has been hammering on the Common Core for some time, calling it yet another unfunded mandate handed down to local governments (in this case, the school districts) by the state. He has also said he would eradicate it completely if he’s elected governor in November.

The slam on Astorino for using his kids as “political props” seems unfair. It’s not as if he’s the first elected official to highlight family members to make a point during a political campaign. Actually, it’s a time-honored tradition to involve one’s children and spouse to demonstrate familial ties to the voters. In this case, the Astorinos are joining many other New York parents in opting their kids out of what they consider onerous and unfair testing.

Nice bit of context from Benjamin at State of Politics on the burgeoning opt-out movement.

If anyone is being absurd here, it's Latimer for claiming Gates had nothing to do with the CCSS development and Astorino is using his kids as political props.

See, unlike Andrew Cuomo (or NYSED Commissioner King), Astorino sends his kids to public schools - they have to live with the Common Core mess.

Unlike Cuomo's kids, King's kids, Gates' kids, Arne Duncan's kids, Barack Obama's kids...