Cuomo Says He Will "Save Charter Schools" From The Phony War On Charters

Looks like all that money Eva Moskowitz and her backers gave to Governor Cuomo paid dividends:

A fired up Gov. Cuomo vowed Tuesday afternoon to “save charter schools.”

“We are here to tell you we stand with you. You are not alone,” said Cuomo, speaking at a massive pro-charter school rally that attracted thousands of parents, teachers, and kids from across the state who braved frigid 20-degree temperatures to fill the park in front of the Capitol in Albany.

“Our point today is that parents deserve a choice,” Cuomo said. “I am committed to ensuring charter  schools have the financial capacity, the physical space, and the government support to thrive and grow.”

Cuomo made the comments around the same time Mayor de Blasio was up the block at a smaller rally in support of the mayor’s push to hike the city income tax on the wealthy to fund expanded prekindergarten and after school programs—a plan Cuomo opposes.

De Blasio last week announced he’d be cutting funding for charters and revoked the co-location agreement for three charters that are run by former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz.

Cuomo didn’t mention the mayor, but argued that education is “not about the districts, and not about the pensions, and not about the unions and not about the lobbyists.”

“Education is about the students; students come first,” he said.

And so there we have it - the governor, the State Senate Republicans and the Independent Democrats are going to make sure Eva Moskowitz continues to get free rent for her charter empire.

This is why it matters that Tony Avella just became an Independent Democrat caucus member.

The only thing standing in the way of Eva and free rent money from the state is the Assembly:

Not in attendance was Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who told the Daily News Monday that his conference has traditionally been opposed to co-location of charter schools in public school buildings. He also said he didn’t think there Assembly move to save the three Moskowitz-run charters.

But while Silver didn’t attend, Assemblyman Karim Camara, the Brooklyn Democrat who heads the legislative Black, Hispanic and Puerto Rican caucus, vowed to fight for the charters.

We'll see where this goes.

If I had to bet, I'd put money on Eva getting free rent money from Cuomo for her charter empire, de Blasio's pre-K plan going down to defeat, and Eva Moskowitz emerging from this battle with the de Blasio administration emboldened for even more empire-building.

Here's hoping I lose that money - and Eva loses her free rent.