Buffalo Teachers Union Backs Cuomo Challenger, Zephyr Teachout - Why Won't The UFT?

State of Politics:

The President of the Buffalo Teachers Federation, Phil Rumore, said the BTF decided to pass petitions for Teachout and her Lt. Governor candidate Tim Wu, to send a message to Governor Cuomo.

“He’s supported charter schools, cut funding for public schools, and has said failing schools should face the death penalty. Our members don’t support those positions,” Rumore said.

...

“It’s a message I’m sure teachers across the state feel need to be sent,” Rumore said.

...

“I’m certainly interested to see if Buffalo’s support for Teachout could start a trend,” said Rochester Teachers Association President Adam Urbanski.

Dunno if BTF's support of Teachout will start a trend in Western New York, but it surely will not start a trend in NYC where the UFT leadership remain big Cuomo supporters.

The UFT leadership, along with AFT President Randi Weingarten and her AFT leadership, engineered a putsch within the NYSUT to knock out the increasingly anti-Cuomo leadership there and replace it with some more compliant Cuomo backers.

The UFT leadership also threatened to withdraw financial backing from the Working Families Party if WFP backed Teachout over Cuomo for their ballot line.

So the chances of the UFT backing Zephyr Teachout are about as good as my chances at getting elected president of the UFT.

Still, nice to see BTF back Teachout over Cuomo.