Cuomo Teamed Up With Republicans Against Democrats On Rent Regulations, Charter School Policy, Money For Private Schools

Fred Dicker in the Post:

Despite public claims to the contrary, Gov. Cuomo worked behind-the-scenes with the Republican-led Senate to defeat Assembly Democrats on such key “progressive” initiatives as tenant rights and a minimum-wage hike, knowledgeable insiders have told The Post.

Cuomo, the de facto head of the state Democratic Party, defeated a range of Democrat-sponsored proposals supposedly on his agenda through a “two-against-one” strategy in which he allied with Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk) against Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), leaving Heastie no choice but to fold, the sources said.

“Throughout the negotiations, there was never any real difference between the positions of Cuomo and Flanagan. It was two against one with Cuomo pulling Flanagan’s strings to corner Heastie,” said a source with direct knowledge of the secret end-of-session deal-making.

The source said Cuomo and the Senate GOP also worked to force Heastie to accept an expansion of charter schools for New York City and additional state aid to parochial schools, proposals Heastie and the Assembly’s other leaders repeatedly opposed.

“Not that there should have been, but if there was any doubt that Senate Republicans are nothing but a tool of Cuomo to use against his fellow Democrats, there isn’t anymore,’’ the source complained.

This isn't a surprise - anyone watching closely over the past few years knew this was what Cuomo was doing and what he was going to do in the final days of the legislative session.

But it's good to get this in print, even if it's anonymously sourced in Fred Dicker's column.

I'll have more on this story later because Dicker reports that one of Cuomo's primary motivations to work with Republicans against Democrats was to screw de Blasio - just cuz', you know?

Says an awful lot about Andrew Cuomo, alpha male, that a primary motivation in policy-making is remaining top dog.

In any case, if Cuomo still harbors any national political ambitions as a Democrat, his work with Republicans against his fellow Democrats, becoming more and more naked as his governorship goes on, ought to dispel them.

He literally now is seen as "New York's Republican governor," as one tenant activist put it last week after Cuomo screwed NYC residents by siding with Senate Republicans over Assembly Dems on rent regulation.

With Heavy Hearts, Assembly Dems Sell Out Once Again

With heavy hearts and forked tongues, most Assembly Dems voted yes on the end-of-session legislation that sold out tenants, NYC schools, and teachers, but Assemblyman Charles Barron had some choice comments on the floor:

ALBANY—There so much in the bill it was hard to debate. So after Republicans in the Assembly highlighted some of the more unseemly aspects of the omnibus “big ugly” bill that tied up the loose ends of the state legislative session late Thursday night, members of the Democrat-dominated chamber approved it by a 122-13 vote.

...

Despite reservations and private grumbling—and the denunciation of tenant advocacy groups—most Democratic members of the chamber kept their complaints out of the floor debate. Only a few, including Assemblyman Charles Barron of Brooklyn, rose to outline concerns.

“There's too much of the protection for the tenants that was watered down,” he said. “I am disappointed. I know you feel in negotiations that you go as far as you think you can go. You can talk about the Republican Senate, the Republican governor. For me, the governor is a disgrace, what he's allowed to get away with.”

Indeed the governor is a disgrace, both as a human being and in what he is allowed to get away with, but frankly, some of that second category could be mitigated if the Heavy Hearts Club in the Assembly stood up to him.

Alas, they are cowards and sellouts and so, once again, in the end, Cuomo gets his way on legislation and policy.

Same old story, over and over and over again...

Assembly Dems Believe Cuomo Is Behind Anti-Assembly PR Campaign On Education Tax Credit

There has been an aggressive ad campaign run against Assembly Dems opposed to Governor Cuomo's education tax credit giveaway to his wealthy donors - and the Wall Street Journal reports this morning that Assembly Dems believe Cuomo helped strategize that PR campaign:

Democratic Assembly members, irritated by what they see as a campaign that misrepresents their positions, said they don’t want to pass the tax credit.

“There were many areas where we could have had a compromise, but it is much more difficult when you have this outside campaign that is so negative,” said Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, the chairwoman of the chamber’s education committee, on Wednesday.

Members believe Mr. Cuomo helped the campaign strategize, she added. “Why the governor would want to encourage these mailings to Democratic Assembly members’ districts is beyond me.”

Bob Bellafiore, a spokesman for the coalition, said: “Sometimes you have to speak sharply to get people to pay attention.” The coalition’s efforts operated independently of the governor, he said.

A Cuomo administration official declined to say if the administration played a role in the ad campaign, but said: “This is the nature of advocacy, groups work to further their own agendas.”

The coalition was founded by the late Peter Flanigan, an investment banker and former Nixon aide. Mr. Bellafiore said it didn’t yet know how much its campaign cost.

There's little reason to doubt Cuomo helped strategize the PR campaign because

A) his spokesperson refused to say whether the administration was involved in it and
B) Cuomo helped secretly strategize the Eva Moskowitz/Success Academies rally in Albany a year ago when she was fighting Mayor de Blasio over co-locations - as the NY Times reported.

Perhaps Cuomo thought the hardball tactics would work, but so far, they seemed to have just pissed Assembly Dems off:

Members made their concerns known to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. Mr. Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, is negotiating an end-of-session agreement with Mr. Cuomo and Sen. John Flanagan, the Long Island Republican who leads the Senate.

“Clearly our members think the campaign was inappropriate, offensive and misleading,” Mr. Heastie’s spokesman said on Wednesday. “Putting the merits of the issue aside, if the goal was to enrich consultants and harden support against it, then bravo.”

...

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a Manhattan Democrat who was targeted by the campaign against legislators who oppose the tax credit, said the critical ads backfired.

“The vast majority of my constituents said, ‘Hold tight, I’m with you,’ ” she said.

We'll see if that backbone in the Assembly continues.

But for now it is important to note that Assembly Dems believe Cuomo is behind the hardball PR campaign, given his past record with the Moskowitz rally and his spokesperson's refusal to say whether the administration was involved or not it's a good bet they're right, and this further poisons the relationship between the governor and his fellow Democrats.

That'll Get Their Attention

NY Post report claims Assembly Dems are retaliating against the Catholic Church over the education tax credit the diocese has been pushing for:

Assembly Democrats, under pressure from the Catholic Church to pass a tax break to help parochial schools, on Monday revived a bill that would allow lawsuits involving decades-old claims of sexual abuse by priests.

“This is a retaliatory strike against the church,” Dennis Poust, spokesman for the New York State Catholic Conference, told The Post.

“We haven’t heard a whisper about this bill in six years .

“If this bill becomes law, it will have catastrophic consequences for the church — and they know it,” Poust added.

The legislation, sponsored by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens), would wipe out a law giving accusers up to five years to file suit once they reach 18. But after that period, lawsuits are barred.

The new law would allow anyone to sue going back decades for one year after the measure is enacted.

There's no way the state Senate or Cuomo will go for the bill, so it's really just a measure to try and embarrass the Church for hiding behind the statute of limitations on some sexual abuse charges.

The Church and other pro-tax credit groups have been playing hardball with the education tax credit PR, claiming Assembly Dems who oppose it are hurting children, so you can see why some Assembly Dems might want to hit back with "Hurting children? How about all those sexual abuse charges you hid for years?" attack.

It's brutal, but so are some of those pro-education tax credit ads getting run against Assembly Dems.

Indication That Assembly Heavy Hearts Are Ready To Cave On Cuomo's Education Tax Credit

For weeks now, Assembly Dems have held the line on the education tax credit Cuomo has been pushing so heavily, but we're getting an indication today that the heavy hearts in the Assembly are set to surrender:

Assemblyman John McDonald, a Democrat who represents parts of Albany and the surrounding area, was forthcoming in a Sunday night statement on where he sees the rest of the session headed.

...

As for the education tax credit, McDonald sees the real linkage with potential changes to the implementation of the teacher evaluation system. McDonald backs moving those deadlines for evaluation adoption back.

“The ETC does enjoy more support in the Democratic Assembly than many believe but this also needs to be reviewed to ensure that the large donors do not consume the benefits,” he said.

Changes to the evaluation system in exchange for an education tax credit that pulls millions from the public education system, pays back Cuomo's wealthy donors with an insanely generous tax credit and sets the stage for even more "voucher" programs in the future to put the finishing touches on public education.

How's that for a surrender?

It's a big one, especially when you consider that the evaluation system is a mess and will collapse in on itself in two years or less.

We'll see if this is how the education tax credit standoff ends - you keep hearing how the aggressive pro-tax credit campaign has backfired and given some backbone to the heavy hearts in the Assembly.

But these are the same Assembly Dems who voted "aye" on the Cuomo education reform budget, albeit with heavy hearts, so it remains to be seen just how strong those backbones are.

Can you have a strong backbone and a heavy heart at the same time?

Assembly Heavy Hearts Mad At Cuomo For Playing Unfair

Ken Lovett in the Daily News:

State Assembly Democrats are livid at Gov. Cuomo for what one says is an "obnoxious" public campaign designed to pressure them into passing a controversial education investment tax credit that would largely benefit private and parochial schools.

The Dems are fuming that fellow Democrat Cuomo has singled them out at recent appearances and in ad run by a group that features the governor’s speech while often giving the Senate GOP a pass for blocking “core progressive issues” like campaign-finance reform, the creation of a state DREAM Act and a paid family leave law. In those cases the governor often blames the Legislature as a whole, but not the Republicans specifically, the Dems grouse.

"His campaign for the tax credit is obnoxious," said one. " He has no problem going to bat for taxpayer dollars for private schools. But he's nowhere to be found on core progressive issues like the DREAM Act or paid family leave. Why isn't he calling on Senators who oppose those issues to be voted out?

Why isn't Cuomo calling on Senators who oppose core progressive issues like the DREAM Act or paid family leave?

Because he doesn't care about those things.

Why don't the heavy hearts in the Assembly MAKE him pay politically for paying lip service to progressive issues while sticking it to them on issues like the tax vouchers for private schools and charters?

Cuomo understands force - that's all.

Complaining in the Daily News about how he's playing unfair over the voucher issue?

That's only going to make him double down.

Going at him publicly over his hypocrisy cutting funding for cancer screenings even as he touts a cancer screening that caught Sandra Lee's ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) condition?

That he'll understand.

Has The Assembly Effectively De-Linked A Mayoral Control Extension From The Charter Cap Increase And Cuomo's Voucher Program?

A Capital NY piece by Bakeman and Shapiro reports the Assembly hopes they have:

ALBANY—State Assembly Democrats have effectively backed down from a fight over mayoral control of New York City schools.

It was generally expected heading into the final phase of the 2015 legislative session that much of the late-session political deal-making would involve renewing the state law that empowers Mayor Bill de Blasio to lead the nation’s largest public school district. The law, like the session, sunsets in June.

But the Assembly majority has decided to prioritize strengthening rent regulations, opting to take the path of least resistance on mayoral control. The Assembly on Monday passed a law extending the power for three years—not the seven years originally proposed, let alone the permanent extension de Blasio has sought.

Members also hoped to prevent an attempt by Governor Andrew Cuomo to link the extension of mayoral control to his end-of-session agenda, which includes lifting a cap on charter schools and establishing a tax credit for donations to private schools.

More on why the three year extension is a move to de-link mayoral control from the charter cap or Cuomo's voucher program:

In interviews, de Blasio administration officials and Albany lawmakers agreed that a three-year extension was the easiest way to maintain the current system of mayoral control without significant changes, a win for de Blasio.

And by not picking a battle with Cuomo over mayoral control, the Assembly and de Blasio may have more leverage on issues like the tax credit, and, of particular interest to de Blasio, the charter cap. De Blasio has repeatedly said he does not believe the cap on charters should be lifted, even as influential charter groups have intensified their calls for a lifting of the charter cap.

Charter advocates and education observers have said they believed the cap and mayoral control would be linked at the end of the session as a way to create pressure on both sides to pass versions of each proposal; that configuration seems unlikely if the extension passes.

The question is, do the Senate and Cuomo go for the de-linked extension?

There are 15 days to go in the session, Cuomo's taking time off after Sandra Lee's cancer surgery, and there are a lot of unresolved issues left to deal with, including rent regulations and the 421-a tax giveaway to the real estate industry.

On top of that, rumors continue to swirl that Governor Cuomo is a target of US Attorney Preet Bharara and he is enjoying his lowest approval numbers of his tenure as governor.

If ever there was a time when the heavy hearts in the Assembly could hold fast on a number of issues, from the charter cap to the Cuomo voucher plan, it is now.

But will they?

Albany Pol: Opt-Out Numbers Are "Shocking"

From State of Politics:

State lawmakers this week said the effort to alter and trim some of the education policy measures approved in the 2015-16 budget plan are being spurred in large part by the large number of students opting out of the current round of standardized tests.  

“It’s not my colleagues, it’s being generated by the people of the state of New York,” said Buffalo Assemblyman Sean Ryan. “Last week’s opt out numbers are really shocking.”

Cathy Nolan pays some lip service to democratic values:

 “We’re only here through the consent of the governed,” said Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Cathy Nolan, a Queens Democrat. “If people are unhappy, then we have to respond. And the Assembly is responding.”

Put me down as skeptical that the "Assembly is responding" to the "consent of the governed."

So long as Merryl Tisch remains in power, so long as NYSED continues to impose its ed deform agenda on students, teachers, schools and school districts, so long as Cuomo can shove through an education reform agenda as easily as a Sandra Lee meal goes into the garbage, I'm not ready to believe the "Assembly is responding" to the "consent of the governed."

State Senate GOP Push Bill To Exempt Top 10% Of School Districts From Cuomo's Evaluation System

From State of Politics:

A bill backed by Republican Sen. Jack Martins would exempt the state’s top performing school districts from the newly approved teacher evaluation criteria.

Under the bill, introduced late last week, the top 20 percent of the state’s highest performing school districts would be allowed to submit their current evaluation plans along with a request for a waiver to the Department of Education.

The top 10 percent of the districts would be granted a waiver from the evaluation law. For school districts in the highest 11 percent to 20 percent category that do not receive waiver, the state education commissioner must release a statement in writing explaining the rationale for the rejection within 30 days.

This is a clear attempt to divide and conquer the growing opposition to the state's Endless Testing regime by making a two-tiered evaluation system.

It's also an attempt to short circuit the opt-out movement by dangling an evaluation exemption to "top-performing districts" who no doubt are "top-performing" based, in part, on Common Core state tests scores.

A similar bill passed the State Senate in 2012.

I would imagine it can pass again in the State Senate this year.

Can it pass the Assembly?

Would Cuomo sign it?

Cuomo's been telling us how bad the entire state education system is, which is why he needs to "break" the monopoly.

Can he go back on that vow now by only breaking 90% of it?

Assembly Hall of Fame and Hall of Shame

Wall of Fame & Wall of Shame - NYS Assembly @NYSA_Majority @NYS_AM @NYSenDems pic.twitter.com/6zS4irhHPL
— NYS Allies 4 Pub Ed (@NYSAPE) April 2, 2015

The Heavy Hearts Club Warns NYSED They're Watching Them

This would be funny if it didn't hurt so much:

Assembly Dems to SED: We’re Watching http://t.co/IIbInxxVWF
— Susan Arbetter (@sarbetter) April 2, 2015

Assembly Dems, heavy hearts all, passed the most anti-public school/anti-teacher budget in New York State history.

They did so despite thousands of calls from parents and teachers and pressure from NYSUT to vote down the education bill.

They did so because Andrew Cuomo, a not very popular governor with a very unpopular education reform agenda, told them to or else.

I'm sure the deformy bureaucrats at NYSED are quaking in their cubicles that Assembly Dems are "watching them."

Watching them for what?

After this week's historic cave to Cuomo, I doubt anybody in Albany is scared of anything Assembly Dems do or say about anything at all.

Tip of the Cap to Patrick Sullivan for coining the "Heavy Hearts Club" moniker.

Assembly Dems Cave To Cuomo On Education Reform

Cuomo wins in a rout:

Assembly Speaker Carl Heasite this afternoon acknowledged the education reform measure in the 2015-16 state budget are difficult for his members to accept, but the legislation will pass his chamber at some point in the next few hours.

“It’s not an ideal world, it’s not an ideal situation, but the people of this state want an on-time budget,” Heastie told reporters.

The bill, being printed now, will be voted on as soon as its ready, Heastie said.

Heastie had still been negotiating the education policy in the budget that Gov. Andrew Cuomo pursued this year, which includes a new teacher evaluation criteria and tenure requirements as well as a reform to the so-called 3020A process that makes it easier for low-performing teachers to be fired, regardless of tenure.

The state’s teachers’ union remains staunchly opposed to the evaluation, tenure and 3020A changes, and rank-and-file Democrats, too, have been critical of the reform polices.

Both the New York State United Teachers union and their city affiliate, the United Federation of Teachers, have urged lawmakers to oppose the legislation.

...

“We will pass the bill. Members raised a lot of I’d say issues of concern about implementation,” Heastie said. “You make these kinds of changes, members have questions.”

More later on what to do now that it's clear that Cuomo got everything he wanted on education reform, with a few minor alterations.

Suffice to say for now, the new evaluation system, with the unfunded mandate of independent observers and the onus of the testing thrown onto the teachers, is going to be a mess and the goal will be to make Cuomo own this and ensure it destroys him in his second term.

Every problem that arises because of the new system, we pin on Cuomo.

His people developed this system, he pushed for it, he tied it to education aid increases.

It is his and when it becomes clear that it is an unworkable mess, that problem will be his too.

Budget Negotiations (Updated - 8:20 PM)

Cuomo now at Capitol. Let the final deals begin ...
— Tom Precious (@TomPreciousALB) March 29, 2015

And:

The Assembly Democrats are scheduled to conference early this evening. The Senate Republicans are not conferencing again until tomorrow at noon.

Interesting that Senate Republicans are not conferencing until tomorrow.

That probably means no ethics deal tonight.

But with Assembly Dems conferencing tonight, an announcement on the education issues in the budget is a possibility tonight or early tomorrow.

We shall see.

I'd say "Stay tuned," but that phrase has a different meaning these days in Albany... 

UPDATE - 5:15 PM:

Skelos, in brief interview, says the Senate is "very close" to reaching an agreement with Cuomo on ethics.
— Thomas Kaplan (@thomaskaplan) March 29, 2015

Skelos says the distribution of school aid is still being negotiated, but an on-time budget is within reach.
— Thomas Kaplan (@thomaskaplan) March 29, 2015

UPDATE - 6:10 PM

Teachers' union lobbyists working outside speaker's office, near conference room where Assembly members are meeting soon.
— Jessica Bakeman (@jessicabakeman) March 29, 2015

UPDATE - 7:00 PM:

Assembly Dems now in conference. The expectation is this will be a long one.
— Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) March 29, 2015

Brilliant.keep lobbyists(except NYSUT), public out with final budget crunch on weekend,when Capitol doors locked.
— Tom Precious (@TomPreciousALB) March 29, 2015

UPDATE - 8:20 PM:

Assembly Dems will be in conference for another hour/hour and a half, and they don't expect to make an announcement tonight on a budget deal
— Jessica Bakeman (@jessicabakeman) March 29, 2015

Which Side Is More Desperate In Budget Negotations?

Fred LeBrun says it's Cuomo:

The governor himself last week reasserted that he would not allow a budget to be passed on time unless the Legislature approves these still unspecified ethics reforms, nor would he sign off on desperately needed increases in state aid for public education without his fingerprints on teacher evaluation changes. He's defined these as the most important issues currently on the table.

But what seemed to be a daring, even brilliant, move to link these policy issues to the budget, and therefore force the Legislature to bend his agenda, has backfired.

Polls last week by Quinnipiac University and Siena College definitively denied the governor the public's backing on tactics and policy. The public said it was a bad idea to link policy issues to passing the budget, and also rejected the governor's diddling with teacher evaluations and school takeovers. And a majority pointedly identified the governor as part of the problem with state ethics rather that the solution.

At this point, the governor is being smothered by his own repeated propaganda of the last five years that equates a budget passed on time as the return of functional state government. Even though his father, the late Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, used to say that a better budget always trumps an on-time one.

It's interesting to note that the public, though, in every poll I've seen, is repeating the current governor's mantra on budgets. The public is overwhelmingly adamant that on-time equals functional.

But what we now have in these waning hours of budget negotiations is a toss-up as to who needs passage of an on-time budget more, the governor or the Legislature.

Not surprisingly, the public consistently rates the two houses of the Legislature lower than whale poop, so arguably they have far less to lose should negotiations stagger past the deadline. The governor, on the other hand, is flirting with negative popularity numbers for the first time since he's been in office. He really needs an on-time budget.

All the while, the Legislature can be buoyed by the polls showing its stances on policy are closer to the public's desires than the governor's. This dynamic has to figure into actual negotiations.

The clock is ticking - we're past the time when the budget can pass without Cuomo declaring messages of necessity to waive the three day "aging" process bills are supposed to go through.

Cuomo's claiming he won't take a budget that doesn't meet his criteria on ethics reform and education reform.

On education reform, he is adamant the state must have the power to take over "failing" schools and hand them to private operators and the teacher evaluation system must be "strengthened" statewide so that more teachers are declared ineffective and fired.

But as LeBrun writes in his Times-Union column, as we get closer to the budget deadline and the Senate continues to hold out on ethics reform and the Assembly continues to fight him on education reform, it's Cuomo whose most under the gun to get the budget done on time and thus most likely to blink in a standoff.

We'll know soon enough whether that happens.

One thing we do know already - throwing around all those ultimatums and saying he would force a late budget if he didn't get everything he wanted in the budget when he had no intention of actually backing those ultimatums up with action have backfired on our erstwhile governor.

He's got a public that wants an on-time budget but doesn't want ethics or education reform tied to it.

Cuomo Not Caving On Teacher Evaluations

Again, I keep hearing how Governor Cuomo's pushing for a commission to handle teacher evaluation reform is a "cave" from him.

It is not a "cave" at all:

A deal on education and ethics reforms remain the key dividing lines between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature before the fiscal year starts a week from today.

Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, Monroe County, said the sides are trying to ensure that schools at least know a range of potential aid if a deal on new teacher evaluations lingers into June. Cuomo has linked school aid to tougher evaluations, as well as a longer tenure period of teachers: from three to five years. It appears the sides are moving toward a four-year period before a teacher could get tenure.

...

Schools want school-aid estimates as soon as possible as they prepare their budgets for a public vote May 19.

“We want to give as much clarity and predictability to school districts as we can to allow them to plan budgets,” Morelle said. “By the same token, the governor has been very clear that he wants, as part of the budget, a teacher-evaluation system different from the one we currently have.”

Tying school aid to the commission outcome is NOT a cave.

It's a way to force an outcome he wants a few months down the line.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, Cuomo's going to get at least half of what he wants on tenure reform.

Don't think he won't get the same on evaluations - and maybe more - before it's all said and done.

Hope I'm wrong but the trajectory I see in these negotiations is compromise from the legislature and the teachers unions where no compromise need be made.

Cuomo is an unpopular governor with an unpopular agenda.

He can be told to go scratch with his agenda - and if he doesn't like it, he can purposely delay the budget himself.

Cuomo knows what the poll numbers are on that.

NYSUT ought to mount an ad campaign blaming him for purposely delaying a budget because he wants to increase the weight and emphasis of Common Core testing in schools.

See if Cuomo would like to have to counter that.

It's a shame the legislature and the teachers unions leadership doesn't seem to get this.

But doesn't seem they do.

Cuomo Pushing For A Commission To Handle Teacher Evaluation Reforms

Because it's never too late for another jive commission empaneled to give cover to politicians who already know what they want to push through but don't want to take a political hit for doing it:

Majority Leader Dean Skelos on Tuesday said his conference is “just about there with him” on education issues following a lengthy closed-door conference on the issue.

At this point, state lawmakers and Cuomo are considering the creation of a commission that would develop teacher evaluation criteria.

It’s unclear what the final composition of the panel would be and what their purview would be.
“Now it’s really about the commission, the composition of the commission and really want their charge would be in terms of finalizing education reform,” Skelos said.

It also remains undetermined if the panel’s recommendations would be immediately acted up on or have to be approved by the Legislature, he said.

“They would come up with recommendations to the Legislature and the question is whether we would vote for it or whether they would implement what they recommend,” Skelos said.

Remember that idea yesterday that Cuomo was dropping most of ed reform agenda in return for the ethics agreement he got from the Assembly Dems?

Turns out it's not to be so:

Cuomo is continuing to press on with most of his initial education reform agenda, though a lifting of the statewide cap on charter schools is being left for later in the legislative session.

Assembly Democrats remain at odds with Cuomo on a variety of education issues, including a school receivership proposal as well as an effort to reform teacher tenure and the evaluation procedures for teachers.

It looks like receivership, tenure changes and evaluation reform all still alive in the budget talks, but the charter cap is out.

So much for Assembly Dems getting anything out of Cuomo for caving on ethics reform.

Report From TWC News: Charter Cap, Receivership, Teacher Tenure Are Out Of The Budget Talks

Zack Fink writing at State of Politics:

The conversation on education reform in the State Budget appears to have shifted. Sources say last night Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Governor Cuomo had a long talk about some of the Governor’s policy proposals and now, finally, there seems to be some movement on the budget.

Assembly Democrats conferenced the proposed changes this afternoon, which include taking charter schools out of the discussion. Governor Cuomo had wanted to raise the cap to allow more charters, but as of now that will be taken up at another time, likely later in the session. The Governor also appears to be backing away from his insistence that “failing” schools be placed into a receivership. Democrats staunchly oppose this. Weakening teacher tenure is also on the chopping block ( Cuomo wanted to make it harder for teachers to gain tenure ) and a formula for teacher evaluations is still being worked out. Democrats described the overall mood on budget talks as “very different.” No longer was Cuomo taking a “storm-the-beach” approach on his controversial education reforms. Many of those ideas have now been “uncoupled” from the revenue appropriations they were attached to. That paves the way for compromise, and an on time budget, at least within the the world of Democrats who had loathed the Governor’s approach. But of course, Republicans still need to come around on ethics, if the budget is actually going to be on time.

So, what changed? a couple of things…for one, sources say Cuomo was losing the war against teachers. First there was the poll last week showing his approval rating at the lowest it has ever been. Then there was the Siena poll that showed the public isn’t really with him on this one. Finally, there are the teacher’s unions, NYSUT and UFT, who successfully painted Cuomo as the enemy of teachers. From the campaign to demonstrate he has spent no time in schools as Governor, to the billboards on the Thruway telling Cuomo he needs to listen to to teachers, it all adds up to a losing battle for the Governor.

Not for nothing, but if you are going to take on an entrenched group like the teacher’s union in this state, you gotta be ready to really go to war. That includes a TV ad blitz, which was noticeably absent in this particular fight. Cuomo’s buddy Chris Christie successfully turned the public against the NJEA in New Jersey, but he did so after first coming into office in 2010, when his political clout was at its highest. It was also during the great recession when antipathy toward public unions living-large-on-the-public-dime was at an all-time high.

Then there is the ethics reform. Last week, Cuomo successfully pulled Speaker Heastie into the fold on ethics when they announced a two-way agreement which left Senate Republicans on the sidelines. This was immortalized by the hug-heard-round the world. ( This photo appears to have been taken after the two leaders won their field hockey game. They then apparently went back to the mansion and watched “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and shared a good cry. Next week, it’s an all “Fried Green Tomatoes,” and “Steel Magnolias” marathon. Btw – I’m totally kidding about everything I just wrote in parenthesis…Heastie actually HATES “Steel Magnolias.”)

Once the Governor had the Democrats on ethics reform, he was able to squeeze the Republicans a bit. But of course, no one gets everything they want. And to bring the Dems on board for ethics, meant sacrificing something on education. Heastie and his members couldn’t live with what Cuomo wanted in terms of ed reform. Cuomo needed ethics to be his top priority following the arrest of former Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Rumor has been that Assembly Dems agreed to ethics reforms for Cuomo and Cuomo agreed to drop the education reforms in return.

Given how Cuomo has broken his word in the past (most recently on the Common Core safety net for APPR), until the budget agreement is completed, I wouldn't bet the mortgage on any of this.

Also, note that teacher evaluation changes still remain in the budget talks:

A formula for teacher evaluations is still being worked out

Hard to know what that will be.

Last night I posted that according to the NT2 blog, Mulgrew was having his own discussions with Cuomo's people.

He may be helping to work out the "formula" for evaluation changes.

If I remember correctly, he was touting the John King-imposed APPR system NYC has as something the whole state should get.

At any rate, there's a lesson here that mobilizing parents and teachers for public protests and running ads aimed at taking the governor down a few pegs can work wonders with the public.

Don't think the charter folks are taking this lying down, btw.

They've gone up with their own pro-Cuomo/pro-ed deform ads to try and change the trajectory of the education story before the budget is completed.

You can bet they'll look to get the cap raised, and if it doesn't come now in the budget, they'll look to get it later.

In any case, as I wrote above, until this is a done deal, I wouldn't put any money on anything anyway.

With NYSUT and the UFT in charge, there's always a good chance they'll steal defeat from the jaws of victory.

But for now, it looks like the governor may have blinked because he needed an ethics deal with the Assembly Dems and they wanted - and got - something in return.

We'll see.

No Compromise With Cuomo

Fred LeBrun in the Times Union:

The governor seems off his A-game, and has since the day after he delivered his state of the state/budget message in late January.

That was the day Bharara's office dropped the bombshell that rocked Albany, charging long-time Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver with corruption. Who would have guessed that the governor would be as rattled as he apparently has been by that?

Cuomo's popularity statewide, a fickle measure to be sure, has dropped by nearly 10 points since December in Quinnipiac University polling. But more revealing is how the public in the latest poll judges the governor on two key policy areas that he's staked out as the most significant of this legislative season.

On ethics reform, more see him as part of the problem rather than of the solution, and by a substantial 54 percent to 38 percent disapprove of how he's handled ethics in state government. Interestingly, the public wants full disclosure of outside income by legislators, which in modified form is part of the two-way deal the governor has crafted.

But the public also strongly favors that the same should apply to income by spouses and significant others, which is not part of the deal. Nor is the creation of a full-time Legislature — Scheiderman's proposal — although the public favors that as well.

What the two-way ethics deal also significantly ignores is equal application to the executive branch. Senate Majority leader Dean Skelos has made a telling point of this, and he's spot-on. ''Our biggest concern is, number one, with the different ethics proposals that have come from the governor ... is what applies to the Legislature should apply to the governor.''

And there is the uncomfortable matter of disclosing the finances of spouses and significant others, which strikes close to home for Cuomo. His partner is Food Network host Sandra Lee. But again, Skelos, who insists that that proviso belongs in any ethics package, is correct when he insists, ''It's not about his friend. She's a wonderful person. This is about equality in terms of disclosure between the executive branch and legislative branch.''

In the Quinnipiac poll, 64 percent say spouses and live-in partners should divulge the source and size of their incomes.

The other key policy area is public education ''reform.'' The public is abandoning him here as well. The poll shows that 55 percent believe the teachers unions can do a better job with education, and only 28 percent say the governor can.

For a governor who has had a remarkable touch in guiding and responding to public opinion and who has closely watched polls throughout his tenure, his growing divergence from the majority public view on these two major policy areas is striking.

Right before the State of the State/budget address, Cuomo was rolling out an announcement a day, all carefully choreographed to promote his image as a pragmatic, middle of the road "Get Things Done" kind of guy.

As LeBrun says, he hasn't been the same since Bharara took out Silver, upsetting the apple cart of power in Albany.

Hard to know if Cuomo's just not used to having to react to someone else (usually Cuomo's handling things so that other people are reacting to him) or if he's really worried that he's next for a police car ride downtown for booking.

Nonetheless the political calculations for Cuomo and his agenda have much changed since he unveiled it officially in January in that set of policy announcements and his State of the State/budget address.

Whereas in January it seemed like a done deal that Cuomo would get almost all of his agenda in the budget, in March the environment exists for him to get very little of it.

But that would mean the Assembly Dems, prodded by the teachers union leadership, would have to  stare him down in a battle of wills over his ed reform agenda.

After those same Assembly Dems caved last week on ethics and agreed to a lame ethics reform package that gave Cuomo everything he wanted (i.e., ethics reform that applies to the legislature, not the executive branch), I'm concerned that despite plummeting support in both the Siena and Quinnipiac polls and widespread protest over his education agenda, they're going to cave to him on his education reforms (with teachers union blessing, of course!)

On the other hand, Cuomo has been lashing out at Assembly Dems, claiming Shelly Silver is still running the show, so there's also some indication that budget negotiations on his ed deform agenda aren't going as he'd like.

We need to keep the pressure up - the public protests, the calls to members of the legislature, the social media protests.

We CAN win this battle with Cuomo over education reform - IF we put as much pressure onto the legislature and union leaders to NOT cave to Cuomo as we put on Cuomo TO cave.

In Case You Think Assembly Dems Are Going To Stand Up To Cuomo On Education Policy (Or Anything Else)

See this photo from 3/18/2015:

The so called Cuomo - Heastie 'ethics reform' is more embarassing than this picture. pic.twitter.com/T1FikJsCTB
— Steve McLaughlin (@SteveMcNY) March 18, 2015

The latest Quinnipiac poll shows the public backs teachers over Cuomo on education issues 55%-28%.

Cuomo has a 63% disapproval rating on his handling of education.

71%-25% oppose tying teacher pay to test scores.

65%-30% oppose tying teacher tenure to test scores.

Those are two of Cuomo's signature education reforms.

They're not very popular, are they?

Neither is Cuomo.

His approval has dropped eight percentage points to his lowest score for a Q poll - 50% approval overall

In Siena polls, Cuomo's been underwater on job approval for months.

In the last one, he was at 47% approval.

There is no reason for Assembly Dems to be embracing Cuomo on anything.

So why is newly-minted speaker Carl Heastie bailing Cuomo out on ethics reform and jumping into his lap at the press conference announcing the deal?

I warned yesterday that a sell-out is coming.

Assembly Dems sent a letter to Heastie saying they should fight Cuomo on state takeover of failing schools and districts but they made no mention of any of the rest of his agenda - including teacher evaluation reform, tenure reform and raising the charter cap.

Today's Quinnipiac poll gives Dems plenty of cover to fight Cuomo on his education reform agenda.

But it's awfully hard to fight Cuomo when you're embracing him.

And that's what Heastie's doing right now.

Assembly Dems Cave To Cuomo

And so the sell-out from Assembly Dems has begun:

A two-way ethics deal was struck on Tuesday between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Democrats in the Assembly, an apparent tactic to pressure Senate Republicans to agree to broader reforms.

Details on the agreement are hazy, but Cuomo and state lawmakers said it was within the broad parameters of what the governor had sought on private client disclosure for those who have business before the state, per diem reform and requiring public officials convicted of corruption to surrender their pensions.

More details are expected on Wednesday, but the ethics legislation agreed to was done with the understanding it would be included in the final budget agreement.

The deal, announced in an impromptu press conference outside the Assembly chamber, was struck at the exclusion of majority Republicans in the state Senate and comes as GOP lawmakers have insisted they wanted an on-time budget that was not hampered by debates over non-fiscal policy concerns.

“We have an agreement on the areas that the governor laid out earlier,” Heastie said while standing next to Cuomo this evening at the Capitol. “We’ll have the details tomorrow. We’re happy in this place.”

Added Cuomo: “I’m more than happy with this package.”

...

Cuomo was pointed in his praise for the Assembly reaching an agreement, with about three weeks to go before the state budget is due.

“I want to applaud the speaker and the Assembly for stepping up and establishing a standard that has never been established before,” Cuomo said. “There is going to be more disclosure, more transparency than has ever existed in this government.”

Not much in the way of details, but from the body language and words, it seems Cuomo got what he wanted and gave little in return.

Doesn't look like Cuomo will be subject to any of this "reform" in the agreement - just the legislature.

Gee, what a fantastic "win".

Better hope this isn't a blueprint for the rest of budget negotiations, but I suspect it is.

Dems caving to Cuomo.

Same old same old.