Cuomo Rescue Vehicles Need Rescue Themselves

I read this Times-Union piece on Governor Cuomo's rescue vehicle fleet as emblematic for his education policies:

The governor, a longtime mechanic with a penchant for fast cars and motorcycles, told state officials to purchase four "high-axle" rescue trucks to be assigned to the State Police and posted at security facilities and airports around the state, ready for his use on a moment's notice.

Yet there's no record that the vehicles have been used to rescue anyone, or are even suitable for that purpose. Their effectiveness in floodwaters and snowstorms is also questionable, according to two former officials in the state's Homeland Security office.

The International trucks are two-wheel drive and have low ground clearance that makes them vulnerable to washing away in the very types of floods that threatened Cuomo's vehicle four years ago, an official said.

"It was all an exercise in futility," the former official said, declining to be identified out of concern of antagonizing the governor. "No matter what you did, those trucks weren't going to clear 30 inches of snow or 25 inches of water. There was concern expressed to the governor — because of the high center of gravity and low clearance — that in running water those trucks could turn over, and none of that was received well."

...

The trucks purchased after the 2011 tropical storms were dubbed "All-Weather Response Coordination" vehicles in a "guidelines document" drafted by the executive branch. The document said the goal was "to ensure that New York state has the standing capability to access areas where normal vehicular traffic access is challenged or denied by weather or post-disaster conditions in order to support state executive coordination with county/local executives and public safety officials, as well as support the extrication of persons affected by the incident as needed," according to guidelines drafted by the state.

But those trucks have low beds that make them unsafe to transport anyone not lying down, and performed so poorly in snow that DOT officials installed ballast to increase traction.

...

 In February 2013, a nor'easter dubbed Nemo by meteorologists dumped more than two feet of snow on eastern Long Island. One of the governor's all-weather rescue trucks was being "repositioned" for use by Cuomo in the wake of the storm when it became stuck in the heavy snow. It had to be pulled free by a midsized communications van with a winch and was not used that day, according to a former Homeland Security official.

Here's a photo of Governor Cuomo's rescue vehicle being itself rescued:

So once again, we have Governor Cuomo micromanaging something - in this case, "All Weather Response Coordination" (i.e., purchasing state vehicles) - doing it badly, then refusing to listen to others when he's told he he's wrong ("There was concern expressed to the governor — because of the high center of gravity and low clearance — that in running water those trucks could turn over, and none of that was received well.")

This is emblematic for the Cuomo administration education policies too.

Told over and over again his APPR teacher evaluation system is garbage and the state tests junk, he doubles down on both for a "strengthened" teacher evaluation system.

We're going to need a rescue vehicle for schools after Cuomo gets done with them, just as Cuomo's rescue vehicles need rescue themselves when it, you know, snows.

Andrew Cuomo Needs To Put The Homeless Shelter Overseen By His Sister Into His Vaunted APPR Evaluation System

Imagine the following story is about a public school in New York City and not a homeless shelter run by a non-profit started by Andrew Cuomo in the 1980's and currently overseen by Cuomo's sister, Maria Cuomo Cole:

A Manhattan homeless shelter overseen by Gov. Cuomo’s sister has been repeatedly cited for deteriorating safety and health conditions — culminating last year with the death of an infant, records show.

The Hamilton Family Residence in upper Manhattan, which houses 155 families headed by single mothers, is run by HELP USA, a nonprofit group founded by Andrew Cuomo in the 1980s. His sister Maria Cuomo Cole chairs the group’s board.

Beginning in 2013, the shelter — which currently has a $23 million contract with the city — has repeatedly received low marks from the city for health and safety issues, including damaged walls, poor housekeeping and crib-related problems, city records show.

A key issue has been potentially dangerous conditions for children, since the city-funded shelter serves only families with kids.

The low point came on Feb. 19, 2014, when a 3-month-old girl was rushed from the shelter to Harlem Hospital in cardiac arrest.

OK, now imagine this shelter was part of the vaunted APPR teacher evaluation plan Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to impose on teachers across the state, with unannounced evaluations being conducted by outside observers, and this is what they found:

The infant’s death occurred after HELP’s performance ratings had slipped, records show.

The city monitors these programs and issues ratings on a regular basis. The HELP contract that covers Hamilton was rated “good” in overall performance in 2009, but dropped to “fair” by 2013 and continued at “fair” through June. It’s “quality of programs” ratings dropped to “poor” in 2013 but rose to “fair” as of last year.

Problems are spelled out in regular city inspections, examining physical conditions and the quality of services to families.

During several announced visits in April 2013, homeless services inspectors randomly selected 15 apartments and found health and safety problems in each one.

That included missing child-proof electrical outlets in several units, roaches in one kitchen sink, fruit flies in another, a toilet that didn’t flush, walls with holes, and lots of busted floor tiles, records show.

In his report, the inspector warned HELP that apartment inspections “must be conducted weekly for units in a deplorable manner.”

He also emphasized the need for more “supervisory oversight” to ensure timely repairs and adoption of a plan of action to “address all major physical deficiencies found.”

The inspector noted that case files were a mess, and when inspectors returned six months later for an unannounced visit, they found “no observable improvement with the quality of the case files.”

HELP is on notice to improve the Hamilton Family Residence after several announced visits in 2013 - but conditions actually deteriorate:

By April 2014, it was worse. During six visits, DHS Inspector Pierre found problems throughout, including 45 “crib-related issues,” 35 units with damaged walls, 21 units with sinks not securely fastened to walls, 11 units with “problems with vermin (roaches and flies),” and 10 units with “evidence of mold” in bathroom walls and ceilings.

Pierre said the case files had gotten even worse, writing, “The social service delivery appeared to be regressing.”

“All throughout this unit inspection, damaged walls and ceilings, poor housekeeping and crib-related deficiencies were frequently found,” he wrote. ”There is a lack of sense of urgency from facility staff to ensure that these issues are addressed.”

HELP then missed its July 13 deadline to submit a “corrective report” explaining how they would address the problems. It arrived a month later, and was rejected. Finally on Sept. 12, DHS approved HELP’s plan.

Again I ask you to imagine Hamilton Family Residence were a school in Buffalo, Rochester or New York City - what rhetoric would we hear out of Cuomo about the "failure" of this kind of school (and rightfully so!)

But instead this is a homeless shelter run by HELP USA, a non-profit Andrew Cuomo himself started and currently overseen by his sister.

What rhetoric do we hear out of Cuomo about the "failure" of HELP?

Cricket, cricket...

Here is a shelter that received poor evaluation ratings in 2013 that got worse in 2014, with the DHS inspector writing that “The social service delivery appeared to be regressing.”

The shelter is cited for vermin, mold, damaged walls, sinks not properly fastened to the walls and crib-related issues.

If anything calls for state intervention (like Cuomo is calling for with "failing" schools and "failing" school districts), it's the Hamilton Family Residence run by HELP USA, the Cuomo-run non-profit.

I won't hold my breath waiting for a broadside from Cuomo himself or any of his flying monkey minions on this.

As a side note, Maria Cuomo Cole is married to famed designer, sweatshop overseer and teacher-basher, Kenneth Cole.

You can see Cole's record on safety issues here.

Weingarten Tries To Spin Her Support Of Bank Lobbyist/Ed Deformer Kathy Hochul

AFT President Randi Weingarten and Arthur Goldstein were having a twitter conversation today over Weingarten's support of Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul during the primary (which you can read about here.)

Weingarten robocalled for Hochul during a pivotal moment of the campaign when it looked like challenger Tim Wu could actually pull off an upset.

She wasn't the only "progressive" dragged out for the robocalls by the Cuomo campaign - NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio taped one as well.

After Wu lost the primary to Hochul, he said that his campaign's internal polls had shown him closing on Hochul, but the tide turned after the robocalls went out.

It seems prominent "progressives" like de Blasio and Weingarten supporting Hochul assured enough New York City voters that she was all right, they could safely vote for her.

Weingarten has continually claimed that supporting Hochul publicly was payback for Hochul's support of public education when she was in Congress - but Hochul was only in Congress a short period of time (less than one-full term), so that rationale for Hochul support is absurd.

Weingarten has also said she doesn't think Hochul is in the "everything against" camp when it comes to public education, but as we know from history, any time anybody works for Andrew Cuomo, you either do EVERYTHING Cuomo wants you to do or you don't take the job.

So Hochul's acceptance of the LG gig under Cuomo was an explicit admission that she would be in the "everything against" camp because that's where her boss, Andrew Cuomo, wants her.

Which is EXACTLY where she was this week as she keynoted for the Cuomo administration at Eva Moskowitz's pro-charter Albany rally.

I try and stay out of the Weingarten jive-fests on Twitter these days because it's unproductive trying to argue with a pathological liar, but every once in a while Randi's lies, half-truths and evasions get to be too much and I have to jump in.

This is one of those times:

@TeacherArthurG -I'm more disappointed abt her silence abt public schooling in general--- quite different from when she was in Congress
— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) March 7, 2015

To which I replied:

@rweingarten @TeacherArthurG Who are you kidding? You knew EXACTLY what Hochul would be like as Cuomo's LG.
— realitybasededucator (@perdidostschool) March 7, 2015

@rweingarten @TeacherArthurG Anybody who works for Cuomo does EXACTLY as he wants - as Hochul is doing shilling deform.
— realitybasededucator (@perdidostschool) March 7, 2015

@rweingarten @TeacherArthurG Your robocalls for Hochul were essentially robocalls for Cuomo - as many have pointed out.
— realitybasededucator (@perdidostschool) March 7, 2015

@rweingarten @TeacherArthurG And just in case you think this wasn't pointed out at the time http://t.co/AX9KMqVy3M
— realitybasededucator (@perdidostschool) March 7, 2015

Mary Ahern made another good point about the way Weingarten helped out the Cuomo campaign during the primary:

.@perdidostschool @TeacherArthurG Add this 2 @rweingarten 's defense of Cuomo's statemnts vowing 2 destroy pub. schl monopoly, I smell a RAT
— Mary Ahern (@mma718) March 7, 2015

Which reminded me about this:

@mma718 @TeacherArthurG @rweingarten Yes - she excused it as just "campaign rhetoric," even though she'd heard him b4.
— realitybasededucator (@perdidostschool) March 7, 2015

@mma718 @TeacherArthurG @rweingarten Randi was there when Andy trotted rhetoric out first http://t.co/pqyDwmvvCY
— realitybasededucator (@perdidostschool) March 7, 2015

Weingarten replied just once to my tweets:

@perdidostschool @TeacherArthurG -sorry to disappoint you- no deals...
— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) March 7, 2015

To which I replied:

@rweingarten @TeacherArthurG Then who called you to tape the robocall at the EXACT moment Wu's poll #'s were rising?
— realitybasededucator (@perdidostschool) March 7, 2015

So far, no response from Weingarten on that.

This back and forth with Randi gets tiring after awhile, which is why I don't engage in it much anymore, but every once in a while it's important to jump in a point out how full of crap Randi is.

To that end, I'll finish this post with I think the takeway from all this is:

@TeacherArthurG @rweingarten I usually stay out of the Randi jive-fests these days, but her Hochul support is egregious
— realitybasededucator (@perdidostschool) March 7, 2015

@TeacherArthurG @rweingarten In Cuomo admin, she will do as Cuomo says. That's basis for putting her in "against" camp
— realitybasededucator (@perdidostschool) March 7, 2015

SUNY Professors: Cuomo, NYSED Setting Up Teachers To Fail

 From the Capital New York Education update:

UNION: CUOMO SABOTAGING PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS—Capital’s Jessica Bakeman: “A union representing SUNY professors, along with a member of the Board of Regents, accused Governor Andrew Cuomo and the State Education Department on Thursday of intentionally sabotaging prospective teachers in order to justify shutting down colleges’ teacher preparation programs.

“Fred Kowal, president of the United University Professions, which represents professors and other employees at SUNY’s 29 state-operated campuses, 17 of which have teacher preparation programs, [said,] ‘S.E.D.’s certification exams are invalid and deeply flawed ... There is a reason why: it was done on purpose. This is failure by design. Simply put, New York’s student teachers have been set up to fail by S.E.D. and Governor Cuomo. The governor has made no secret of the fact that he wants to close teacher preparation programs. Now he wants to justify that decision.’” [PRO] http://bit.ly/1AMjEOG

This is of course the strategy of the reform movement - to undercut what is "public" in order to eventually "privatize."  

To that end, they've created the public school crisis by cutting funding, increasing mandates, rolling out new standards before there was any curricula for them, tying those new standards to tests that nobody was prepared for, then setting the failure rates for those tests at 70% in order to be able to declare the public education system in "crisis" and in need of "dramatic reform."

Now they're aiming at teacher preparation programs too in order to prove those "failures" and impose "dramatic reform" on that sector of education.

It's a classic neoliberal blueprint being carried out here in New York State, one of the so-called "bluest" states in the nation, but really, just a playground for the Milton Friedman acolytes at this point.

Charter School Rally Motto: “Being dumb is so whack.”

Big show from the "underdogs" in the education "war":

ALBANY - Thousands of city charter school kids got a lesson in New York politics - and a performance from Ashanti- as the battle over Gov. Cuomo’s education agenda raged in dueling rallies at the Capitol Wednesday.

The students, many of them from Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy Network, got a day off school to take part in a huge rally on the steps of the Capitol that called for an end to the “failing schools crisis” and featured the hip-hop singer and WNBA star Lisa Leslie.

“I think we just need to end the crisis,” Ashanti said afterward. “The kids are suffering the most.”

During her performance, Ashanti told the crowd: “Being dumb is so whack.”

It sure is, Ashanti.

It sure is.

To prove that, take a look again at Families For Excellent Schools' Jeremiah Kittredge go mano a mano with the press yesterday over his ridiculously inflated rally attendance estimate, charges the children were being used as political props and the overall price tag of the rally (which Kittredge refused to divulge):



Maybe they should have had Ashanti do the presser and Kittredge do the song and dance performance?

He was moving his head enough, that's for sure.

Four Minutes Of Families For Excellent Schools Attitude

So a spokesman for the hedge fundie-backed Families For Excellent Schools met with reporters today to talk about the pro-charter rally up in Albany and things got, well, a little strained:



That wasn't the only misstep from the FES spokesman:

He said some 160 organizations took part, and claimed the rally attracted 13,000 participants — an estimate that strained the credulity of many of the reporters on hand, mainly because they had viewed the event with their own eyes. (Also, the group’s permit was for 7,500 participants, which seemed far closer to the visible number of people on hand.)

I'm not sure why Eva Moskowitz and these charter operators and supporters would go to such trouble to put on a PR performance piece like today's rally, then screw all that lovely PR up by claiming a ridiculous attendee count and then getting into a verbal skirmish with reporters.

But that's what they did.

Unforced errors on their end.

Time To Ask Randi Weingarten About The Kathy Hochul Robocalls Again

Back during the 2014 Democratic Primary for lieutenant governor, Cuomo's people started to worry that law professor Tim Wu, Zephy Teachout's running mate, could beat Cuomo's running mate, bank lobbyist Kathy Hochul.

Polls showed that Wu was indeed within striking distance, so the Cuomo campaign had some robocalls go out on her behalf.

One of the political personages taped for those robocalls was AFT President Randi Weingarten.

When Weingarten was criticized on Twitter for making robocalls for the Cuomo campaign (which is what these were, despite her claims to the contrary that they were only for Hochul), she said that Hochul was a reliable advocate for public education and she wanted to support Hochul for that.

There's news some morning that the reliable advocate for public education, former bank lobbyist and current lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul will be one of the politicians feting Eva Moskowitz at her pro-charter rally today:

Gov. Cuomo, unlike last year, will skip a large pro-charter school rally at the Capitol on Wednedsay, but his new lieutenant governor will be there.

Lt. Gov. Kathleen Hochul is one of at least nine elected officials scheduled to be in attendance. Many are from the Bronx.

Also set to attend is Senate GOP Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau County), Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeffrey Klein, Senate Education Committee Chairman John Flanagan (R-Suffolk County), Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx).

Among the Assembly members said to be coming is Marcos Crespo (D-Bronx), Michael Blake (D-Bronx), Ruben Sepulveda (D-Bronx), Robert Rodriguez (D-Manhattan ) and Mark Gjonaj (D-Bronx).

...

Cuomo, who last year attended the rally and is pushing a host of education reforms this year that includes a expansion of charter schools, will be in Rochester and Syracuse pushing Wednesday is plan to hike the minimum wage.

Let me ask Ms. Weingarten once more, why did she make robocalls for bank lobbyist, Cuomo running mate and charter shill Kathy Hochul?

These are robocalls that helped Hochul beat Tim Wu in the primary and now help push an anti-public education agenda.

Why would a union president who supposedly cares about public education make robocalls for a political campaign that is virulently anti-public education and anti-public school teacher?

The excuse that Hochul is an advocate for public schools doesn't work so well now that she's shilling for Eva Moskowitz and the charters.

Cuomo Says Teacher Evaluations, School Aid Are Negotiable

From State of Politics:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has told lawmakers that ethics is his No. 1 priority this year and other contentious issues – school aid, teacher evaluations, and regional infrastructure projects – are negotiable, several legislators said.

The story's by Yancey Roy, it's behind a paywall at Newsday.

More on this as we get more details.

But let me remind everybody out there that NYSUT President Magee and UFT President Mulgrew have already had one semi-secret meeting with Cuomo aides that made it into the news.

I wonder if they have any more semi-secret meetings in the works?

Going To Be A Fun Day For A Rally

Amusing headline from Capitol Confidential on the weather for tomorrow's charter school rally in Albany:

Weather update, or: Does Mother Nature hate charter schools?

This just in from the Capitol Confidential weather desk: It’s going to be a miserable day for a rally tomorrow.

Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy charter school network is poised to descend upon the Capitol for a massive outdoor rally Wednesday as charter groups and public education advocates square off again this year amid bold education proposals from the governor. Last year’s event was freezing cold but sunny and featured Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and thousands of smiling children.

This year’s rally? Snow, sleet, rain, wind, mud, clouds, that perfect temperature zone where you think it’s going to be warmer than it actually is. Yeah, it’s going to be one of those late-winter upstate days.

From Eva's perspective, the worse the weather is, the more it reflects positively on the "grit" of her "scholars" and their families.

Looks like they'll be plenty of opportunity to show some "grit" tomorrow.

More Hypocrisy From Cuomo

From State of Politics:

Cuomo, through his aides, has given a chilly response to Senate Republicans for proposing that some financial data regarding live-in girlfriends of elected officials – such as Cuomo’s girlfriend, Sandra Lee – be subject to the same ethics disclosures required for spouses of elected officials. But back in 2009, then-Attorney General Cuomo made that connection himself.

This dovetails nicely with Cuomo's hypocrisy over his administration's email deletion policy.

As attorney general, Cuomo said the following about email deletions:

Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, is no stranger to the consequences of a paper trail. Before becoming governor, he spent four years as state attorney general, a perch from which he witnessed how long-forgotten e-mails could become pivotal during investigations. In 2008, he even accused a top official at the New York Power Authority of “extremely troubling conduct” for deleting e-mails from his BlackBerry as word leaked that he was likely to be investigated by the attorney general’s office.

Now as governor, Cuomo has broadened a 90 day email deletion policy started for the executive chamber in 2007 to the entire state government.

His IT hack said deleting emails as quickly as possible is "a matter of, actually, encouraging good behavior, prudent and responsible use of state resources.”

Ah, yes - the kind of behavior AG Cuomo called "extremely troubling conduct" becomes standard operating procedure for state government under Governor Cuomo because it's "encouraging good behavior" and prudence.

This kind of prudence will now be par for the course when it comes to trying to get any information out of state agencies.

Maybe we can change the name of the state from New York to Oceania.

Eva Moskowitz Compares Charter School Support To #BlackLivesMatter Protests

Methinks this Moskowitz rhetorical flourish is a reach:

EVA MOSKOWITZ ON ‘BLACK LIVES’ AND FAILING SCHOOLS—Capital’s Eliza Shapiro: “In a letter to reporters on Monday, Success Academy C.E.O. Eva Moskowitz compared what she called New York's failing schools ‘crisis’ to protests over the killings of unarmed black men last year. ‘Only two months ago our city was divided by protests over the loss of black lives,’ Moskowitz said in the letter, referring to nationwide protests over the killings of unarmed black men Eric Garner and Michael Brown. ‘I would argue we are losing more black lives by ignoring an epic educational crisis,’ she added… Moskowitz asked reporters to cover Success’ upcoming rally, which she called ‘the largest parent rally ever seen in Albany.’ [PRO] http://bit.ly/1GJDCPt

You see, making sure children of color have schools to attend where they are forcibly marched in silence, suspended for rolling their eyes or not making eye contact with their young white teacher when he/she snaps his/her fingers, treated to nine hours+ a day of mind-numbing test prep and treated like prisoners-in-training is a civil rights issue.

Cuomo Gives Rupert Murdoch's FOX $52 Million In Film And TV Tax Breaks Through Empire State Development

Gannett's Joseph Spector obtained the record of tax breaks handed out by New York State between 2011 and April 2013 for film and TV production via Empire State Development.

A whopping $472 million dollars has been handed to film and TV companies to make productions in New York, with HBO topping the list with more than $91 million in subsidies, NBC coming in second with more than $83 million in subsidies and Rupert Murdoch's FOX receiving more than $52 million in subsidies.

Spector reports that the tax breaks can add up to 30% of total production costs and come at a price:

Critics said the money for the shows should be used instead to repair the state's infrastructure and fund services.

"Our roads and bridges are crumbling, and yet we're subsidizing Hollywood millionaires to do television productions. It does not make any sense," said Assemblyman Bill Nojay, R-Pittsford.

Conklin Supervisor Jim Finch said his Southern Tier town received $3 million when 500 people were displaced and 200 homes were destroyed in tropical storms Irene and Lee in 2012.

"That's baloney," Finch said when told of the money for Orange is the New Black. "They already make all the millions on the movies, and we get nothing back from the profits."

Before 2013, the state was able to keep the tax subsidy information private, but that changed with a new law passed in 2013.


Governor Cuomo has done quite well with donations from Hollywood movie moguls and the like, as reported by Bloomberg News back in September 2014:

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who added $2.1 billion to an incentive program for the movie and television industry, has collected almost $900,000 in campaign contributions from Hollywood since taking office in 2011.

Cuomo, who lured NBC’s “The Tonight Show” back to New York City from Los Angeles, collected $121,600 from Comcast Corp. and its NBCUniversal unit, campaign-finance records show. Paramount Pictures Corp. Chairman Brad Grey gave $35,000, while Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Lynton and nine other executives donated a combined $45,200. Paramount’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” and Sony’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” are among productions that took advantage of New York’s tax-credit program, the most generous in the U.S.

“What makes this industry more special than any industry that would invest here if you paid them to do it?” said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for New York State Policy in Albany, which opposes government subsidies. “The difference is, well, it’s high-profile and it’s really glamorous. And oh, incidentally, it’s run by people who are really savvy, generous political givers too.”

Cuomo, a 56-year-old Democrat, who ran for governor vowing to clean up Albany’s pay-to-play culture of corruption by limiting contributions, has instead reaped the benefits of a system that allows individuals to give as much as $150,000 per year -- and even more through limited-liability corporations. Federal prosecutors are also probing the Cuomo administration’s effort to stymie investigations by an anti-corruption committee he created and then disbanded before its term was finished. 

In addition, Cuomo got a book deal out of the Rupert Murdoch-owned HarperCollins that is worth somewhere between $700,000 and $880,000 dollars, with $188,000 already paid to Cuomo.

Cuomo refuses to reveal the book contract and won't say what the final total of compensation will be.

The book has sold fewer than 3,000 copies.

David Sirota at IBTimes reported that Murdoch's News Corp received millions in tax breaks out of the Cuomo administration after lobbying both before and after the book contract.

Add the film and TV production subsidies that Murdoch-owned FOX received to the tax breaks that Murdoch-owned News Corp received and there's enough money going from the Cuomo administration to Rupert Murdoch and then going from Rupert Murdoch back to Andrew Cuomo himself to make someone go "Hmmm...."

The Hollywood/Cuomo connections needs more scrutiny, that's for sure.

Cuomo Spokesman: The More You Protest, The Worse It Will Get For You

From Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:

ALBANY—More than 1,000 teachers and public education advocates marched through the Empire State Plaza concourse on Monday, clogging security checkpoints into the Capitol and rallying on the Million Dollar Staircase in a boisterous protest of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s education reform proposals.

Led by New York State United Teachers, the primary opponent of Cuomo’s plans to overhaul the state’s teacher evaluation system and tenure laws and boost charter schools, protesters arrived from around the state in 15 buses as well as by car from local school districts.

Carrying signs and even a cardboard cutout of Cuomo adorned with a NYSUT scarf, they chanted, “hey, hey, ho, ho, this corporate greed has got to go,” “shame on you” and “this is what Democracy looks like.”

Members of both houses of the Legislature attended the rally as it reached the Capitol staircase that’s in between the Senate and Assembly chambers. Assembly education committee chair Cathy Nolan, a Queens Democrat, was met with cheers when she encouraged teachers to continue to fight for school funding and respect for their profession.

“You have to be here to make your voice heard, or you will not be,” Nolan said. “I know it’s not easy, but it matters.”

The response from the Cuomo administration?

Their voices were heard in the hallways outside the chambers, and apparently also by the Cuomo administration, whose offices are on the second floor. Their screams further motivate the governor to pursue his agenda, spokesman Richard Azzopardi said in a statement.

“The governor is fighting to reform a system that spends more money per student than any other state in the nation while condemning hundreds of thousands of children to failing schools over the last decade,” Azzopardi said. “The louder special interests scream to protect the status quo—and today they were screaming at the top of their lungs—the more we know we’re right.”

Classic authoritarianism from Cuomo.

He doesn't care that the polling shows the public backs teachers, he doesn't care that parents and teachers are fighting against his agenda.

All he cares about is ramming through a privatization agenda that has been bought and paid for by his Wall Street and hedge fundie constituency, one that will enlarge the charter school sector, set up more public schools for failure by putting ever more mandates onto them (but not on charter schools!) and put in place a state takeover policy of schools and school districts that will allow private entities to take them over, cancel union contracts and run them the way they want.

NY Post Calls For Cuomo To Override Union Contracts In School Districts

Adam Brodksy at the NY Post has some advice for Governor Cuomo - become more like Scott Walker:

This year, Cuomo’s even pushing reforms the union hates: a tougher teacher-evaluation regime, raising the charter-school cap, taking over failing schools. If his agenda passes, opportunities for kids will likely improve.

Yet even this won’t transform education in New York — or give Cuomo a real legacy.

Remember, in districts like the city’s, it isn’t just a few schools failing. It’s most of them.
Cuomo needs a bolder approach. He’ll need to find a way to bypass the union — or limit its power, perhaps in much the way governors like Bruce Rauner of Illinois and Scott Walker of Wisconsin are dealing with unions in their states.

Yes, Cuomo’s a Democrat, and those two are Republicans. No one expects him to “break” a union, end collective bargaining or shutter schools en masse.

But to see big gains, Cuomo will have to move in that direction. Along with bumping the charter cap, how about creating an environment that lures charter operators?

Overriding contracts with legislation? OKing alternatives — vouchers, private-school tax credits, traditional schools with all-new work rules and management — that foster competition among schools?

Cuomo may think this is too much for bluer-than-blue New York. But if he hopes to make himself viable nationally, he has to prove he can lead his base — not just appease it.

Actually Cuomo is pushing for "failing" schools and even "failing" school districts to be taken over by the state and put into receivership where the teachers contracts can be broken and whole swaths of teachers fired.

Cuomo's also pushing for vouchers for private schools via an education tax credit, an increase to the charter cap, and more accountability measures for pubic schools (but not for charter schools.)

Alas, those privatization Cuomo policies aren't enough Scott Walker for the NY Post - they want even more.

Well, they just need to wait a year or two - I'm sure Cuomo will give it them.

Every year he grows more anti-union and anti-pubic school.

Give him a couple more years and he'll complete his transformation into Scott Walker.

In fact, he's more than half way there now.

NYSUT Writes To Cuomo, Tisch To Ask Why Charter Operators Get To Cancel School For A Political Rally

Via State of Politics, here is part of the letter Karen Magee and Andy Pallotta sent to Cuomo, Tisch and the shill who's filling in temporarilty for John King:

New York State United Teachers is seeking your views on several important questions raised by the upcoming Success Academy event. As a matter of policy, should Success Academy Charter Schools, Inc., as taxpayer-funded public schools, be permitted to close their doors and transport students, parents and staff to Albany for a rally? Even if they use substantial private funds, is this the “right thing for students?”

...

“If school boards and superintendents in the state’s nearly 700 school districts also wish to close en masse for a day and transport thousands of their students, parents and staff to Albany to lobby for additional state funding, would that be permissible? Would you consider closing traditional public schools for a rally to be good public policy and the ” right thing” for all students?”

Cuomo is of course on the charter school payroll, with charter operators and their supporters contributing significant amounts of money to both his campaign coffers and the state Democratic Party coffers (which has used that money to run ads promoting Cuomo and his agenda.)

He's also expressed much adminration for both charter schools and the people who own, er, run them.

So if I had to guess, I'd say he isn't upset at all that charter operators are closing their schools and heading up to Albany for some made-for-TV PR.

Especially since Cuomo himself was "pivotal" in last years "Let's Close Schools And Cheer For Charter Schools Rally" in Albany:

It was a frigid February day in Albany, and leaders of New York City’s charter school movement were anxious. They had gone to the capital to court lawmakers, but despite a boisterous showing by parents, there seemed to be little clarity about the future of their schools.
 

Then, as they were preparing to head home, an intermediary called with a message: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wanted to meet.
 

To their surprise, Mr. Cuomo offered them 45 minutes of his time, in a private conference room. He told them he shared their concern about Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ambivalence toward charter schools and offered to help, according to a person who attended but did not want to be identified as having compromised the privacy of the meeting.
 

In the days that followed, the governor’s interest seemed to intensify. He instructed charter advocates to organize a large rally in Albany, the person said. The advocates delivered, bringing thousands of parents and students, many of them black, Hispanic, and from low-income communities, to the capital in early March, and eclipsing a pivotal rally for Mr. de Blasio taking place at virtually the same time.
 

...
 

At his prekindergarten rally, before a smaller crowd at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, Mr. de Blasio spoke about the value of early education. Not far away, a much larger crowd of charter school supporters was gathered on the steps of the State Capitol. In an act that his aides later said was spontaneous, Mr. Cuomo joined the mass of parents and students. 

“You are not alone,” he told the roaring crowd. “We will save charter schools.”

I'm glad to see NYSUT trying to put pressure on Tisch and Cuomo over the pro-charter rally, but these people are beyond shame, so I doubt it will get much of a reaction from them.

However it is good to get the news out there that charters are closing their doors on a school day and busing the kids up to Albany for a political rally.

Would the politicians who will speak at the pro-charter rally be so matter-if-fact if public schools closed on a school day and bused everybody up to Albany for a pro-public school rally?

I hope that question makes it into the press coverage of the pro-charter rally this week.

When Does Cuomo's Sociopathic Behavior Come Back To Haunt Him?

Ken Lovett has this quote from an Albany insider over Cuomo's thuggish treatment of his fellow pols in and out of Albany:

“You can run that bullying game for just so long before you’ve p---ed off enough people that it all starts to add up and there’s no one left willing to stand with you.”

When does that point come?

De Blasio's still acting like he thinks he can work with Cuomo.

Assembly Dems just undercut a powerplay Senate Republicans were playing over Cuomo's poison pill 30 day budget amendments.

At what point do the Dems finally say "Screw Cuomo - we can't work with him anymore!"?

Seriously.

Aren't we well past the point where they should have had that epiphany?

Legislation To Stop Cuomo Administration's Email Purge Policy Is Coming

Fred Dicker in the NY Post:

Manhattan Democratic Sen. Liz Krueger will soon submit legislation designed to block Cuomo’s controversial new “burn and shred’’ rule for official e-mail communications.

“With everything that is happening in Albany, it is crucial that we shine a light on the governor and increase transparency,’’ Krueger told The Post.

“To have a policy of deleting ­e-mails after 90 days sends the exact wrong message and is extremely tone deaf to the problems state government is facing.

“Government cannot adopt a ‘burn and shred’ policy,’’ she added.

This legislation cannot delay - it should be passed as soon as possible and sitting on the governor's desk waiting for him to sign - unless he tries shredding it first.

Message To De Blasio: Cuomo is Not Your Friend - Cuomo Has NO Friends

Ken Lovett in the Daily News:

ALBANY — Mayor de Blasio is at his “wit’s end” over the harsh treatment he’s received from supposed good friend Gov. Cuomo since taking office, according to sources who say they spoke directly to the mayor.

De Blasio was seeking advice from people who are close to both himself and Cuomo on what he can do to improve his working relationship with a governor he believes has gone out of his way to routinely embarrass him.

“He was very direct,” one source said. “He just said, ‘I don’t know what to do. Why does he keep coming at me like this? I want it to work.’ He’s at wit’s end.”

Lovett goes on to write that de Blasio thought he would have a better relationship with Cuomo after he saved Cuomo's bacon with the Working Families Party in May and helped ensure Cuomo would not face a third party challenge in the general election.

But it's been business as usual since then - Cuomo's out to screw de Blasio, embarrass him, make him look like a fool.

He did it over de Blasio's Sunnyside rail yards deal, he did it when he closed the subway without telling the mayor first, he did it when he abruptly changed course on Ebola patient restrictions.

The truth is, de Blasio's a fool for thinking he can have a working relationship with Andrew Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo is a sociopath - he has no friends, his own family is rumored to not be too enamored of him, and time and again he demonstrates how the only principles he holds are to his own career.

The only way to deal with Cuomo is to stick a political shiv in him before he sticks it into you.

Maybe de Blasio will learn that one of these days.

Maybe Assembly Dems will too - they just weakened a powerplay against the governor by Senate Republicans by introducing Cuomo's poison pill 30 day budget amendments after the Senate refused to.

What is it with these Dems who look to get along with Andrew Cuomo, look to do his bidding in the hopes that he'll be nicer to them in the future?

They seem to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.

They should get over it finally.

Will Federal Prosecutors Investigate Andrew Cuomo's News Corporation Book Deal?

Fred LeBrun in the Times-Union:

A book deal with HarperCollins over his selective memoirs called "All Things Possible," published last fall, has for months been sold to the public by the governor himself as a straightforward, ethical arrangement with which no reasonable individual could possibly find fault or even question.

True, a lot of money is involved, the better part of a million bucks, and very few books have been sold — around 3,000. Equally true, the contract has not been made public, so we are kept in the dark about its terms — a Cuomo administration specialty.

But it's apparent Andrew Cuomo has made himself an extraordinary arrangement under which he gets to keep some $800,000 when all the installments are paid out, presumably whether another book is sold or not.

What a splendid contract. Almost too good to be true.

And the best part for the governor is the money doesn't go to charity, or back into the state's general fund, or even his campaign fund. It goes right into his pocket.

LeBrun points to the David Sirota report that the Cuomo administration was lobbied both before and after Sheriff Andy was given the book contract by the owner of HarperCollins, News Corporation, and News Corp received tens of millions in tax breaks as a result of that lobbying as reason why a skeptical public and press might want to know the details of Cuomo's book contract.

But Cuomo says oh pshaw:

The INT connected a large number of dots that on paper at least show the appearance of a huge potential conflict, and at the least cast an ugly light on that gobsmacking great book deal of the governor's. When he was asked about the INT revelations, Cuomo dismissed any hint of impropriety. He said: "I have no idea that they lobbied for it. I don't even know what it is, by the way."

That doesn't sit well with LeBrun who says Cuomo needs to reveal the details of the book contract:

So we are to take the governor's word for it. A governor who is almost the definition of a micromanager is telling us he's not aware of multiple lobbying efforts on a number fronts by one of the leading media conglomerates in the world going back to his days as New York's attorney general.

Maybe so. But we should be told a lot more, not less, about this wonderful book deal.

Such as: the contract. Let's see it. The governor claims he got a waiver from his Joint Commission on Public Ethics to publish and market the book. Well, let's see that too. Let's see what restrictions were placed on him, it any, and which commissioners signed off on it. Let's find out from HarperCollins how many of these sweetheart contracts are out there, how unusual this is.

Let's find out who approached whom. Did the governor's agent approach HarperCollins, or vice versa? Under oath would be nice, but how likely is that? Or, for that matter, how likely is it that any state agency or investigative agent will scrutinize the book deal of the century?

They all live in terror of the Dark Prince. Oh, where art thou, Preet?

So far, Cuomo refuses to reveal the details of the book contract publicly.

It's long past time this matter receive some scrutiny.

Will it?

It would seem only the feds can handle this matter.

Will they?

Remember When The Governor's Secretary, Larry Schwartz, Tried To Fix The Sandra Lee "Permit" Problem?

Through a PR rep, Sandra Lee said that she has no business before the state and therefore should not have to disclose her financial information:

ALBANY — State Senate Republicans may want her to publicly disclose her finances, but Gov. Cuomo’s celebrity chef girlfriend, Sandra Lee, insists none of the companies she owns has business before the state.

“None of the companies Ms. Lee owns lobby or have business before the state,” a Lee spokeswoman said Saturday.

“Ms. Lee and the governor fully comply with all current disclosure laws.”
But the spokeswoman did not respond to a question about deals Lee might have with companies she doesn’t own but do have business before the state.

Cuomo and Lee have lived in her Westchester County house together for years, but because they are not married, she does not by law have to publicly disclose her financial information like the spouses of public officials must do.

Okay - great.

Then Sandra should have no problem disclosing that information and her paramour, Sheriff Andy, ought to have no problem with the disclosure too.

After all, if there's nothing to hide, there's nothing to be afraid of, right?

Except maybe there is something they're afraid of.

Last year it was revealed that Lee and Cuomo refused to get building permits for improvements they made to their house and property and refused to allow the tax assessor to enter the premises to see just how those improvements would affect their property taxes.

The person who pushed back on the press was the governor's secretary, Larry Schwartz, not a Lee PR person:

An email message to Lee at the Food Network was answered by Larry Schwartz, Cuomo's secretary in Albany. He said any work performed at the Lee-Cuomo residence as noted in the USA Today article was "all decorative renovations and they don't require building permits. ... It was retiling, painting, wallpapering. It's like her line of work — decorative. I'm not aware of any rooms that were combined."

And what of the basement remodeling noted in the New York magazine article?

"Again, the key word is decorative," Schwartz wrote in an email. "Window treatments."

Here we have a state employee - one who is paid for more than Governor Cuomo and is the second most powerful figure in the executive branch after the governor himself - responding to Lee's email messages sent to the Food Network.

Gee, how did Larry Schwartz, a state employee in the Cuomo administration, get involved in this matter and doesn't that represent a conflict of interest?

Schwartz is currently still raking in his $181,000+ salary a year in a new position specifically created for him after the administration said he was stepping down from the secretary position to pursue a job in the "private sector."

Schwartz is also the Cuomo administration official who had subpoenas to Cuomo donors from the Moreland Commission "pulled back" during the anti-corruption panel's heyday.

He went in front of federal prosecutors investigating alleged tampering into Moreland by the Cuomo administration in August and is said to be "toxic" now as a result of rumors he will be indicted for corruption.

After the Dicker column reported Schwartz was still on the payroll, Cuomo said he is just cashing in his vacation days and will be gone sometime in March.

Now maybe it's perfectly legal for Lee to have used Schwartz, Cuomo's "fixer," to respond to emails to her at the Food Network even though she's not a state employee and the matter did not touch on state business.

But it certainly smacks of hypocrisy to claim that Lee has no business with the state when she's using the governor's secretary to respond to queries from the press that pose a political problem for her paramour, Sheriff Andy.

Also, you have to wonder, if Andy and Sandy used Larry Schwartz to put out the fire around the Lee permit business, what other items did they use him or other Cuomo admin officials or state employees for?

Cuomo wants to play like he's above politics and corruption in this ethic reforms battle, but the truth is, he's above neither and the citizens of this state need some sunlight to see just how compromised he is or isn't.

Just as Cuomo keeps saying that if teachers are so great at teaching, then they shouldn't worry about being evaluated by his "toughened" evaluation system, I say "If Andy and Sandy have nothing to hide in their finances, then they should have no problem revealing those to the citizens of the state."