Cuomo Loses One To De Blasio - For Now

Andrew Cuomo put somewhere between $800 million and $1 billion dollars in state aid cuts for NYC into the state budget in an attempt to further harm his "frenemy" Bill de Blasio - but this time, Cuomo's attack on de Blasio backfired.

Here's the Daily News on that:

Andrew Cuomo backs off budget proposal that would have cost NYC an extra $800M after protest from Bill de Blasio

Score one for the mayor.

Hours after Mayor de Blasio vowed Thursday to do whatever it takes to scuttle up to $800 million in costs Gov. Cuomo wanted to force the city to cough up, Cuomo began to backpedal on the costly proposal.

Cuomo presented a budget in his State of the State address Wednesday that called for the de Blasio administration to take on massive CUNY and Medicaid bills now paid by the state — but by the end of Thursday, he was pledging the city would not have to pay a penny.

Calling the cuts “harmful” and “debilitating,” Hizzoner said he’d go all out to sink the plan.

“There’s a phrase from American history, ‘By any means necessary.’ I would invoke that phrase,” de Blasio said when asked how he’d turn back the plan. “We’ll do whatever will work.

“We will fight these cuts. We will ask the assistance of both houses of the Legislature in fighting these cuts. They are unprecedented and they are unfair to this city,” said de Blasio, who has been feuding with Cuomo since summer after he accused him of governing with a vendetta.

Amid the criticism from de Blasio and budget watchdogs, Cuomo changed his tune on the plan — suggesting the point of the proposal was simply to get players to the table to cut costs for CUNY and Medicaid.

“This is the beginning of the budget process. The budget process goes on for months. This is really the beginning of the discussion,” he said on NY1 Thursday afternoon.

“At the end of the day, what you’ll see is it won’t cost New York City a penny,” Cuomo said. “We have to reduce the cost of the bureaucracy at CUNY. We have to reduce the cost of administration for Medicaid.”

Cuomo blamed the "tabloids" for causing trouble:

Taking note of a Daily News front page with the headline “Hey, Blaz, hope you played Powerball!” Cuomo said: “God bless the New York City tabloids. They can try to make trouble in the best of news and that’s what they’re doing here.

Oh yeah, the tabloids were causing trouble - because we all know how much trouble it is when the newspapers report that the governor's budget will cost the city between $800 million (reported by the Daily News) and $1 billion (a figure Politico NY reported.)

Cuomo's continuing to screw with de Blasio, it seems to be the only thing that motivates him these days other than that vision he has of himself as the new Robert Moses.

But just as happened with Cuomo's vaunted homeless policy of mandating municipalities take homeless people off the streets at gunpoint when the temperature hits freezing (another doozy aimed at hurting de Blasio that ended up hurting Cuomo instead), Cuomo has had to "backpedal" on the budget proposals that cut so much from NYC.

I would expect that Cuomo will try other ways to stick it to de Blasio (and thus NYC) in this budget before it's all said and done.

The irony is, the only place Cuomo shows any strength in polling is in NYC.

That's why, with headlines blaring that Cuomo was looking to destroy the city with budget cuts, he has no choice but to "backpedal" and say, "Oh, no - we're just starting the negotiation process here."

De Blasio may be weakened politically, but Cuomo's not in much better shape (he's at 39% in the last Siena poll) and if he takes a hit to his NYC approval numbers, he'll be in the mid-twenties before long.

With the NY Times and the other papers taking aim at Cuomo this morning, this doesn't look to be a battle with the city that Cuomo can win.

But we'll see.

Evil is like water - it looks to find a route no matter what.

Cuomo To De Blasio: "F--- You!"

As part of his feud with Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo gave the middle finger to New York City in his proposed budget yesterday:

ALBANY — The ongoing war between Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio is getting costly for the city.

Cuomo in his new $145 billion state budget plan unveiled Wednesday called on the city to pay significantly more toward CUNY and Medicaid.

One source said the city could be on the hook for about $800 million in new costs, which would amount to a large portion of the savings Cuomo has in his budget.

“It’s a big (slap) at the mayor,” the source said of Cuomo’s plan.

“This is a bad budget for New York City,” added a city official.

 The changes mean the state is reneging on its pledge to support CUNY and is passing the cost for soaring Medicaid expenses on to city taxpayers.

A Politico NY piece calculated the cost to NYC in Cuomo's proposed budget as a $1 billion dollars.

Cuomo's aiming to harm de Blasio and make him one term mayor by causing budget problems - and he's harming New York City residents in the crossfire.

Alas that Preetmas didn't come earlier in the week.

With Cuomo let off the hook by the US attorney for Moreland tampering, he is free to do all the evil he wants - and he is taking advantage.

Cuomo Budget Will Cost NYC $1 Billion

The evil man in Albany just keeps going and going, doing more and more damage:

ALBANY — The budget Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled on Wednesday will likely deal serious damage to New York City's bottom line for years to come, budget analysts said.

Cuomo is proposing to shift the way the City University of New York is funded, to end the state’s assumption of the local share of New York City’s Medicaid costs, and to change the way the state handles the city’s STAR Personal Income Tax rebate. Those changes will likely cut close to $1 billion from the city’s budget starting in fiscal year 2017, which begins on April 1.

“For New York City, I think this is one of the worst budgets that it’s seen in a long time,” said Maria Doulis, a budget analyst at the Citizens’ Budget Commission.

That budget surplus the city had?

Just been wiped away by Cuomo in one fell stroke.

Albany Pols Feel The Heat Over The Education Policy They Voted For In The Budget

Yancey Roy in Newsday:

While much of the Senate buzz has been about Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and federal prosecutors, that’s not what the rank-and-file Republicans were wringing their hands about during an especially lengthy closed-door conference last Wednesday.

It was the fallout from teacher evaluations and standardized testing.

Republicans spent more than two hours discussing the spike in students’ boycotting, or “opting out” of standardized tests last week, and the heat some politicians are getting for approving a bill that more closely ties teachers’ evaluations to students’ test scores. Senators are kicking around ideas to address the issue.

It's about time these Albany politicians feel a little over anxiety over education policy.

Keep the pressure on - keep making the calls, sending the emails, visiting their offices, talking to them at events - and let them know what was done in the budget was untenable and if it is not undone soon, you will take it out on them in the next election and make sure your family and friends do the same.

They're listening - especially when you let them know how many people you intend to influence to vote AGAINST them because of their support for ed deform.

Merryl Tisch Plays Political Games

Jessica Bakeman at Capital NY:

ALBANY—When state Board of Regents chancellor Merryl Tisch announced late Wednesday a plan to delay implementation of new teacher evaluations, she turned some of her high-profile critics into supporters overnight.

She also earned the ire of Governor Andrew Cuomo.

For her, it’s a win-win.

Tisch’s decision to use the board’s regulatory authority to circumvent what she called an “unrealistic” statutory deadline for districts to adopt new evaluation plans addressed critics’ contention that the board has forced reforms on schools without providing enough time or resources to implement them properly.

 It also allowed her to shift the blame for the already unpopular rating system back to Cuomo, with whom she has played a political game of hot potato for years.

If Merryl Tisch thinks she can survive as chancellor by playing off Cuomo, she's got another thing coming:

A coalition of parents’ groups that organized a boycott of state English and math exams is calling on Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch to resign, claiming she has left New York’s education policy in shambles.

The group released a list of demands that include a reduction in testing and establishing an independent review of state Common Core standards.

This is as much Tisch's education reform agenda as Cuomo's and if she thinks calling for delays in the implementation of the evaluation plan is going to make people forget that or her record as chancellor, she's wrong.

As New York State Allies For Public Education put it yesterday:

This past week, the national attention focused on the parent uprising taking place in New York State. Spurred to action by the refusal of both the Governor and the NYS Education Department’s failure to respond to legitimate concerns, thousands of parents fought back to protect their children.

At this time, estimates indicate parents of close to 200,000 students this year have refused New York State's Common Core testing agenda and the final figures are expected to be even higher. The educational program of the state is in chaos. Leadership is more important than ever.

On Sunday, April 19th the Editorial Board of The Journal News declared, "The stunning success of the test-refusal movement in New York is a vote of no confidence in our state educational leadership" in calling for Chancellor Merryl Tisch to step aside.

New York State Allies for Public Education, a grassroots coalition of over fifty parent and educator advocacy organizations from all corners of the Empire State, stands with the Editorial Board of The Journal News. Chancellor Tisch must step down.

The only way for the Board of Regents, Assembly, and Senate to regain trust of their constituents is to call for the Regents to empower a new leader to fix within its authority, the Cuomo budget legislation fiasco and the misguided Regents Reform Agenda.

“Parents have been left with no choice. We will submit our refusal letters, which is our parental right, on day one of school, next year and every year and if those in power will not listen, we will free our children from a test driven, developmentally inappropriate education,” said Jeanette Deutermann, Nassau County public school parent and Long Island Opt Out founder.

“For the past two years Chancellor Tisch has repeatedly ignored parents at forums throughout the state. She is incapable of leading the state in a new direction because she believes what is happening is just fine and her latest plea for asking for more time is just a distraction from the real issues. Her repeated calls for critics to “calm down” indicates her unwillingness to change course.” said Lisa Rudley, Westchester County public school parent and NYSAPE founding member.

“On Chancellor Tisch's watch, the work of the State Education Department has been outsourced to a privately funded ‘Regents Fellows’ think tank. It is not surprising that the reforms put forth by this think tank advance the agenda of the wealthy ‘yacht set’ and corporate-linked groups that fund the Regent Fellows: The Robin Hood Foundation, Gates Foundation, and even Chancellor Tisch herself. When you replace a public service with a private organization that advances corporate agendas, New Yorkers know that is corruption,” said Anna Shah, Dutchess County public school parent and Schools of Thought Hudson Valley, NY founder.

“While the Governor has demonstrated blatant disregard for the will of the people by doubling down on the use of high stakes testing, the State Education Department and Chancellor Tisch similarly ignored parent concerns regarding inappropriate test content by forcing children to read passages on last week’s ELA tests that were up to four years above grade level followed by vague and confusing questions,” said Jessica McNair, Oneida County public school parent, Central NY Opt Out co-founder, and educator.

Fred Smith, testing specialist, NYC public schools retired administrative analyst, and Change the Stakes member said, “Instead of transparency and disclosure of complete and timely test data that would open the quality of the ELA and math exams to independent review, Tisch has ruled over an unaccountable testing program that flies at near-zero visibility--in a fog of flawed field testing procedures, age-inappropriate poorly written items, the covert removal of test questions after they have been scored, arbitrarily drawn cut off scores, and the misapplication of the results to reach unsupportable conclusions about students, teachers, and schools." 

Delaying a horrendous teacher evaluation system by a few months will not erase Merryl Tisch's record or calls for her to go.

Merryl Tisch must step down as chancellor and if she does not, pressure must be put on the "heavy hearts" in the Assembly to let them know that a political price will be paid for their continued support of Merryl Tisch and her education reform agenda.

Cuomo Tries To Send Signals He's Running For A Third Term

There has been some conjecture that plummeting job approval numbers and a lackluster re-election win in 2014 would keep Governor Andrew Cuomo from running for governor again.

So what to make of this?

ALBANY — In a sign that he’s considering a run for a third term, Gov. Cuomo has rebranded his campaign committee “Andrew Cuomo 2018.”

The move comes as the governor, who in January began his second term, is set to hold several fundraisers this month.

One, set for Tuesday on Park Avenue, costs $15,000-a-person and is being dubbed a “dinner & conversation” with the governor.

A source close to Cuomo said after securing education and ethics reforms in the just completed state budget, the governor is “more excited about the possibilities to get great things done than ever before.”

Many insiders, including those close to Cuomo, have previously expressed doubt that the Democrat will seek a third term.

His latest moves show that he is not only at least considering it, but also sends a message to the Legislature and others that he should not be viewed as a lame duck, said veteran Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who has worked for Cuomo, including his reelection campaign last year.

It's possible that being so heavy-handed as to rebrand his campaign committee with "Andrew Cuomo 2018" is his way of staying relevant early in this second term.

After the hardball he played with the legislature over the budget and the many poison pills he stuck into it on education, Cuomo's got to know that he's got more enemies than ever and more people looking to stick a shiv into him politically.

He wants people to fear that he's running again so that he can try and get "great things" done the next few years while he's still in power.

This is a stick to try and keep people in check that they'll have to deal with him for a long time to come.

I'm skeptical that the Scott Walker of New York, the man who pledged to destroy public schools and public school teachers and made good on that pledge, will risk running for re-election in 2018 when he's got so many members of his own party enraged at him.

But 2018 is a long way away and a lot can change before then.

We'll just have to see how things go.

It will be interesting to see what Cuomo's poll numbers look like now that the budget is done.

Will he rise in job approval because of the on-time budget?

Or will his assault on teachers and public schools drag him down further?

We'll see.

How the poll numbers look post-budget will mean a lot in terms of what Cuomo can still do this second term.

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

Jim Tedisco: Evaluation System Will Be Rigged To Find Failure

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco in the Times-Union:

The former State Education Commissioner said 70 percent of students will fail the Common Core standardized tests. Why on Earth would the Governor and Majority allow 50 percent of the teacher’s evaluations to be based on these terrible tests. I debated this issue and called for our Common Core Parental Refusal Act (A.6025/S.4161) the other night when the state budget passed.

...

This budget was an end run by the Governor to double-down on these developmentally inappropriate standardized tests. Complicit in this conspiracy was the Majority in the Assembly who knew full well that the way the bill is structured, the State Education Commissioner is going to be the Governor’s surrogate and use tests that 70 percent of kids will fail to be half the basis for teacher evaluations.

Now, we need to starve the beast that’s Common Core by passing the Common Core Parental Refusal Act and having as many children as possible refuse the tests.  To sign our petition, go to RefuseCommonCore.com!!!

Thank you, Assemblyman Tedisco, for standing up for students, teachers and public schools.

Ed Ra: Repeating The Process That Got Us Current Evaluation System Makes No Sense

Assemblyman Ed Ra:

Repeating the process that got us our current APPR system makes no sense and will result in another bad system #nybudget
— Assemblyman Ed Ra (@EdwardRa19) March 31, 2015

I will be voting No on this further erosion of local control that doubles down on our overialiance on standardized testing #nybudget
— Assemblyman Ed Ra (@EdwardRa19) March 31, 2015

Video of me speaking on the Assembly floor on Tuesday regarding the Gov's misguided education policies #AllKidsNeed https://t.co/9isQjQXDTR
— Assemblyman Ed Ra (@EdwardRa19) April 2, 2015

Thank you, Assemblyman Ra, for standing up for students, teachers and public schools.

Charles Barron: I'm Not Going To Vote Against My Heart

So many Assembly Democrats voted for the Cuomo Deform Budget with what they termed "heavy hearts" that Patrick Sullivan subbed them "The Heavy Hearts Club."

But some Dems and many Assembly Republicans stood up, spoke their consciences and voted accordingly.

I've been thanking many of those courageous legislators on Twitter the past few days, but I'd like to take a few blog posts here at Perdido Street School to thank them as well.

Today's post is for Charles Barron:

Assemblyman Charles Barron, a Brooklyn Democrat, was one of the handful in his party to oppose the bill, and he questioned his colleagues who supported it despite their own reservations.

“Too many people voted in the affirmative with heavy hearts, voted in the affirmative with serious concerns,” Barron said. “I’m not going to vote against my heart. … This is not enough for our children."

Thank you, Assemblyman Barron, for standing up for students, teachers and public schools.

NYSED Can Do "Moral Character Review" If You Move Without Telling Them

The more you look into the Cuomo Deform Budget that Assembly Dems passed with "heavy hearts," the more you find that's disturbing.

We've already found that permanent certificate holders have lost the "permanent" status of their teaching certification since they now have to "register" every five years for their certification or risk losing their licenses.

That's an item in the budget clearly aimed at culling a few veteran teachers via technicalities.

It's also an item meant to humiliate and demoralize teachers, tying them up in unnecessary bureaucratic paperwork for no good reason.

 Here's another disturbing item that looks to be put into the budget in order to humiliate, demoralize and perhaps cull a couple of teachers from their jobs:

Certificate holders shall notify the department of any change of name or mailing address within thirty days of such change. Willful failure to register or provide such notice within one hundred eighty days of such change may constitute grounds for moral character review under subdivision seven of section three hundred five of this chapter. 

A moral character review because you move and don't tell NYSED about it?

Hell, I've moved three times since I got my license and I haven't told NYSED about those change of addresses.

Does this make me a candidate for a moral character review?

Does this make a suspect for something?

Does this mean I shouldn't be a teacher because I didn't think to update the sociopaths at NYSED that I was moving to another apartment because it had a little more space and a quicker commute to my job?

Who put the "moral character review for failure to update an address form" provision into the budget?

What's the rationale for that?

Seriously, we need to find out how that got into the budget, who put it there, why they put it there and what their defense for it is.

Start calling your legislators and ask them about the "Moral Character Review" provision in the budget.

Ask them if they support that and if so, why.

State Of Politics Blog: Did UFT Declare "Premature Victory"?

But of course:

On Sunday night, the United Federation of Teachers released an email to members touting its accomplishments in the budget framework, based on what its leadership was told by state officials.

But over the course of the day on Monday, it became clear not everyone was on the same page with those changes.

Indeed, the statewide umbrella union, the New York State United Teachers, circulated a memorandum of opposition to the education reform proposals in the budget framework.

The measures include new teacher evaluation criteria that includes a state test and observation in the classroom. It does have a local option — yet another state test, but that has to be requested by the local union.

The state Department of Education sets the percentage criteria.

The budget would make it easier for teachers who perform poorly on the evaluations over two or three years to be fired, even those with tenure.

Achieving tenure itself is tied to receiving three out of four years worth of “effective” ratings.

And contrary to what the United Federation of Teachers believed on Sunday night, merit pay is being included in the budget, according to a Cuomo official.

Enacting the evaluation criteria will be tied to a boost in state aid, about 6 percent, come November. In other words, linkage to reform is back in after all.

In short, the governor got everything he wanted in the budget and the few things he didn't get - like an increase in the charter cap - were deliberately left out for later in the legislative session.

Still, the UFT declares the budget deal a "victory," one that scrapes the skies it's so good compared to what Cuomo really wanted in the budget.

Except that, he got what he really wanted in the budget.

Oh well, what's a serious screwjob between friends.

Cuomo Administraton Insists Independent Observations Make It To New Teacher Evaluation System

This sounds like a mess to me:

ALBANY—The final plan for a new statewide teacher evaluation system will require observations by an “independent” evaluator, a Cuomo administration official said during a briefing with reporters late Monday.

It’s hard to say definitively what will be in the bill, since it hasn’t been introduced, and leaders of the State Senate and Assembly did not immediately return a request for confirmation that they have agreed on specifics of the deal. But the administration official, speaking on background, presented the plan in great detail, some of which Capital has already reported, arguing the deal was solid.

According to the briefing, the evaluation system will have two components: observations and student performance on state tests.

There will be two required observations, from a teacher’s principal or administrator and an “independent” evaluator, who could be a principal, administrator or “highly effective” teacher from another school or district. As Cuomo originally proposed, a college professor or retired educator could also serve as the independent evaluator. A peer observation will be optional.

The official argued against critics’ characterization of the “independent” evaluator as an unfunded mandate. If schools or districts agree to swap evaluators, neither would have to pay for the other’s services, the official said.

All that extra money in the budget that's going for education?

Much of it is going to have to be used for compliance.

How will the independent evaluator program work?

Will these be announced or unannounced?

Will there be a meeting with the independent evaluator before and/or after the observation?

Or is this just going to be a drive-by evaluation by some stranger who doesn't know you and never sees you again?

Oh, yeah - this is going to be a swell new system we have.

I make a prediction that in a year or two, after this system proves to be spectacularly unworkable and expensive, we're back re-doing the evaluation system once again.

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

Looks Like It Will Take Four Years For Teachers To Get Tenure

Joseph Spector in the Democrat & Chronicle on what seems almost settled in the education reform battle going on:

An increase in school aid is expected to exceed $1.4 billion, officials said, and teachers would be eligible for tenure after four years of service instead of the current three years.

In the changes being discussed, teachers would be eligible for tenure if they are rated "effective" or "highly effective" in three of the four years. And they couldn't be deemed "ineffective" in the fourth year.

It's unclear whether the system would impact current teachers or only new hires.

As for evaluations, the latest:

Cuomo has been at odds with the teachers' union over his education reforms, and he said Saturday that stronger education policy has probably been the "single most difficult challenge" he's faced since taking office in 2011.

He initially proposed that 50 percent of teacher evaluations should be tied students' test scores. Now the sides appear to have agreed to letting the Board of Regents, which oversees New York's educational system, take up the evaluation issue.

But it's unclear whether the Board of Regents would have a specific charge in the legislation, such as coming up with a system where a new percentage of a teacher's evaluation would be based on test scores.

More as we get it.

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 Says Teachers Are An "Industry" That Resists All Change

The guy who sucks up hedge fund and Wall Street industry money like he's a guy in the desert who just found water says this:

In touting teacher evaluations proposal, @NYGovCuomo referred to education as an "industry" that resists all change.
— Yancey Roy (@YanceyRoy) March 28, 2015

There was more:

Education policy, which Assembly Democrats and the governor have been locked in protracted negotiations, has been the most arduous, Cuomo indicated.

Cuomo said he wants “a really comprehensive transformation of probably what’s one of the most entrenched systems in the state of New York, what’s called the public education system. It’s probably as not as good as it should be, but has always defied change.”

The rhetoric from before the election hasn't changed.

We're a monopoly that needs to be "broken" - and he's going to do the breaking.

The good news is, Cuomo also says this has been the hardest budget he's had to negotiate because the legislature isn't rolling over like they have the past four years:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the negotiations over this year’s state budget “without a doubt” the hardest he’s dealt with since taking office.

The bad news - Cuomo says it's close to what he wants on teacher evaluations right now. 

He also says a new teacher evaluation and plan for state takeovers of failing schools must be in the budget.

So no punting that to a post-budget deal when Cuomo will have less of a hammer to use to get his way.

In any case, no deal today or tonight.

Looks like we'll get a late deal and Cuomo will push it all through with "messages of necessity".

Budget Agreement Remains Elusive So Far (Updated)

Source involved in #nybudget talks tells me messages of necessity may be required for teacher evaluation issue.
— Jimmy Vielkind (@JimmyVielkind) March 28, 2015

As such: methinks no #nybudget kumbaya today. We shall see.
— Jimmy Vielkind (@JimmyVielkind) March 28, 2015

And:

.@NYGovCuomo tells the press there will "probably" be messages of necessity for the #nybudget pic.twitter.com/yebdUueVde
— Jimmy Vielkind (@JimmyVielkind) March 28, 2015

Also, Cuomo's flying attack monkeys took notice of the protest outside his NYC office today:

Soooo, not a ton of difference between the tactics of the far left and the far right. pic.twitter.com/56l4ZuyjBM
— Rich Azzopardi (@RichAzzopardi) March 28, 2015

You know they're feeling a little desperate when they start trotting out the Bill O'Reilly rhetoric (i.e., "far left" and "far right".)

More as we get it.


UPDATE - 4:15 PM: And we get a little more info that suggests negotiations have hit a bit of a snag:

Q: So no #nybudget deal today? @NYGovCuomo: No
— Yancey Roy (@YanceyRoy) March 28, 2015

With no deal imminent, @NYGovCuomo leaving Albany for NYC for Inner Circle show and Greek Independence gala. #nybudget
— Yancey Roy (@YanceyRoy) March 28, 2015

Education Commission For Evaluation Changes Is Said To Be DOA In Budget Negotiations

The education commission is reported to be no more:

Currently, Assembly Democrats are meeting behind closed doors discussing education measures in the budget.

A previously proposed education commission is no longer part of the budget talks, lawmakers confirmed. Now, lawmakers are discussing having the Board of Regents potentially consider reform recommendations later this year.

Cuomo remains adamant that "toughened" teacher evaluations need to be part of the budget agreement.

Deadline for an ontime budget agreement is Saturday night.

Both Assembly And Senate Will Delink Cuomo's Education Reforms From The Budget

I bet Governor Cuomo didn't see this coming when he was planning his war on public schools and deciding to tie education spending to passage of his reform agenda:

The state Senate’s one-house budget resolution will likely supporting untying Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s education policy proposals from spending, Senate Education Committee Chairman John Flanagan said.

The Democratic-led Assembly’s one-house resolution, submitted today, calls for increasing education aid by $1.8 billion and does not couple Cuomo’s education reform measures with appropriations.

“I believe the Senate and Assembly will be in unison on that approach,” Flanagan said.

The Senate’s education proposal is expected to boost spending for education by $1.9 billion and completely end the Gap Elimination Adjustment.

Neither the Senate nor the Assembly have introduced Cuomo's poison pill 30 day budget amendments that tie mucho policy to appropriations and now they're both looking to introduce their own bills sans his reforms.

It seems, at least for now, that the legislature is standing up to our autocratic governor and telling him he does not get his way on everything.