There is little doubt that Andrew Cuomo will be re-elected, given that he has raised $33 million from New York’s financial titans.
But the latest Wall Street Journal poll shows that Cuomo’s numbers dropped sharply to their lowest point.
Apparently, his claim to be the “lobbyist for students” hasn’t worked so well, especially with black and Latino voters.
His fervent embrace of charter schools in recent days is hardly surprising, given that charter advocates have given him nearly $1million, but less than 5% of the state’s children attend charter schools. Cuomo’s tax caps on public schools across he state have caused fiscal distress in districts that enroll the other 96% of the state’s children.
The story says:
“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s job performance rating has dropped to its lowest level since he took office in January 2011, tumbling by 10 percentage points since November, according to an NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal/Marist College poll.
“Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat facing re-election this year, saw his job approval among voters statewide fall to 42%, according to the poll, from 52% in the fall, with the governor suffering steep declines among Latino and African-American voters.
“Among Latino registered voters, Mr. Cuomo’s rating fell by 21 points—to 41% from 62% in November. And among African-American voters, the governor registered a 42% job approval rating, down from 57%.
“Mr. Cuomo’s favorability remains quite high, at 63%, the poll found. But his overall job-performance rating of 42% was six points lower than his previous lowest-ever rating of 48%, the month he took office.
“On the bright side for the governor, the poll showed Mr. Cuomo far ahead of potential Republican rivals, including Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who threw his hat in the ring for the GOP nomination Wednesday.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Poor New York – stuck with him – but lucky for country since these numbers won’t help realize his presidential ambitions.
Poor New York, indeed, for while Cuomo will NEVER be President, he’s going to do a lot of damage to the public schools before he goes off to a sinecure paid for by his hedge fund backers.
“At twenty you have the face you were born with; at fifty you have the face you deserve.” This quote, attributed variously to author Nelson Algren and fashion designer (and Nazi courtesan) Coco Chanel, provides an explanation both superficial and true: no one with a face like that will be elected President, as it reveals what a nasty piece of work Cuomo is.
And at 70 the Gods of kharmic retribution will give him the face he will deserve. He is the very worst of what American politics can represent. He has governed nothing but his own hapless ambitions. A self serving, arrogant ego maniac, Cuomo will have spent 8 years dragging down a once proud public school system using all the political finesse of a school yard bully. He will probably win re-election, but these poll numbers should rattle his cage. Bye-bye landslide Andy. And that tiny white house in your rearview mirror is getting smaller by the day.
Interesting take on opt-out from a parent in New Mexico:
“We parents are pivotal in the success of our children. We pay taxes that support our children’s schools. We are educated and know exactly what is going on with the new testing reforms forced on our schools and beleaguered teachers.
We want our children to learn. We want them to be supported at school like they are supported at home. We want them to be successful adults. No standardized testing will ensure any of this.
So to our schools, teachers, principals and district administrators: Honor our requests and support our opt-out decisions. After all, these decisions are being made by some of your most ardent community supporters.”
It’s probably a smart approach. She’s letting public school administrators know she’s a public school supporter and they need her 🙂
http://www.abqjournal.com/363162/riowest/observer-opinion/standardized-testing-is-no-assurance-that-kids-are-learning.html
Isn’t there a progressive Democrat to challenge the conservative Democratic governor?
Jack Burgess
_____
His bullying tactics would squash any democratic challenger.
He is a fool, but a ruthless one.
Andrew Cuomo, read this and weep. Below is a list of constituents you have lost or are now losing your political grip on.
1) Public school teachers and administrators
2) 70+% of parents of public school children
3) Gun owners (SAFE legislation)
4) Environmentalists and Pro-frackers
5) Every parent with a law abiding son or daughter who can’t afford college.
6) Union members (NYSUT; PEF; CSEA; et.al)
7) Buffalo, Long Island, Westchester and the list is growing
8) Former students from a once proud and successful public school system
Andrew, you are running out of friends.
5B) . . . or struggles with college costs.
Sadly, Michael Mulgrew of the UFT and his mentor, Randi Weingarten, are now involved in an effort to completely take over the state teacher’s union federation, all because the current leader hasn’t been slavish or sycophantic enought toward Governor 1%.
Teachers may not support him, but our union misleaders are his Stockholm Syndrome captives.
I’m not a fan of Iannuzzi because he sold us out on APPR. Is Mulgrew worse?
Weingarten/Mulgrew are attempting to remove Ianuzzi because he has come out (a little) against Common Core and the new teacher evaluations, but primarily because he opposed the Weingarten/Mulgrew effort to pre-emptively support Cuomo.
Part of that conflict is due to the differences in school funding between the cities and suburbs/rural areas. Schools in the latter are funded by local property taxes, and a property tax cap pushed through by Cuomo has resulted in frozen salaries with little hope for improvement. Weingarten/Mulgrew apparently could care less about the teachers in those areas.
It’s not that Ianuzzi is good, it’s that he’s less awful, and has been forced to respond to the demands of his members, something Weingarten/Mulgrew, because of UFT/AFT gerrymandering, needn’t bother with.
How can they remove him?
Do all NYSUT members vote?
No, there is no membership-wide vote; it’s conducted by delegates elected from the locals around the state. The UFT’s Unity Caucus, which has controlled the union since its inception over fifty years ago, controls about 40% of the vote, I believe. If they can get the delegates from Yonkers and the upstate cities, it’s hard to see how Ianuzzi can possibly win.
There are also independent slates running. MORE (The Movement of Rank and File Educators), the opposition caucus in the UFT, is also running a slate, with the terrific Julie Cavenaugh running against Michael Mulgrew.
Be careful what you wish for; Rob Astorino is no bargain.
If one thinks defending fair and equitable public education is priority number one, why would one vote for somebody who is against that?
Simple logic, if both the Republican and Democratic candidates aren’t supporters, don’t vote for either. I don’t live in NY, but that is how I will cast my vote in the next presidential election.
Just heard this commercial on local TV:
“Hello, I’m governor Andrew Cuomo. For all of us there is nothing more important than our children, and their education is everything. While the state’s new Common Core curriculum is headed in the right direction, testing on it is premature, it creates anxiety, and it’s just unfair. I won’t let our children’s scores count against them. Please tell your legislator to join me in protecting our children because education is about helping kids, not hurting them.”
YOU BASTARD!
Now that he has publicly declared CC/Pearson testing unfair will he withdraw APPR evaluations?
Now that he has publicly told the children of NYS that April tests essentially DO NOT COUNT, how can the scores be used in APPR evaluations.
NYSUT – you silence is deafening!