Alan Singer recognizes that Governor Andrew Cuomo doesn’t like teachers. In New York as in the rest of the nation, about 75% of teachers are women.
New York state has a highly educated teacher corps. 84% of the state’s teachers have master’s degrees, as compared to only 47% nationally.
But Cuomo keeps badgering teachers. He has gotten tough with teachers. He assumes that if students have low scores, it is because their teachers are no good. He wants more of them fired, using the test scores of their students to find out which need firing.
Singer wonders if Andrew Cuomo has a problem with educated professional women.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
His girlfriend, Sandra Lee, dropped out of Wisconsin-Whitewater…
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Although not a member of the, er, “female persuasion,” may I suggest that this well-written piece by Alan Singer needs to have its last line edited.
Currently it reads: “Does he also have a problem with educated, professional women?”
With all due respect to Mr. Singer, I would suggest that some judicious editing would render that last sentence:
“He has a problem with educated, professional women.”
Always glad to lend a hand…
😎
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And even more judicious editing:
“He has a problem with women.”
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“He has a problem. Period.”
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“He IS the problem.”
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“Where’s the Beef?”
Cuomo has a beef
With any who are smart
Which means there’s no relief
When Cuomo’s not apart
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I humbly relinquish my editing duties to y’all.
To each and every one of you:
TAGO!
😎
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How is cuomo’s budget increase, an increase if it’s going to fund more charters and siphon money to a semi voucher plan?
It sounds like a piddling amount of money for all that he’s asking for, and public schools bear the short end of the stick in every way.
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I don’t know if attacking women is his priority as much as following the marching orders from Wall St. They see how they can use the Common Core and VAM as a club against public teachers, most of whom are women. The women are standing between them and profit. If they can find a way to squirm into other public services, I am sure those groups will be on the hit list too. On the national scene I think they will continue to go after Medicare and Social Security. I don’t think Cuomo understands or cares too much about public schools; he is following the Wall St. donors’ war plan.
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I thought it was that he has a problem with any and all human beings who cannot benefit Andrew Cuomo, but this is a reasonable explanation …
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I agree. I’m sure he doesn’t have a beef with professional women who support his agenda or who toss money his way.
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Andrew Cuomo does have trouble with educated women.
He could not remain married to a Kennedy, so now he is hooked up with a light frothy, cooking show host whose recipes get about as sophisticated as a bar of Velveeta, a jar of marshmallow fluff, and the cover of Ladies’ Home Journal . . . . .
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please… don’t dis the marshmallow fluff
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What a dreadful confectionary . . . . .
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Mmmmmm…. Velveeta……
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I suppose you were into Cheez-whiz as well?
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Kennedy-Cuomo Wedding Draws Celebrities, Sightseers : Nuptials: The ceremony included a pledge of commitment to the oppressed.
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And I think Andy boy hates mommy also, in his list of women. Mom was a teacher.
He is a monster.
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Cuomo does have a problem with women , if teaching were a man’s profession he would be acting 100% differently. He is at,war with women and he will not win.
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As I’ve seen on FB, here is a list of ways to win an argument with a woman:
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Same thing with Christi. Both have states with schools that rank high nationally, and both have declared war on public schools. What is it with these guys? Is it the pension they hate? Is it the political voice that teacher unions have? Is it an abiding faith that the free market makes every thing better? Misogyny….? Is it misogyny?
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I agree. I follow the education developments in various
states, and New Jersey really stands out for the idiocy
that goes on there.
For an example of how truly insane the
right-wing, privatizers’ attack on the Garden
State’s unionized teachers is, check out
this tidbit from a few years ago.
First, a hypothetical thought experiment:
“Now, what would you think of a new owner / general
manager of an NFL team who—immediately after that
team won the Super Bowl—did not praise the team,
but instead publicly said that the season & Super Bowl
victory was irrelevant, that the players suck, and are
part of ‘a wretched system’ and all of them—or most
of them—need to be replaced—just so he adheres to
some sinister, money-motivated agenda that
his corporate masters demand that he follow?”
A loaded question, I know, but bear with me.
Well, five years ago, New Jersey—with a
significantly high-poverty population—scored
Number One out of all fifty states in academic
achievement.
Let’s repeat that: Number ONE. Amazing, right?
Well, not so fast.
Unfortunately , the analogous “players” were—and are—
UNIONIZED public school teachers, and the privatizers’
playbook mandates that no good word must ever be
spoken of them.
Goebels himself said Rule 1 of propaganda that
seeks to demonize “your enemy”: never
say anything remotely complimentary about ”
your enemy”.
Now check this out: Chris Christie’s newly-appointed
New Jersey Ed. Commissioner Bret Schundler said
that New Jersey’s No. 1 NAEP ranking was irrelevant
and meaningless, should be ignored, and that the
state’s teachers were actually “wretched.”
He had to — “No sense ‘reforming’ something that already works.”
It’s true, folks:
http://blog.nj.com/njv_bob_braun/2010/05/us_education_tests_ranks_nj_at.html http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/05/if-you-can-hide-facts-that-dont-fit.html
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It is Wall St. money. Period. It is this decade’s housing crisis. Everything else he says is a smokescreen.
http://www.alternet.org/education/education-profiteering-wall-streets-next-big-thing
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He is not alone in vein deaf to those whose knowledge, and opinions differ from his own beliefs and perspectives, and like most folks these days –as a recent study shows, — when argued with he doubles down and hardens his views
This makes him tone deaf to more that just women.
Moreover, such unwillingness to credit the authentic voices of others –who come from a different direction or experience, — is not limited to him or to men. I know many women who either badger those who come from a different perspective, or choose to ignore them.
Cuomo is an extreme narcissist, who exists in a corrupt, male-dominated culture, and has done so for so long that he is deaf to reason… and as Thomas Paine says: “to argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.’
Cuomo shows he is dead to reason from anyone who is NOT connected the corruption over which he presides… He needs to be impeached.
That should have occurred after he ended the ethics committee that — ironically — he had created. He listens to those who PUT MONEY in his pocket. Staying in office is all that rules Cuomo who has eyes on the White House.,,his corruption not withstanding.
Money has the POWER OF ACCESS to Mr Cuomo’s ears, and the access of the billionaires through their money is what is at the ROOT of this man’s intransigence, not merely his dislike of outspoken women.
The growing shadow of dark money, was the subject in he NY Times , today
as it was in this wonderful Moyers interview. ttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/opinion/sunday/the-growing-shadow-of-political-money.html?emc=edit_th_20150125&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=50637717&_r=0
Web Extra: The New Robber Barons | BillMoyers.com
It is NOT merely Cuomo’s attitude to women, that is the problem with this governor — whose corrupt and bad management of the Port Authority (with his fellow corrupt governor Christie) tells us EXACTLY how he will behave if he gets to control public education.
He is deaf to any reason from educators! Money is the only thing he hears!
We the people, need to un-elect the legislators who do not work for us!
For example: look at what our legislators in Congress did in the first weeks since sessions began:
“Week 1, we had the vote for the speaker. Week 2, we debated deporting children. Week 3, we’re debating rape and incest. I just can’t wait for Week 4,” Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania complained to Jeremy Peters of The Times.
We can talk endlessly about WHY the people who lead our states and nation are ignoring the voices of educators— male and female –but the reality is simple…. we do not line their campaign coffers and they will NEVER do the right thing for the teachers, for the schools or for the children who are the future citizens UNLESS we show the power that we do have to tell the people what is needed to facilitate learning.
We need to stop talking about their narrative of testing and teaching, and explain what works, in ways that folks GET IT!
Until we show Cuomo and clones the power we hold, nothing changes…. which all of us veteran teachers know… for we have been spitting in the wind for 2 decades, about the trauma and the tragedy of what THEY ALREADY DID to our civil rights as that first AASAULT on public eduction began with our removal.
http://www.speakingasateacher.com/SPEAKING_AS_A_TEACHER/No_Constitutional_Rights-_A_hidden_scandal_of_National_Proportion.html
No one is listening as we tell the public about the war on public eduction until we get the public stage, which only the parents and the unions, together can achieve!
But what do I know.
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It really sucks not to be able to return and correct a typo once published. First line should read: “He is not alone in being deaf to those whose knowledge, and opinions differ from his own beliefs and perspectives.” and the link to the moyers piece on Dark money which everyone should see
http://billmoyers.com/2014/09/22/5-signs-dark-money-apocalypse-upon-us/?utm_source=General+Interest&utm_campaign=94370722aa-Midweek_0924149_24_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4ebbe6839f-94370722aa-168347829
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Andy C. may soon have worse problems than that …
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I hope Cuomo winds up as tarnished as a green penny.
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I think this is a valid subject, but there are complexities, very difficult to untangle. It has to do with specific women being appointed to such things as superintendents, subject to approval by boards, legislators and governors who are mostly men. In Missouri, for example, Lorna Kurdi, Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri….It would be hard to find anyone as offensive to women who teach as former state commissioner Chris Nicastro, who was replaced by a woman. Rex Sinquefield has a whole chorus line of “leaders” in high places in his right wing show me institute…….when it comes to boards with decision making power about who needs to be replaced….dominated by men……when you examine an issue like this one…..I like the approach of 75% of a large number of people, in this case, women who are lacking the respect of Andrew Cuomo—but it could just as easily be Angelina Cuomo.
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It’s something worth thinking about, but it takes about a second to see that he would not go on the attack against professional women who share his views or contribute well to his campaigns.
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I have to edit….I was racing too fast..I think this is a valid subject, but there are complexities, very difficult to untangle. Specific women are often appointed to such things as superintendents, subject to approval by boards, legislators and governors who are mostly men. In Missouri, for example, Lorna Kurdi, Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri, leads an organization dedicated to choice. It would be hard to find anyone as offensive to women who teach as former state commissioner Chris Nicastro, who was replaced by a woman with similar views—they rejected 4 white men. (no black people were considered for the job). Rex Sinquefield has a whole chorus line of “leaders” in high places in his right wing show me institute…….when it comes to boards with decision making power about who needs to be replaced, they are usually dominated by men, and if they need a woman to make things look more acceptable, they can find one who reflects their views. .. 75% of a large number of people, women who teach, in this case, women who are lacking the respect of Andrew Cuomo…might be an accurate characterization. But it could just as easily be Veronica Cuomo, though it is less common to have elected women who bully their gender.
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I can’t understand why the Democratic Party is not taken to account for turning its back on women & labor. This is exactly what they’ve done & are never pressed on this in the education debate.
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You are not alone, Beth, in asking the same question. The answer is pretty disheartening, though.
http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/
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I think it’s a chance to posture and try to look tough.
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Beth….I use too many words to not say enough….thanks for doing
the opposite.
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We need a new party. The Democratic party is too entrenched in money. It’ll take years for that to happen. There’s nowhere to turn, so lots of people delude themselves that the D’s are so much better than the R’s…It’s too depressing to face reality sometimes.
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Wait a minute! I was a teacher in NYState before retiring over 25 years ago. We were REQUIRED to have Master’s Degrees before we could get certification. Where did that other 16% come from? Please tell me they are all in “charter schools”!
Nancy J.
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Next, some idiot wonders, do critics of Israel “have a problem” with Jews? Don’t touch that dial!
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Way to deflect from the topic Flerp.
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How many men don’t?
Furthermore, they know women won’t fight as aggressively as they do. Easy targets for bullies and the corrupt.
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Though the issue of women being the backbone of teaching is huge for me, it’s a little disturbing to read these types of unfounded attacks on character, because they are counterproductive. Please, there’s so much about Cuomo’s character to attack that’s legit, why say something like this that can be easily disproven? He loves professional women who are on his side of the public money giveaway.
Keep this discussion where it belongs: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Why a very important public job that is dominated by women pays and treats professional workers relatively poorly is a topic that needs to be addressed, but this is not addressing it; to say something so obviously false makes charter opponents / union supporters look foolish, pathetic, as if they are grasping at straws.
Cuomo obviously doesn’t consider teachers to be professionals in the first place. Maybe he’s intimidated by well-paid professional women, but I doubt it. Surely he works with a number of women who are far better educated than most teachers and does not have the problem with them that he has with us.
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