The latest poll from the respected Siena Reaearch Institute finds that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s approval rating has dropped to 41%, his lowest rating on this poll since he became Governor. (Another poll said his approval rating had fallen to 37%.)
Voters are upset by corruption in state government/ both the leader of the Assembly and the leader of the State Senate were recently indicted.
“Still, corruption is not the only thing New Yorkers are worried about. The poll found that voters rated the economy and education as the top two most important issues they want to see improvement on, while corruption ranked third.
“Voters have been expressing disapproval of Cuomo since he began his second term in January. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted in March suggested that growing discontent with the governor’s new education policy could be at the root of the disapproval.”
Voters are divided over Cuomo’s Education Tax Credit proposal, but more oppose it than support it.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
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We do ducks and chicks at our school. I’m glad our students are still getting educational experiences that can be quantified on a test.
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When you piss off parents you are at a severe disadvantage in any state but especially in New York. Nobody will tolerate the intellectual bullying of children. I’m totally shocked that the current administration does not get this and refuses to retract their ed reform agenda. I’m totally shocked that Hillary Clinton is going to continue the battle to support the Common Core. Just baffling!
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Hillary need a better Education Advisor! Maybe Carol Burris should apply.
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Who is advising her now?? Or does she put her finger up in the air to see which way the wind is blowing? It will be hard to find any Democratic candidate who will take on Common Core, Gates, and charters and that includes Warren.
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Cuomo doesn’t care about polls. He is building his own House of Cards.
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I don’t understand why voters are divided on the education tax credit. Are that many New Yorkers who want to see public education eviscerated?
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Most voters don’t understand the implications of this giveaway to the 1%. They simply buy into the trope that this will help public education and give poor disadvantaged kids a chance to finally succeed – instead of suffering a lifetime of sadness and economic deprivation as a result of attending a “failing” public school.
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Have you seen the TV commercials for it?? Made by the same people who fought deBlasio’s plan to charge rent to charters. Cuomo receives millions from the charter lobby and will do anything for them. Hopefully lawmakers are not going to fall for this crap after voting in his other education crap. But I doubt it.
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I am asking questions from ignorance as I am not a New Yorker. Here I sit indulging in a blog that draws people who have a particular interest in preserving public education. It is easy to forget that the majority of people are not necessarily aware of most of what we see.
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I have been inundated with at least 4 or 5 mailings in favor of the education tax credit. The mailings only mention “more money for your schools” and make it sound as if the money is going to public schools. There is fine print about students getting scholarships to private and parochial schools, but it is easy to miss in all the big print about how your child’s classroom teacher will get reimbursed for buying supplies, etc.
What is so appalling is that the supporters of this bill are obviously the same billionaire hedge funders who back charter schools and have plenty of money to underwrite this campaign. They absolutely know that the public would not support those provisions in the bill, so they mislead people about what is in it. It is what I despise most about these people — they can’t make an honest case for their policies. Just like charter schools who pretend they are getting miraculous results with the “exact same kids as failing schools” and “with less money, too!”. They know it isn’t true, but it doesn’t stop them from pretending it is. How those lying people look themselves in the mirror I truly do not understand. I suppose they were the same kids who used to cheat at Monopoly when they were children — it’s all about winning over honesty.
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I was at shul in NJ this past weekend and someone got up and stated that there was all of this money for secular education that the states around us were way ahead of us on (referring to public money for yeshiva tuition) and there were being public meetings held to convince officials to pursue it .
Private school parents such as where I live are pissed that half the students don’t go to the public schools (because they want religious school) but want the state to pay for the “secular stuff” because most of the community’s tax money is being spent on a relative minority of the community (by choice).
I’m caught between needing to send my own child to day school because our community’s religious beliefs dictate it, and being unable to afford what our community demands (and the costs of not complying are very, very high), and also the belief that if we really want the secular stuff to be paid off, consolidating resources, spaces, teachers and nurses would be a far more efficient way to go about it. The demands don’t change no matter which community we are a part of in the religious world.
There is definitely a form of segregation in the yeshivas if just because most Jewish people are not of color (though there are some in the area it is not many).
But lots of people who are under the same pressure don’t hate the public schools – they just feel as if they’re being double taxed (for a choice they don’t see as a choice), they’re suffering under the burden, and our leaders come along and push this as “free money” to keep tuition down (although I kind of doubt it – I suspect that tuition will rise to absorb what people have paid for tuition in the past plus the money from the educational tax credits).
The way it is being spun is that the school needs to educate all school children, which includes public and private (and don’t try to make sense of that, your head will hurt trying to figure out the logic of choosing not to be part of the public and expecting private to subsidized).
Cuomo though has been absolutely unpredictable lately – why is he pushing controversial policies at a time when he must know the political waters are filled with blood and not much is likely to be accomplished under the pall of the current congress?
As near as I can figure he simply figures the polls will bounce back when he is proven correct and that people just need his foresight despite their protests.
I just hope the poll numbers give the congress reps with hearts that are heavy enough (excuse the expression) genitalia of brass to stand up for their population and not to score political points with heavy players so that the will of the people is represented, not the will of those writing the campaign checks with their own axes to grind.
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“. . . because our community’s religious beliefs dictate it. . . ”
Break free from the “religion” monster. Become a free thinker, let not others dictate your thoughts.
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Maybe I’m being harsh, but I get really angry at voters who vote for someone a second time around and then decide they don’t like him/her. Bush, Obama, Cuomo, etc. They all made themselves perfectly clear in their first term. People vote for them again and then act surprised when they get more of the same in the second term. There’s no reason Cuomo’s ratings should have dropped, unless people were asleep when they re-elected him. Wake up voters!
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This article has appeared in the “Education” section of the NY Times Education Section as one of the top 3 education articles since its publication on April 17. Surely there is something more important happening in the world of education then Eva Moskowitz’ publicity releases…..or is this placement bought and paid for??
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I noticed that too. Probably the editors were under fire for publishing the first true article about Eva even though it left out other good information.
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A solid month of the same article smells more like advertising then news.
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The Common Core sales jobs just seems so carefully managed and manipulated to me.
Put it in with a big celebrity/media marketing effort but little information, when parents object, move to Phase Two- the listening tour! “We HEAR you!”
It’s always bad cop/good cop with ed reformers. They use the same tactic for every initiative. It’s just nonsense to tell people they now have permission to “debate” something that has already been decided. It’s insulting.
The really rigid control is not at all appealing.
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Andrew Cuomo’s idea of democracy is fascism with him in charge. Heil Cuomo!
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Do you have recalls in NY like we have in CA? Something to consider if his numbers continue to tank.
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Wouldn’t be surprised he’s having a bad dream in which his late father Mario tortures him at bed every single night.
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