Heeding the call from NYSUT
members, legislators provided
a big boost in school
aid, four times as much as Gov.
Cuomo initially proposed. The aid
also signals a major commitment to
mitigate the damaging effects of the
Gap Elimination Adjustment.
The school aid increase was
among the positive developments
in a budget otherwise poisoned by
the governor's anti-public education
agenda.
The union's pushback against
Cuomo's wrong-headed education
policies hasn't skipped a beat; it's
only getting harder and louder.
NYSUT launched in late April a
major statewide TV and Internet
campaign criticizing the governor
and his hedge fund billionaire backers
for trying to "rewrite history" and
glossing over the effects on schools
and campuses in the policy-laden
fiscal plan.
The campaign puts lawmakers
and policymakers on notice. NYSUT
will not stand down in its staunch
opposition to the budget's most
toxic components:
- the overhaul of Annual
Professional Performance Review to
further overemphasize testing and
punish teachers;
- erosion of local control through
"receivership" for schools in struggling
communities;
- continued threats on tenure,
privatizing classrooms, diverting
money from schools with tax breaks
for the wealthy and more.
The union's million-dollar ad campaign
coordinates with an aggressive
campaign launched by the United
Federation of Teachers in New York
City, NYSUT's largest affiliate.
The multi-media effort also resonates
in a hard-hitting column by
American Federation of Teachers
President Randi Weingarten. In it,
she says a U.S. Senate attempt to
overhaul No Child Left Behind shows
honest progress in Washington, D.C.,
while the governor and his wealthy
pals in New York state are looking
backward.
The Senate's Every Child Achieves
Act would eliminate Annual Yearly
Performance and mandatory sanctions,
such as school closings, and
would not require states to maintain
a teacher evaluation system. The proposal
also maintains funding equity.
"We can't let up on the pressure,"
said NYSUT Executive Vice President
Andy Pallotta. "Our activism is clearly
working."
The swell of grassroots activism
in support of public education that
sprung up across the state weeks
ago shows no sign of wilting.
NYSUT members are using the
union's Member Action Center to
send thousands of emails urging lawmakers
to support a parent opt-out
bill and to push the Regents to listen
to educators, parents and students
as they carve out teacher evaluation
regulations.
Hundreds turned out in late April
at a rally hosted by the Yonkers
Federation of Teachers to "Call Out
Cuomo" and demand he "give back"
the $28 million shortfall in the district's
budget.
Media buzzed when Saranac Lake
teacher Maria DeAngelo, buoyed by
supporters along the way, walked
more than 150 miles to Albany to
deliver her students' artwork and
a message to the governor: Walk in
our shoes! Great Neck music teachers
produced parodies calling out the
governor, and a teacher publicly invited
Cuomo to visit his school in Cuba... New York.
"It's the collective roar of educators
and other citizens rising up,
speaking out and refusing to accept
Gov. Cuomo's attack on public
schools and universities without a
fight," said NYSUT President Karen
E. Magee.
As legislative leaders
engaged in traditional
back-room
negotiations prior
to the state budget
deadline, thousands
of NYSUT members,
parents, administrators,
students and even
lawmakers joined in at
least 60 thoughtful and
inspiring forums and rallies statewide
to champion public education.
"We called out the governor and
we educated the lawmakers, and
we took what was a slap in the face
and turned it into a positive," said
Pallotta. "This adopted budget provides
significantly more than the governor's
proposal."
On the first day back in session
after the April break, the Assembly
Education Committee approved a bill
sponsored by Education Chair Cathy
Nolan, D-Queens, that supports the
rights of parents to opt their children
out of the state tests. The state
Senate introduced its own version,
sponsored by Sen. Terrence Murphy,
R-Yorktown, the next day.
After lawmakers handed the new
evaluation system to the Board
of Regents and State Education
Department to implement, NYSUT
members blitzed the Regents with
thousands of emails calling for public
hearings on the APPR regulations.
In a step forward, Chancellor
Merryl Tisch then agreed to hold a
hearing in Albany with stakeholder
groups and representatives in early
May.
NYSUT continues to exert pressure
on lawmakers to do what's
right for students and educators
during the remaining seven weeks
of the legislative session.
Many crucial policy issues are yet
to be debated - the tax cap, the
DREAM Act, the Education Investment
Tax Credit, mayoral control and minimum
wage. Charter school advocates
are renewing their call to lift the
charter cap.
"We're a long way from being
done," Pallotta said. "NYSUT members
are energized for the fight."