It's been five years since Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed himself the political patron of New York's 2.7 million public school students, thereby placing himself in the crosshairs of the state's public-education establishment. “This year, I will take a second job,” he announced in his 2012 State of the State message. “Consider me the lobbyist for the student. I will wage a campaign to put students first, and to remind us that the purpose of public education is to help children grow, not to grow the public education bureaucracy.”
It was a remarkable declaration for any ambitious Democrat, let alone the functional head of the party in a bedrock Democratic state like New York. Cuomo has paid a price for this, and he continues to do so. Most New York politicians reflexively conflate what's best for education with what's best for teachers' unions and the bureaucrats who support them. Not by accident, students virtually always become an afterthought.
Read Full Article »