(NEW YORK, NY) Following Gov. Cuomo’s speech at a rally for corporate charter school chains, leading education advocates from the Alliance for Quality Education, Campaign for Fiscal Equity, New York Communities for Change, Make the Road New York and Citizen Action of New York, jointly released the following statement:
“Governor Cuomo’s appearance is extremely troubling considering he is simultaneously severely underfunding public schools. The Governor repeatedly says ‘money doesn’t matter’ in education, but when it comes to giving funding to privately-run charter schools, it’s all about the money. This double standard exists under an even more troubling backdrop in which he has raked in campaign largesse from the Wall Street billionaires that are the chief ideological supporters of charter schools,” said Billy Easton, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education.
“This is another attempt by the Governor to distract attention from the real issues facing New York public schools: fair state funding and expanding Universal pre-K for all. We are confident legislators will remain focused on these priorities to advance educational opportunities for all New York public school children,” said David Sciarra, Director of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity project.
“Every day that our schools are underfunded, our children lose opportunity at success. That’s why it’s so discouraging that Governor Cuomo would work to fund privately-run charter schools while our public school system continues to struggle without the funding they need to give our kids the education they deserve. New York’s priority must be to offer every child a quality education in our public education system,” said Karen Scharff, Executive Director for Citizen Action of New York.
“Governor Cuomo’s budget leaves public schools starved for funding with a severe consequence for all students, especially English language learners. Simultaneously he is aggressively advocating more funding for privately-run charter schools. On education his priorities are backwards, funding for public schools, not charters should be his focus,” said Javier Valdes, Co-Director of Make the Road New York.
“Follow the money. Governor Cuomo’s re-election campaign war chest has ballooned from the checkbooks of Wall Street billionaires bankrolling corporate charter chains. It is outrageous that Governor Cuomo rallies for them, while being a complete roadblock to adequate public school funding. Our public schools have seen class sizes skyrocket as a result of Cuomo’s policies and we have made damaging cuts to arts, music, summer school and more. The governor needs to stand for all our school children not only corporate charter chains that are backed by billionaire hedge fund managers,” said Celia Green, parent leader with New York Communities for Change.
About AQE
The Alliance for Quality Education is a coalition mobilizing communities across the state to keep New York true to its promise of ensuring a high quality public education to all students regardless of zip code, income or race. Combining its legislative and policy expertise with grassroots organizing, AQE advances proven-to-work strategies that lead to student success and echo a powerful public demand for a high quality education. www.aqeny.org
