So we know that Governor Andy doesn't really care what voters think. If they get between him and hefty campaign contributions, they can go straight to hell as far as he's concerned. That's pretty much what he told New York City when he gave Eva Moskowitz the green light to start charter schools our duly-elected mayor rejected. Not only that, but they can expand like a cancer if they so desire, and if de Blasio can't give them public school space, the city will have to pick up the tab for their rent.
Thus spake the "student lobbyist." And yet this particular student lobbyist represents only the interests of those students backed up by hedge fund bucks. The other 97% of our students can go straight to hell along with their parents, the voters.
But in Governor Andy's New York, teachers are even more special than parents and children. Not only can they go straight to hell, but they can't come to his upstate charter party. Now it's no surprise nowadays when teachers aren't invited to education events. After all, why ask people who've devoted their lives to teaching children what they think about the best ways to do it? Are they gonna hand you a million dollars in on the books contributions and then provide you with suitcases of cash for those unpredictable exigencies? Of course not.
So what you do is charge a thousand bucks for a weekend. That ought to keep those teachers out. The only people expert enough to discuss education are those who can drop a grand for a weekend in Lake Placid.
But what do you know? Several teacher types came up with the money. The only solution, of course, was to return their money and not allow them in anyway. After all, teachers are special interests. You can't trust them to help you when your goal is eliminating public schools so hedge fund types can profit. So there you have it. Governor Cuomo and his charter school buds have not only kept teachers out, but also turned them down when they offered to pay to get in.
Because that's the sort of democracy you buy when you buy Andrew Cuomo for Governor of NY State. And the reformy corporatist privatizers who've bought him are getting every penny's worth, while you and I, again, can go straight to hell along with our children.