CUOMO'S CUNY CUTS EXPLAINED

The Village Voice has an insightful article on Governor Andrew Cuomo that should be read by all. The Voice's Nick Pinto breaks down Cuomo's phony left turn of the last few months as the governor follows the political winds but Andy contradicts himself by calling for a $.5 billion cut in state funding for the City University of New York.

CUNY faculty have been without a raise since 2010 and their union, the Professional Staff Congress, is talking strike in defiance of the draconian New York State Taylor law which prohibits strikes from public employees. Many others who work at CUNY belong to DC 37 and they have been without a salary increase since 2008.

The Voice piece puts the blame for the CUNY funding situation on the governor, right where it belongs. Pinto writes:

And here we arrive at the most pernicious thing about Cuomo's CUNY machinations: the way they deliberately degrade New Yorkers' expectations for our public education system. After a lifetime of gamesmanship, forever seeking out the tactical advantage, Cuomo has forgotten, if he ever knew, why the game is played at all. Instead of spending political capital to shore up and improve the lives of public college students in New York City, he is incapable of seeing CUNY as anything but another chip to be traded in his endless, joyless pursuit of power without purpose.

"Power without purpose."  Cuomo summed up perfectly in three words.

We support the CUNY students and their faculty 100%.

UPDATE: We have another excellent piece on this subject for you to see.  This one is from Labor Press on the Professional Staff Congress- DC37 Rally outside of Cuomo's office in Manhattan.