NOT MUCH MENTION OF K-12 EDUCATION IN CUOMO'S STATE OF THE STATE

Three years ago, going after public schools and teachers was a big state government priority for Andrew Cuomo in his State of the State address. There were many lines about how making the lives of teachers worse, which was accomplished back in 2015, would improve the state. It did not. Now, public schools and teachers are barely mentioned and we are certainly not emphasized in Cuomo's 2018 State of the State speech.

You can watch it here if you are really bored. You can find out about it here from this CBS NY report. Or, as an alternative, you can read the Village Voice interpretation which is what I did and enjoyed. Their piece is entitled: We Watched Cuomo's State of the State So You Don't Have To. It's kind of a Comedy Central type approach.

Here are some of the best bits for those who don't want to read the whole article.
AG is Aaron Gordon and DC is David Colon.

DC (quoting Cuomo): “Upstate New York is no longer treated as the forgotten stepchild of Albany.”

We now rig bids for upstate just like we do downstate.

AG: Now he’s railing against the federal government, which is always a crowd-pleaser.

DC: A whole lotta rolling back from the federal government.

AG: He said “rolling back” more often than a mid-2000s Walmart commercial.

DC: “Like Fat Joe, the federal government wants to lean back while New York is sent down the tubes.”

AG: 1:55 p.m. review: Cuomo has said absolutely nothing of substance so far.

DC: Ah, more Latin, “carpe diem” this time.

AG: And just like that, he says something of substance! He proposes no public funds be used to settle sexual harassment claims.

DC: Here’s your baby, Aaron, congestion pricing.

OH MY GOD IT’S A MOTHERFUCKING REPORT

AG: Hell yeah, the panel is creating a report with options for the legislature to consider.

DC: I’m mad. I can’t believe we waited for months for a congestion pricing plan and we’re gonna get a report to consider.

AG: Well, that was a whole lot of nothing.

DC: I am apoplectic.

AG: Cuomo says they will challenge the federal tax bill in court as unconstitutional. As the old reporter adage says, wait to report on the lawsuit until it is filed.

DC: “State’s rights” are back, baby, and they’re good again. ::Wolf howl::

AG: So is “repeal and replace”…

Huh, Cuomo says they’re exploring the feasibility of switching from reliance on income to payroll tax. I feel like this is the type of thing you can’t really assess until you actually know what the plan is.

DC: “It’s complicated and it is difficult.”

Well, I can’t remember the last time anything described like that survived Albany.

AG: He keeps saying things like “we have no choice” about systemic issues that have existed for decades that he himself has done nothing to remedy.

DC: No, see, that’s WHY we have no choice. We had choices, we waited around for a few decades, and then, voilà!

AG: This speech has done wonders for making me feel even worse about the future.

I can't argue with that.

Now back to the speech. This is all I could find on the schools from the Village Voice duo:

DC: “We have to expand pre-K to three-year-olds. This was my idea, no one fact-check this.”

Ah, an extension of the “free” college program. “We must pass the DREAM Act,” check off another IDC calamity bingo box.

On the Janus Supreme Court case where union dues for public sector employees will almost definitely become optional in a few months:

AG: A brief bit about standing in solidarity with public sector unions given federal challenges to their legality, which definitely fills me with optimism he will stand up for meaningful MTA cost reforms.

I don't quite know what that stands in solidarity line means but you folks looking to withhold your union dues from what are essentially company unions should not count your chickens before they hatch as the company is standing in solidarity with us.

To sum up the entire speech, we finally have something optimistic from our reporters from the Village Voice.

AG: OK, David, what did you learn?

DC: That Andrew Cuomo will never be president.