Cuomo Fails the Children of New York State

By:  Marla Kilfoyle, General Manager BATs

Every day our children achieve despite having their public schools grossly underfunded by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and his education reform agenda.  From Albany to Roosevelt, from Wyandanch to Troy, children are receiving honors and accolades that show their schools are not failing but are indeed providing exemplary services to our children.  For the Governor of New York to go publicly on social media and call those students, their districts, and communities “failures” is a gross misrepresentation of what is really happening – Governor Cuomo has failed our children.

Last week Governor Cuomo released a report about  New York States failing schools.  Read here:   https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/NYSFailingSchoolsReport.pdf

If you go to page 10 you will see the list of those 17 “failing” school districts but here is a screen shot of that page so that you can peruse it quickly.

Cuomo blasted out a long series of tweets about the failing schools on February 26th.  Here is a sample of the torrent of tweets he sent calling the children , communities, and teachers who utilize these schools “failures.” 

Thankfully, well respected school finance researcher  Bruce Baker took to twitter and tweeted his report about the underfunding of NYS schools.  You can read it here https://schoolfinance101.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/50-biggest-aid-gaps-2013-14_15_final.pdf   Baker wrote up a magnificent report comparing Cuomo’s 17 failing schools and how significantly they have been underfunded over the years   https://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/angry-andys-failing-schools-the-finger-of-blame/    

But......... this is not the reason for this write up.  Being a teacher in NYS, I want to highlight some amazing things these “failing” schools are doing for kids, and kids in these schools are doing, DESPITE Cuomo attempting to starve them out of funding.  Districts, every day, service children with less while the Governor calls them, in public,  “failing.”  Here is a sample of some of the amazing things kids do in these districts despite the Governor failing THEM.

Albany City School District is a diverse and active school district with many success stories.  Here are a few of their many achievements despite being called “failures” publicly by the Governor.

Student José Vega was one of seven Albany High students to be selected to the juried art show at Saint Rose.  Read about it here http://blog.timesunion.com/pinehills/local-students-to-be-featured-in-regional-art-show/8876/    

Three players on the Albany High School women's basketball team were named Scholar Athletes of the Week .  Look at the amazing footage here http://www.twcnews.com/nys/capital-region/scholar-athlete/2015/01/27/scholar-athlete-of-the-week-albany-high-womens-basketball-team.html

Which European city will Albany's marching band visit?  http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Eyes-are-smiling-over-Ireland-trip-5779112.php

Roosevelt School District, on Long Island, which ironically has been under STATE CONTROL since 2002, has many things to celebrate despite being called a “failure” by the Governor.

Roosevelt HS JROTC Cadets place 2nd in Long Island Drill competition.  Read here  http://www.rooseveltufsd.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=125&ViewID=047E6BE3-6D87-4130-8424-D8E4E9ED6C2A&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=945&PageID=1  

  The Roosevelt Chess Club wins their seventh first place finish in the Chessnuts Chess Tournament.  Read about it here  http://www.rooseveltufsd.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=125&ViewID=047E6BE3-6D87-4130-8424-D8E4E9ED6C2A&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=731&PageID=1

Roosevelt Celebrates Five National Board Certified Teachers.  Read about it here  http://www.rooseveltufsd.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=125&ViewID=047E6BE3-6D87-4130-8424-D8E4E9ED6C2A&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=1294&PageID=1

Let’s take a look at one more district, the Syracuse School District, who Cuomo labeled “failures” in this public tweet. 

Look at what this amazing school district does for kids despite being short changed  $96,162,520, or $4,381 per child, by the Governor. 

Nottingham Senior Named 2015 Racial Justice Award Winner by InterFaith Works.   Read here http://www.syracusecityschools.com/districtpage.cfm?pageid=1669

Syracuse Students To Compete In Northern New York State VEX Robotics Championship.  Read here http://www.syracusecityschools.com/districtpage.cfm?pageid=1654

Syracuse students win art awards.  Read here http://www.syracusecityschools.com/districtpage.cfm?pageid=1644

I would like to invite the 17 district on this list to join me in presenting Cuomo with the real stories of success from your districts! Let everyone know kids are not failures they achieve success in our schools everyday

I am sure that I can go through all 17 on the list and provide a long list of examples of how these districts service children and how children elevate themselves despite having their education horrifically underfunded by this Governor.    Our children aren’t failing Governor Cuomo, YOU ARE FAILING, AND HAVE FAILED, OUR CHILDREN!