Governor Hochul Failed the Test

Have you cast your ballot in the UFT Leadership election?  Don’t tarry!!  Place an X in the Unity box and into the mailbox, do it NOW!!

I’ve always believed the best decisions are made by the folks closest to the kids: teachers and school leaders, hopefully facilitated by the school district leader. In other words, there are no magic bullets and kids are different. 

Unfortunately, in most school districts the modern major general orders, the underlings salute and teachers do what they can to stay out of trouble and also help the kids learn. 

For too few years New York City supported Affinity Networks of like-minded schools with wide latitude to develop instructional models (Norm Fruchter describes in detail here). A new mayor and a reversion to yet another major general, do you know the name of the NYC school district leader?

At the state level, for over 200 years New York State has had a unique education governance structure: a seventeen-member unsalaried Board of Regents, representing the geographical regions of the state, elected by a joint meeting of the state legislature who hire a chancellor from among their members and hire a commissioner. The Board/Commissioner sets policies, and the 700 elected school boards hire superintendents to enact the policies, as well as select curriculum, that may vary from district to district.

Governors have a major role in determining school funding, they should have no role in setting educational policies.

Governor Cuomo created a commission, an impressive array of experts, including AFT President Weingarten, and staff to establish a path forward, an impressive report, many of the recommendations were implemented, read the Report here  

Unfortunately the current governor, plagued with low approval ratings has chosen to bypass the Board of Regents and the Commissioner and the legislature and stuff unwise educational policies into the budgets, policies fashioned to increase her chances at the polls in the June 2026 Democratic Primary, and if she prevails, the November 2026 General Election.

Last year she jumped on the Science of Reading bandwagon and required all schools to adopt phonics-based curriculum. 

This year she is mandating “bell to bell” prohibitions on cell phones in schools.
In New York City many schools have cell phone bans, others. not, and in a few, cell phones, actually handheld computers are part of the instructional program.

In my view the decisions made by the governor are attempts to increase her favorability among voters, decisions should be left to local school boards, educators and parents.

Hidden in the just passed state budget is a disgraceful action by the governor. The NY Times reports,

New York lawmakers are considering a measure that would dramatically weaken their oversight over religious schools, potentially a major victory for the state’s Hasidic Jewish community.

The governor/legislature included the reduction in standards in the final budget.

Jim Baldwin, who is a deputy to State Commissioner of Education Dr. Betty Rosa, wrote the following letter to Governor Hochul:

Governor Hochul – you and legislative leaders have sold out children attending private schools in a most cynical manner- to curry favor with religious sects for purely political reasons.

The deficiencies in these schools are well documented by the State Education Department and in the media – most notably the New York Times. I know you are well aware of those findings.

As a former superintendent of schools and college president I encountered the deficiencies in yeshiva education first hand as we sought to help orthodox students achieve college degrees following “education” at a variety of yeshivas and seminaries. The yeshiva graduates were often illiterate, and could not demonstrate basic knowledge and skills let alone do college level studies. How could you allow this to continue?

Your failure to protect these children demonstrates lack of leadership and unwillingness to defend the basic rights of children to standards based educational opportunities that prepare them for life.

And then you have the audacity to pretend what you’ve done is just another option when it is a sham that will allow educational neglect to continue.

I have a long history of public service and educational leadership that put the interests of students first.

As a lifelong activist Democrat I am disgusted that you would not demonstrate principled leadership to stop this travesty.

Your attempt to appease the religious leaders who threaten your electoral success will almost certainly fail – and in the process you have alienated a significant number of us who would otherwise have voted for you once again.

Shame on you Governor.

Bravo, Dr. Rosa!

Governor Hochul appears more concerned with an election thirteen month away than the current budget, a 254 billion dollar budget, eleven billion higher than last year, as the Congress is about to pass a budget with dramatic cuts, New York State will receive fewer federal dollars, significantly fewer dollars. The governor shrugged off the impending requirement to reconfigure the just passed state budget.

In 2022 Hochul’s lead over Republican Lee Zelden was shrinking, the September endorsement by the state teacher union, NYSUT, and Michael Mulgrew, the UFT President, very likely made the difference in her slim victory.

I have no idea who will challenge Hochel, I’m sure she will be challenged in the June, 2026 primary and whoever wins the primary will face a well-funded Republican in November. 

Leaving education policy to the Board of Regents, the Commissioner, school boards and educators and parents is unquestionably the best pathway.