After underfunding the state’s most impoverished schools and pushing through a high-stakes testing agenda, Governor Cuomo said this week “There’s going to have to be a death penalty for failing schools…we’ll give (the schools) a short window to repair themselves.” His State Education Department advocates shutting down democratically elected local school boards and replacing them with three hand-picked Albany appointees.
Let’s call his bluster. Rather than a struggle between local boards and Albany, what if we were to give Cuomo and his power-appointees a “short window of time” themselves? As of the first day of school let them take charge. If Cuomo cannot repair the damage in one year’s time, he and his appointees would be given an equivalent penalty: replacement. The schools’ problems are deep, and will require more than a “short window” to repair. Gubernatorial grandstanding is not a solution.
Unpublished letter in response to August 30, 2013, Democrat and Chronicle article: Cuomo floats 'death penalty' for failing schools.
Cuomo and 'failing schools'
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