Tell Governor Cuomo: Forget Political Favors. Every NY Student Deserves a Qualified Teacher.

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We need your help in stopping the SUNY Board of Trustees from creating a short-cut certification for charter school teachers.

My blog post, titled What’s the link between charter schools, political donations and teacher certification in New York?, was just posted on the Washington Post’s Answer Sheet. Please read how political condition are shaping a two-tier certification system in New York State.

Did you know that the politically connected Success Academy has the largest number of charters under SUNY control? And did you know that more than a dozen Success Academy board members have contributed large sums to Governor Cuomo? Or how about that Success Academy founder Eva Moskowitz’s PAC, the Great Public Schools PAC, has contributed $50,000 to Cuomo just this year?

Read my post for all of the disturbing details.

This special proposal for charter schools isn’t a new one. The most unpopular Governor in the country, Chris Christie of New Jersey, tried to lower teacher certification standards in his state earlier this year. His proposal was rejected by the state’s board of education, and the board president said he “couldn’t find anybody who thought this was a good idea” — other than the charter school lobby.

We know that putting unprepared teachers in the classroom isn’t good for kids, so we’ve created a letter writing campaign asking Governor Cuomo to tell the SUNY Board he appointed to withdraw this ill-conceived proposal.

Please send your letter to the governor today.

Let him know that all kids deserve real teachers in their classrooms.

Thanks for all you do,

Carol Burris,

Executive Director, NPE Action

PS – If you haven’t signed our petition to the SUNY board, please join almost 3,000 fellow New Yorkers and add your name today. I will hand deliver the petition to the SUNY board before they meet to discuss this issue.