This is the latest installment of CuomoWatch - NYCC's blog covering Andrew Cuomo's corporate-backed agenda which is wreaking havoc on public education, low wage workers, immigrants, and homeowners and tenants through the state. Unfortunately, we'll be posting frequently - The Governor is really hard at work!
Governor Cuomo has made himself very accessible to Eva Moskowitz to listen to the needs of the hedge fund backed corporate charter school lobby on the matter of public school co-locations.
But for the parents of P.S. 811? Not so much.
P.S. 811 is a public school in Harlem that serves special needs students - children with autism and other disabilities that require greater attention and resources from staff and faculty. The students already share space with two other schools - P.S. 149 and Eva Moskowtiz's Harlem Success Academy. Last year, the City slated to wedge ANOTHER Eva Moskowitz school into this building - a move that, if implemented, would put P.S. 811 - where staff is already forced to teach students in hallways and stairwells - at 132% capacity. (For more insight in this situation, take a look at this video created by the parents of P.S. 811 and 149
Mayor De Blasio stepped in to put a halt to this new co-location, only to have his decision blocked by the Governor as part of the new State budget, which protects new charter school co-locations.
Governor Cuomo has met repeatedly with Eva Moskowitz and her Wall Street pals that have pumped millions of dollars into an ad campaign smearing the Mayor's policy on co-location.
Meanwhile, the Governor has met with parents and staff at P.S. 811 a grand total of zero times. This should come as no surprise as the Governor has not toured a single public school during his time in office. We cannot officially comment on whether his distribution of time among charter school lobbyists and public school parents is in any way related to who funds his campaigns.
Want to help demand a meeting for the parents of P.S. 811? Join NYCC April 10th for a march to the Governor's NYC office