4LAKids - L.A. UNIFIED WILL INVESTIGATE FOOD-SERVICE CONTRACTS AT PUC CHARTERS

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: L.A. UNIFIED WILL INVESTIGATE FOOD-SERVICE CONTRACTS AT PUC CHARTERS:

L.A. UNIFIED WILL INVESTIGATE FOOD-SERVICE CONTRACTS AT PUC CHARTERS

Supt. Fox Cortines asks L.A. Unified to review charter schools' food contracts

School board candidate Fox Ref Rodriguez helps oversee charter school with questioned food contracts

 May 4 2015  ::  L.A. Unified Supt. Ramon C. Cortines has asked for a district review of food service contracts at one of the region's largest charter school organizations.

The move came after The Times on Sunday published the findings of a state investigation into PUC Schools which showed an alleged conflict of interest in the awarding of millions of dollars in food contracts.

The state probe examined the dual roles of Jacqueline Duvivier Castillo, who is part owner of Better 4 You Meals and also was, until Saturday, PUC's director of business and development. Better 4 You Meals has provided food to the charter group for the last five years, documents provided by the state showed.

Investigators for the California Department of Education said the charter failed to demonstrate that the contract was "awarded properly despite the apparent conflict of interest."

In an email to The Times on Saturday, PUC said Duvivier Castillo would no longer be employed by the charter group.

Cortines said that he has asked the district's charter school division to look into the matter. Charters are typically authorized by a local school system but are managed independently and exempt from some rules that govern traditional public schools. They are publicly financed.

Most of PUC's schools are overseen by L.A. Unified.

The L.A. County district attorney's office indicated Monday that it expected another, separate probe to be conducted by L.A. Unified's inspector general. The D.A.'s office said it was premature to comment on whether laws could have been broken.

"We will review the report by LAUSD's inspector general when it's completed," said D.A. spokeswoman Jane Robison.

It remained unclear Monday evening if such a review would be conducted. Inspector General Ken Bramlett said no decision had been made on whether he would conduct a separate investigation into the matter.

●●smf notes: : The District's charter school division reports to the superintendent. The Inspector General reports to the Board of Education. If the IG finds wrongdoing he is statutorily mandated to report it to law enforcement. The charter school division reports to the superintendent.Prior to joining LAUSD, the current Director of the LAUSD Charter Schools Division served as general manager for the Los Angeles region of the California Charter Schools Association.

♻ What comes around. goes around – and the door revolves forever.

PUC was co-founded by Ref Rodriguez, a candidate for the L.A. Board of Education who serves on the PUC board and as treasurer of the group.

Rodriguez has declined to answer questions about the matter. But he issued a brief statement Friday in support of terminating the food contract. He was listed as chief executive on tax forms during the period when Better 4 You first began providing meals for PUC.

The Rodriguez campaign in Monday clarified the role of Duvivier Castillo, who had been a consultant. According to campaign documents, Better 4 You contributed $2,200 and the campaign also paid Duvivier Castillo $1,700 for election work.

The consulting fee related to help with election-related events, including the kick-off, said campaign manager Michael Soneff. Duvivier Castillo was reimbursed $1,053 for supplies she'd provided for events, he said.  Separately, another Better 4 You employee also donated $850 to help elect Rodriguez.

The election is May 19.

The state Department of Education, which released emails and documents about its investigation to The Times under the California Public Records Act, found that Duvivier Castillo failed to properly report her financial interests in Better 4 You. In addition, her company was ineligible for some of the food contracts because it lacked a health permit; it relied on a subcontractor to prepare meals, the review found.

PUC Chief Executive Jacqueline Elliot notified the school district of the state probe on Sunday and emphasized that the education department did not require a change in food vendors until the contract expired at the end of the current school year.

In a statement Monday, she said the group "acted quickly and appropriately by ending our relationship with the employee in question and by broadening our conflict-of-interest policy.”

Rodriguez is vying to unseat one-term incumbent Bennett Kayser to represent an area that encompasses Silver Lake, Los Feliz and Eagle Rock as well as much of southeast L.A. County.

PUC serves about 4,800 students in 15 schools, including in the east San Fernando Valley and north of downtown.4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: L.A. UNIFIED WILL INVESTIGATE FOOD-SERVICE CONTRACTS AT PUC CHARTERS:

25 Reasons Why You Should Appreciate Public School Teachers:

25 Reasons Why You Should Appreciate Public School Teachers

MAY 5, 2015 BY NANCY BAILEY LEAVE A COMMENT

1. Teachers in public school teach all children—they reject no one.
2. Teachers choose teaching because of their subject and mostly because they like the students.
3. Teachers don’t pick their careers for the money.
4. Their teaching is free (well except for AP).
5. Many teachers pay-out-of-pocket for materials.
6. Teachers protect their students.
7. Teachers support parents and can be a great back-up.
8. Teachers encourage students to do their best.
9. They take students on exciting field trips.
10. Teachers create interesting lesson plans.
11. They decorate their classrooms even in the poorest schools.
12. Each teacher has a different and interesting personality.
13. Teachers listen and help solve problems.
14. Teachers correct students so they don’t make fools out of themselves.
15. They make students laugh.
16. Teachers help students plan for the future.
17. They25 Reasons Why You Should Appreciate Public School Teachers:

Corinthian Colleges Secretly Funded D.C. Think Tanks, Dark Money Election Efforts - The Intercept

Corinthian Colleges Secretly Funded D.C. Think Tanks, Dark Money Election Efforts - The Intercept:

CORINTHIAN COLLEGES SECRETLY FUNDED D.C. THINK TANKS, DARK MONEY ELECTION EFFORTS

 (This post is from our new blog: Unofficial Sources.)

The spectacular crash of Corinthian Colleges after years of systematically deceiving thousands of students into enrolling into low-quality, high-cost education programs has once again raised questions about how the for-profit college industry staved off stronger rules governing the $1.4 billion per year in federal loans that helped keep Corinthian afloat.

Some hints emerged today in the giant chain’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware. It shows that Corinthian made secret payments to an array of political consultants, think tanks and political dark money groups.

The filing doesn’t list amounts, but shows that Corinthian made payments to Crossroads G.P.S., a group co-founded by Karl Rove that has raised over $300 million to elect Republican members of Congress through campaign advertising. Crossroads G.P.S., a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, does not disclose any of its donors.

Crossroads G.P.S. spent over $700,000 to help elect Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., during his 2010 election. As Bloomberg News revealed, Rubio later filed a letter with the Department of Education, requesting that the agency “demonstrate leniency” with Corinthian.

Corinthian registered only two lobbying firms last year — Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Akerman LLP. But the filing shows that Corinthian also paid a myriad of other consulting firms that work to influence the political process.

Corinthian’s creditor list includes: TheGroup DC LLC, a public affairs firmfounded by Art Collins, an advisor to Barack Obama’s 2008 election; Stanton Communications Inc., a firm that specializes in “crisis management”; and Strategic Partnerships LLC, a Virginia-based public affairs company founded by Kenneth Smith, a former Reagan administration advisor who now serves as the president of Jobs for America’s Graduates, Inc.

APCO Worldwide, a lobbying firm, is among the Corinthian creditors, though the firm never registered to represent Corinthian under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.

The listing reveals a number of payments to influential D.C. groups that have battled regulations on the for-profit college industry. The U.S. Chamber of Commere is listed multiple times as a Corinthian creditor. The Chamber has run campaign advertisements on behalf of opponents of the Department of Education’s “gainful employment” regulation, which would measure the performance of vocational programs. The Chamber made defeating the rules a top priority.

The American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit that helps corporate interests draft model legislation, is listed as a creditor. AsRepublic Report reported, although for-profit colleges are far more expensive for programs offered by community colleges and other public institutions, ALEC drafted a resolution calling for state officials to “recognize the value of for-profit providers.”

Another gainful employment regulation opponent, the American Enterprise Institute, is listed as a Corinthian creditor. AEI scholars have repeatedly attacked the rules, calling them an example of the Obama administration’s “crusade against for-profit colleges.” Last October, Andrew Kelly, AEI’s resident scholar on higher education reform, specifically defended Corinthian and criticized the “Obama administration’s bloodlust for such schools.”

Payments are listed for current and previous board members to Corinthian, including former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Urban League President Marc Morial, and Sharon Robinson, president and chief executive officer of the non-profit American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Payments are also listed directly to the Panetta Institute and Morial’s National Urban League.

Corinthian allegedly lied to students by providing bogus job-placement statistics, misled accrediting agencies by claiming unemployed graduates were employed, and steered students to in-house loans for bachelor’s programs with a price tag as high as $75,384. Though Department of Education rules state that students do not have to make loan payments while attending school, the Miami Herald reported that Corinthian “frequently demanded that its students pay while attending classes” and were publicly shamed through classroom removals if they did not pay.

“This is public money that’s going into a for-profit college, that then is used to fund organizations that do lobbying work and other PR work on behalf of this company,” says Ann Larson, an organizer with the Debt Collective, a group pushing for loan forgiveness for Corinthian students who say they were defrauded.  “In the end, Corinthian can file for bankruptcy while tens of thousands of students, most of them low-income, are stuck with this debt.”

“It’s certainly not surprising that the corporate and political elites managed to come up with this scam,” Larson said.

Photo: David McNew/Getty Corinthian Colleges Secretly Funded D.C. Think Tanks, Dark Money Election Efforts - The Intercept:

AFT’s Weingarten Celebrates Teachers, Nurses and Public Employees

Teachers Archives | NH Labor News:

AFT’s Weingarten Celebrates Teachers, Nurses and Public Employees

WASHINGTON—Statement from American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on the occasion of Teacher Appreciation Week, National Nurses Week and Public Service Recognition Week. The AFT represents teachers, nurses and public employees from across the country.

“Many of us have had teachers who changed our lives, nurses who saved our lives or public employees who improved our lives. For me, I often talk about Mr. Swift at Clarkstown High School North, who taught me how to be both confident and responsible, while opening the door to theater and art. Then there’s Jill Cohenour, a chemist from Montana who keeps the drinking water safe for her neighbors. And Christina Enriquez, a public health nurse in Washington who provides support services to expecting and new moms. This week is our chance to say ‘thank you’ to these teachers, nurses and public employees who make a difference every day in the lives of kids, families and communities.

“As our economy bounces back from the recession, it is increasingly clear that great education, healthcare and public services are rungs on the economic ladder to the American dream. That’s why we are celebrating teachers, nurses and public employees this week: They are the heart of our communities, providing vital public services, healing the sick and paving a path of opportunity for all children.

“Unfortunately, these workers have too often been the scapegoat for larger problems—like poverty in our communities, understaffing in our hospitals and austerity measures in our states. Or worse, these workers have been the target of attacks by those who wish to silence their voices and eliminate these essential public services. Let me be clear: Appreciation alone is not enough. As we celebrate these workers, we need to listen to them. We need to give them the tools, resources and support they need to do their jobs well. That’s the way to really show our gratitude.

“All this week, we will join parents, students and communities in lifting up teachers, nurses and public employees both in person and online. So, #thankateacher, #thankanurse and support a public employee by sharing how #governmentworks for you.”

Tagged AFT President Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), nurses, Public Employees, Teachers

Thompson: Reformers to Teachers - Please Stop Thinking About Tomorrow - This Week In Education:

This Week In Education: Thompson: Reformers to Teachers - Please Stop Thinking About Tomorrow:

Thompson: Reformers to Teachers - Please Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

 Teachers have to think ahead. What questions do I ask, in what order? How do I pace instruction for seniors with 5th grade skills so they can master college readiness concepts? What classroom disruption should I ignore? What will happen if/when I make an issue of different sorts of misbehavior? 

I've long had great success in teaching students to plan their work and work their plans. I've failed consistently, however, in understanding why reformers never look before they leap. They seem to just dictate without anticipating the predictable results of their mandates.

Now, the anti-Opt Out soundbite is that teachers should relax, don't worry about what is in store for us in the near future. High stakes Common Core testing has barely begun to release its fury and, according to reformers, we should give it a chance because we might dodge a worst case scenario.   

The Hechinger Report Lillian Mongeau, Emmanuel Felton, and Sarah Butrymowiez, in Stakes for "High-Stakes" Tests Are Actually Pretty Low, report that few students are currently subject to high-stakes Common Core tests, and most teachers are not yet subject to the sanctions that have already been codified into law.  Their graphic shows that only 11 states are already using test scores for teacher evaluations. However, their interactive graphic shows that all but eight have plans to do so. 

Mongeau et. al report that the Council of Chief State School Officers' Chris Minnich hopes that teachers "can continue to be part of an ongoing conversation about the best way to use measures of student learning in evaluations." But, that gets the issue backwards. Why wasn't there a real discussion about whether it was good or bad policy to include test score growth estimates to sanction individual teachers? Why were teachers ignored when non-educators decided how we should be evaluated?

Understandably, no information on Oklahoma was provided by Hechinger. We delayed the retention of 3rd graders and outlawed high stakes Common Core End of Instruction tests, so no students have been hurt in the grand experiment that Arne Duncan coerced us into. But, as the Oklahoma Policy Institute's Gene Perry explains, in Will This Be Oklahoma's Next Education Controversy?, value-added teacher evaluations will prompt a high-stakes debate. Perry concludes:

As Oklahoma already struggles with a dire teacher shortage, we can’t afford to reduce teachers’ morale even more by evaluating their work using an arbitrary and unreliable formula. Test scores may be one piece of evidence used to evaluate educators, but over-reliance on the formula could drive even some of our best teachers away from the profession.    

When I initially supported Common Core, it never occurred to me that they would attach stakes to Common Core tests. I assumed that Common Core was an effort to get us out of the bubble-in test and punish disaster. Why would anyone attempt to deny high school diplomas or retain public school students because they couldn't pass a college readiness test?

This spring, only three states will subject students to high stakes Common Core tests. But, how many would have done so if it were not for the backlash by parents, students, and teachers?

And, don't get me started about the 90% drop in the numbers of GEDs earned since those tests This Week In Education: Thompson: Reformers to Teachers - Please Stop Thinking About Tomorrow:

Celebrating National Charter Schools Week: Fraud Corruption Lack of Accountability Part 2 #CharterSchoolsWeek

Celebrating National Charter Schools Week: Fraud Corruption Lack of Accountability Part 2 #CharterSchoolsWeek

 "Without reform, California stands to lose millions of dollars as a result of charter school fraud, waste and mismanagement.”
The report said more focus must be placed on the state's 1,000-plus charter schools which received $3 billion in public funding last year.
Charter schools are publicly-funded but privately managed.

 latimes.com

Celebrating National Charter Schools Week: THE ISSUES: Part 1 #CharterSchoolsWeek

Report: Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud & Abuse

Charter Schools Gone Wild: Study Finds Widespread Fraud, Mismanagement and Waste

A Jacobin investigation finds widespread corruption at one of the nation’s largest charter school networks.

Charter school companies in US face corruption charges

How 2014 Became the Year of the Charter School Scandal

Charter school fraud estimated at $54 million in NY

Will Anyone Stop Charter School Corruption?

FBI Tracks Charter Schools

Charter school fraud has cost Pennsylvania at least $30 million

Another Study Finds Unaccountable Charter Schools Dogged by Corruption

The great charter school rip-off: Finally, the truth catches up to education “reform” phonies

Charter schools are cheating your kids: New report reveals massive fraud, mismanagement, abuse

Risking Public Money: New York Charter School Fraud

New Report Finds Over $200 Million in Fraud and Abuse at Charter Schools

Charter founder facing trial on bank fraud charges

Despite Shocking Reports of Fraud at Charter Schools, Lawmakers Miss Opportunity to Increase Oversight

Ref Rodriguez wants to be A Charter School Star on the LAUSD Board of Eduction

Big Education Ape: LAUSD charter group gave food contract to an employee's firm - LA Times

Big Education Ape: How is CCSA’s Ref Rodriguez hiding his billionaire and ideologue contributors? http://bit.ly/1cad3tk

Big Education Ape: Nonprofit hopes $25,000 prize lures L.A. schools' District 5 voters - LA Times http://bit.ly/1cad9RV

Big Education Ape: Schools Matter: Is CNCA paying parents to support CCSA's Ref Rodriguez's LAUSD Board campaign?http://bit.ly/1HuWyDX

Big Education Ape: OMG: CCSA's Ref Rodriguez's PUC Lakeview Charter Academy Audit http://bit.ly/1DD60Pe

Big Education Ape: solidaridad: New Report Finds Over $200 Million in Fraud and Abuse at Charter Schools http://bit.ly/1QHhxYb

Big Education Ape: Disclosure differs for charter schools run by for-profit firms | The Charlotte Observer The Char... http://bit.ly/1bDNP5V

Big Education Ape: California charter schools vulnerable to fraud, report says - The Washington Post http://bit.ly/1CYUNih

Big Education Ape: New report: charter school fraud could be costing CA taxpayers $81 million « Education Votes http://bit.ly/1HBjWAF

Big Education Ape: Charter schools are cheating your kids: New report reveals massive fraud, mismanagement, abuse -... http://bit.ly/1E3FsYq

Big Education Ape: Education Policy Groups Release Charter School Accountability Agenda and National Polling Data http://bit.ly/1bDOmol

Big Education Ape: Report estimates as much as $27.7 million in Illinois charter school fraud http://bit.ly/1wJAgET

Big Education Ape: The great charter school rip-off: Finally, the truth catches up to education “reform” phonies - ... http://bit.ly/1bDOxjw

Big Education Ape: Another Charter School bites the dust….after founder lies… - Wait What? http://bit.ly/1bDOFQ1

Big Education Ape: Groups charge $30 million in charter school fraud, call for tougher oversight | Philadelphia Pub... http://bit.ly/1bDOPH8

Big Education Ape: Release: PA Charter School Fraud Totals $30 million, Education Groups Launch State-by-State Inve... http://bit.ly/1bDOZy9

OIG Investigative Reports, Charter School Owners Sentenced for Defrauding School to Pay for Lavish Lifestyle http://1.usa.gov/1FLBPqS

Charter school founder convicted on tax charges http://on.freep.com/1FLC1pX

SC charter school head guilty of embezzlement | The State The State http://bit.ly/1FLC8Sl

Charter school founders sentenced in misuse of funds - latimes http://lat.ms/1FLCfxm

Ivy Academia founders sentenced in fraud case http://bit.ly/1FLCrwF

Optometrist, Charter School Manager, and Now Convicted Felon Can Be Added To His Curriculum Vitae: The Continuing S... http://bit.ly/1FLCAQz

Former charter school leader gets plea deal http://cin.ci/1FLCI2x

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS WEBSITE

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.Keep checking CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

Need More Just Google Charter School Fraud

LAUSD chief wants more money, fewer restrictions in letter to governor

LAUSD chief wants more money, fewer restrictions in letter to governor:

LAUSD chief wants more money, fewer restrictions in letter to governor

 The chief of California’s largest school district urged Gov. Jerry Brown to spend more money on schools, as the state prepares to finalize budget figures.

Los Angeles Unified could reap up to $253 million extra if the state’s revenue projections live up to expectations of being $2.3 billion more than previously estimated.

When the governor’s May revise is released toward the middle of the month, it will let Los Angeles Unified know how much money it will have to spend in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Anticipating the release, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines wrote to Brown last week, stating “current funding levels have proven to be insufficient.”

Cortines included a list of expenses the district will have to pay. The increased costs he cites are due to state mandates, including pension reform.

LAUSD’s contribution for teachers’ pensions will shoot up by 28 percent in the fiscal year that starts July 1. The contribution rate increased, because of state plans to make the system more financially sound.

If teachers collect 9.3 percent in pay raises that have been proposed for the upcoming year, the cost of pensions — which are based on salary — will increase even more.

The school board is poised to vote May 12 on the raises as part of a contract LAUSD estimates will cost $875.3 million. A few days later, the state will let LAUSD know how much money it will have to spend next year.

Revised revenue figures will be released by Brown’s office on or about May 15, but a definitive date has not been set, Brown spokesman Jim Evans stated.

Another factor in the amount of dollars LAUSD receives will be how far attendance has fallen. The state distributes dollars to school districts based on the average daily attendance of students.

LAUSD officials feared losing millions of dollars after disastrous efforts to launch a new computer system, MiSiS, bungled attendance records.

LAUSD officials reported attendance numbers to the state April 21 but declined to release them to this news organization, because they have yet to share the figures with board members.

District officials have previously said they could ask the state to waive record-keeping requirements because attendance records were botched this year.

Adult education, which Cortines mentioned in his letter, stands to bear some of the steepest budget cuts.

LAUSD told 609 educators they could lose their jobs to budget reductions in letters mailed earlier this year. More than any other group, 261 adult school teachers received the legally required notices.

With a budget of about $94 million, the adult education program makes up about 1.3 percent of LAUSD’s $7.27-billion operating budget.

Cortines asked Brown to install timelines, because developing a budget without knowing how much money is available “can jeopardize the stability of adult education programs.”

“The state should ensure local consortia have timelines in place so district can appropriately plan to meet the needs of their students, such as contemplating course offerings, staffing levels, etc.,” Cortines wrote.LAUSD chief wants more money, fewer restrictions in letter to governor:

Most Americans Think Public School Teachers Are Underappreciated And Underpaid:

Most Americans Think Public School Teachers Are Underappreciated And Underpaid

Most Americans agree that public school teachers should get paid more money and treated with more respect, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll.

In light of National Teacher Appreciation Week this week, The Huffington Post, in collaboration with YouGov, conducted a nationally representative poll on the topic of teacher appreciation. The survey results suggest most Americans think teachers deserve a week dedicated to appreciating them, if only because this group does not get enough respect the other 51 weeks of the year.

Most of the 1,000 survey participants indicated that they feel positively about the public school teachers in their community. This held true no matter the respondents' age, income or region.

Most survey participants also said they think teachers are underpaid. Participants who identified as black, were Democrats or had household incomes over $80,000 were more likely to say teachers are underpaid. Republicans and those living in the northeast were less likely to say so.

Finally, most respondents said they think teachers are underappreciated by society at large.

We also asked our own Twitter followers whether they think teachers are shown enough appreciation. While some teachers said they feel appreciated by the students and parents in their community, they said they felt less valued by society.

Let us know what you think with the hashtag #HPHeartsTeachers. Below are some of the responses we received.

The HuffPost/YouGov poll consisted of 1,000 completed interviews conducted April 28-30 among U.S. adults using a sample selected from YouGov's opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population.

The Huffington Post has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls. You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov's nationally representative opinion polling. Data from all HuffPost/YouGov polls can be foundhere. More details on the poll's methodology are available here.

Most surveys report a margin of error that represents some, but not all, potential survey errors. YouGov's reports include a model-based margin of error, which rests on a specific set of statistical assumptions about the selected sample, rather than the standard methodology for random probability sampling. If these assumptions are wrong, the model-based margin of error may also be inaccurate. Click here for a more detailed explanation of the model-based margin of error.

Most Americans Think Public School Teachers Are Underappreciated And Underpaid:

A.F.T. head: Cuomo agenda ignores inequity | Capital New York

A.F.T. head: Cuomo agenda ignores inequity | Capital New York:

A.F.T. head: Cuomo agenda ignores inequity

BUFFALO—By blaming teachers for some students’ poor academic performance, Governor Andrew Cuomo has ignored the troubling racial segregation and socioeconomic inequity in New York’s public schools, a national teachers’ union president argued on Saturday.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and former president of New York City’s United Federation of Teachers, said Cuomo has ignored the other factors that impact student performance.

“He is peddling a theory that basically says there is a direct correlation between the effort of a teacher and the outcome of a student, and that direct correlation can be measured by an English or math test score, and that all you need to do is shake teachers up in order to make that work,” Weingarten said during a speech at a New York State United Teachers convention in Buffalo.

“So what the governor has done is, he’s actually taken everybody else off the hook,” she said. “He’s actually said, the only thing that matters is shaking teachers up … not poverty, not parents, not the kids themselves, not what the government should be doing in terms of equity. And that is what is most wrong about what he's done.

“What that does is, it allows the state of New York to have the largest funding gap between rich and poor kids in these United States of America,” she said. “It allows the state of New York to have the most segregated school system in these United States. And that is unconscionable for the Empire State. That, my friends, is what we are fighting.”

Echoing NYSUT president Karen Magee’s remarks earlier in the convention, Weingarten argued that the union has been strengthened by members mobilizing against Cuomo’s education reform agenda.

“We face big fights, and we come through them tougher and stronger and more united,” she said. “Thanks to our union and your passion, we will come through this bigger fight even tougher, even stronger and even more united than ever before.”

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for the governor, responded in a statement to Weingarten's comments: “Our reforms are about helping New York's children, not placating special interests.”A.F.T. head: Cuomo agenda ignores inequity | Capital New York: