Supporters of a charter-school network in Mayor de Blasio’s cross hairs are pouring big bucks into the campaign coffers of Gov. Cuomo, a friend of charter schools.
Records show board members at the growing Success Academy, which runs 22 charters in the city, have given $375,367 to Cuomo’s re-election campaign — including $90,000 since de Blasio won the mayor’s race last year.
Success is run by de Blasio nemesis Eva Moskowitz.
Contributors aren’t shy about their reasons. Cuomo backs charters, and de Blasio’s anti-charter rhetoric scares them.
“Mayor de Blasio is an extremist. There’s no other way to put it,” Success board member Charles Strauch told The Post. “De Blasio is out to take money from the rich and redistribute it. He’s made it very clear. It’s my own way of expressing support for Cuomo.”
Strauch, a businessman and schools philanthropist, added that charters were a major factor in his support of Cuomo.
“Would I give any money to de Blasio? Absolutely not. No way. I won’t be giving money to him. It is important to support politicians who have stated their support for the charter system,” Strauch said.
De Blasio has pledged to start charging rent to charter schools that have space in city buildings.
And he singled out Success Academy CEO Moskowitz, who served with de Blasio in the City Council, for having a “destructive impact” on public education.
“It’s time for Eva Moskowitz to stop having the run of the place,” de Blasio said at a candidates forum before the teachers union last year.
“She has to stop being tolerated enabled supported . . . It wouldn’t happen if she didn’t have a lot of money, power and political privilege behind her. And if the Department of Education didn’t say ‘yes, ma’am’ every single time, and that’s going to end when I’m mayor.”
Success Academy spokeswoman Kerri Lyon said de Blasio’s position “doesn’t make any sense.”
“We are serving some of the city’s most disadvantaged students, and we are serving them extraordinarily well, and we hope to continue to provide a great education to these kids,” she said.
Cuomo, for his part, is proposing to expand the role of charter schools.
He spoke at a fundraiser before the pro-charter Democrats for Education Reform in November, where he took in $250,000 for his re-election. In January, the group kicked in another $14,000 through its political action committee.
The group’s executive director, Joe Williams, said charter backers are “baffled” by de Blasio’s refusal to allow the state to fund universal pre-K, as offered by Cuomo. The mayor wants pre-K paid for by a tax hike on the wealthy, which he says is a more reliable revenue source
“He seems to be showing signs that he’s more interested in the tax increase than providing pre-K,” Williams said.