Gov. Cuomo defended his support of charter schools a day after the City Council speaker took a swipe at him on Twitter by accusing him of supporting “hedge-fund backed” charters.
The governor hit back Sunday, saying traditional public schools, too, have deep-pocketed backers — without mentioning the powerful teachers union.
“We have a big bureaucracy with a system that is entrenched, and it funds public education,” Cuomo said.
“They have their lobbyists, and they have their little public-relations teams, and they have their front groups and their advocates, and this is disruptive to that entire system . . . so you get a lot of pressure,” Cuomo said Sunday on AM 970’s “Cats Roundtable” show.
On Friday, the governor said he’s considering proposals to state law to protect charters from mayoral whims after Mayor de Blasio moved to stop three charter schools from co-locating in public schools.
“We need some new ideas, because putting more money into the bureaucracy is not necessarily the answer,” Cuomo said. “In fact, we know it’s not the answer, because we’ve done that for 20 years, and it’s not working, so maybe we should try something else.”
Cuomo said charters are “little laboratories that are . . . provoking a dialogue that says we have to change.”
The radio program was hosted by former GOP mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, an supporter of charters.
Although he never mentioned Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, his comments seemed directed at her and the mayor.
On Saturday night, Mark-Viverito tweeted, “Tax 500k + earners=outrageous, hedge fund backed charters=enthusiastic support, raise min wage=not on my watch, #EastHarlemExplosion=SILENCE.”