Ex Pataki aide announces run for attorney general

John Cahill announced Sunday he will challenge Democratic incumbent Eric Schneiderman in the race for state attorney general – vowing to be a “civil rights” champion for New York students and blasting Mayor de Blasio’s “assault’ on charter schools.

“Education is the civil rights of our time and we have a moral obligation to see that all of our children have access to a great school – whether it be a district school, charter school – which is public, too – parochial or private school,” Cahill, a business partner and top aide to former GOP Gov. George Pataki said in prepared remarks delivered in his hometown of Yonkers.

“Children in central Brooklyn and Buffalo ought to have the same shot as those on the Upper West Side. The academic future of a child cannot be predetermined by the zip code where they live,” Cahill, promising to be the students’ “lawyer.”

It’s probably not a coincidence that Schneiderman is an Upper West Sider.

The GOP candidate did not mention de Blasio by name. But it was clear he was referring to the mayor, saying, “We recently witnessed assault on charter schools.”

De Blasio proposed eliminating $250 million city capital construction funds for charter schools, revoking the co-locations of three Eva Moskowitz Success Academy charter schools in city buildings, and charging others rent. A backlash spurred Gov. Cuomo and the Legislature to pass a state law requiring the city to provide free space for charters, or pay for their rent in private facilities.

Cahill, 55, also rapped the governor and the Legislature for failing to pass an education tax credit bill to aid public as well as private and parochial schools.

Schneiderman, who has strong backing from the Working Families and Big Labor, was largely silent during the debate over charter schools. Teachers’ union president Michael Mulgrew boasts that he’s “at war” with charters and other education reformers.

For his part, Cahill declared war on the union dominated education system, saying, “It is time to stop empowering bloated, education bureaucracies and start empowering parents and students.”

While Cahill jumped head first into a heated policy controversy, the AG’s office, which prosecutes wrongdoing and defends state government in litigation, would appear to have a minimal legal role on such issues. But it shows he wants the bully pulpit.

Also, Cahill’s message may appeal to well-heeled donors of charter school as well as parents.

Cahill, the former state environmental commissioner, also said he supports hydro-fracturing for natural gas upstate near the Pennsylvania border, saying the science shows the drilling can be done safely and the economic activity would spur a geyser of jobs in an economically-depressed region.

Notably absent from Cahill’s speech was any emphasis of prosecuting corporate wrongdoers – long a staple of prior AGs.

Cahill’s challenge to Schneiderman could turn out to be a competitive race.

Schneiderman has $6 million in his campaign account.

But Cahill could benefit from the work of an independent anti-Schneiderman Super PAC, Communities for a Fair New York, which plans to spend millions of dollars to defeat the incumbent.

Schneiderman campaign spokesman Peter Ajemian said, “Whether it’s going after fraudulent financial practices, prosecuting more than 40 people in public corruption cases, or helping keep 25,000 families from losing their homes, Attorney General Schneiderman has spent his entire career working to ensure equal justice under the law for all New Yorkers.  He looks forward to talking about his record with voters in the coming months.”