ALBANY — Watch out, teachers unions.
Groups backing charter schools, vouchers, merit pay for teachers and limits on teacher tenure plan to unite under a new, statewide supergroup, The Post has learned.
The New York State Education Reform Council will include the new StudentsFirstNY — which has hired away Mayor Bloomberg’s Albany lobbyist — Democrats for Education Reform, and charter-school-advocacy and upstate organizations.
“We’re going up against one of the most powerful interests in Albany,” Democrats for Education Reform Executive Director Joe Williams said, referring to the New York State United Teachers and United Federation of Teachers. “We don’t stand a chance if we’re not aligned and focused.”
“We’re going to have access to a lot of resources that will enable us to counter the resources of those who want to protect a failed status quo,” added Bloomberg lobbyist- turned-StudentsFirstNY-Executive-Director Micah Lasher, who will team with Williams to chair the council.
The umbrella group won’t have its own staff, but Lasher’s and Williams’ organizations are backed by hedge-fund and investment-banking money.
The men said the initial aim is to get the member groups working together on common issues, which the unions claim also include barring teachers from almost any role in shaping curricula or determining working conditions.