The Rev. William Barber II urges education equality at the NYS Capitol. #MoralMondays #FaithFairNY pic.twitter.com/wAfVD5jN6U
— CSEA Local 1000 (@CSEALocal1000) January 12, 2015
A lot of us are loyal liberals, passionate Progressives, devoted Democrats. However, that doesn’t mean we blindly support Democrats who don’t act like Democrats, at least not if we want this country to evolve and prosper. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is one of those Dems who has given real Progressives pause. And by pause I mean hives.
For example, Cuomo attacked teacher pensions in his second inauguration speech. And here’s another link you may find interesting. Now back to Moral Monday already in progress…
Dear @NYGovCuomo Please stop blaming teachers for your failure to support our public school #MoralMondays pic.twitter.com/psZYgkWvX7 — KatBrezler (@KatBrezler) January 12, 2015
If you aren’t already familiar, meet the preacher behind Moral Mondays: Reverend William Barber. Rev. Barber is in Albany, New York today having a Moral Monday protest. He’s being joined by education groups and community groups, including the Alliance for Quality Education, New York Communities for Change, NYSUT, UFT and AFT.
That’s right, a major civil rights leader is calling out Gov. Cuomo for being on the wrong side of the civil rights issues on education. This comes on the heels of a new report that shows inequitable funding has gotten worse under Cuomo.
TY @RevBarberII for bringing your movement to Albany. We will fight for every student and school! #MoralMondays pic.twitter.com/IY5eRBCCk1
— UFT (@UFT) January 12, 2015
Absolutely PACKED at #MoralMondays in Albany. NY needs to fund its public schools instead of starving kids brains. pic.twitter.com/JbKgOLMZvO — Strong For All (@strongforall) January 12, 2015
Beautiful show of moral power in Albany right now, New Yorkers standing for great public schools and respect for teachers! #moralmondays — Zephyr Teachout (@ZephyrTeachout) January 12, 2015
This is a MORAL issue: Our neediest students attend the schools with the lowest funding in this state. #MoralMondays pic.twitter.com/rzma7EYBLR
— UFT (@UFT) January 12, 2015
To be fair, Cuomo is known for his progressive stand on social issues, but when it comes to education and economics? Notsomuch. He bullies teachers the way New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie does. Well, nobody does that quite like Christie, a point on which most people can agree.
But Cuomo has pushed for more testing and using discredited methods of using test scores to grade teachers. And– ahem!– he’s even called public schools a monopoly that needs to be broken in favor of private interests. Not exactly a Progressive’s Progressive, now is he? Sadly, his education positions don’t sound all that different from Scott Walker’s, Rick Snyder’s, and the aforementioned Christie’s. Someone pass the Calamine, I’m feeling some hives coming on.
#MoralMondays with Rev. Dr. Barber on the Million-Dollar staircase inspired 1,000 AQE supporters. pic.twitter.com/HsMTeoXRYS — AQE New York (@AQE_NY) January 12, 2015
The highest destiny for these young people is to carry a rifle in some hell-hole abroad so as to secure its wealth to our plutocracy. And then to come home to a career as a jail guard or a cop. So how much education is needed for that?
We cannot tolerate many educated peasants asking awkward questions of their masters.