Governor Cuomo visited the SUNY Brockport REOC in Downtown Rochester Tuesday morning to outline his 2015 Opportunity Agenda.
The agenda is part-budget and part-State of the State address, covering a multitude of issues including Rochester's Anti-Poverty Task force, "historic" property tax cuts, and investments in broadband infrastructure, among many others.
But few points are as contentious as his ambitious education reform plans, and the governor was particularly riled up about these points during his Rochester visit.
Cuomo wants to change teacher evaluation standards and make it easier to get rid of what he calls "ineffective teachers," which he thinks will reduce the number of failing schools in New York. The governor says that a quarter of a million students have passed through failing schools across the state over the last decade.
"That legislature sat there year after year. They didn't want to do anything about the failing schools cause they didn't want to upset anyone. Meanwhile they condemned 250,000 students to go to a school that they knew were gonna leave them failing. That is a disgrace. And you want to talk about corruption in Albany, and a scandal in Albany? That's the Albany scandal my friends."
Cuomo's education reform has been highly criticized by the teachers unions. NYSUT calls it a war on the profession, and a statement from their President Karen Magee says they will be fighting every way they can.
