Dive Brief:
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is working hard to gain supporters for the Parental Choice in Education Act, which would give $150 million in education tax credits to private schools.
- This past weekend, Cuomo visited a number of New York City churches and a yeshiva in a bid to gain supporters for the bill, and he is also trying to convince the state's Democrat-led Assembly to push the bill to a vote.
- The bill is opposed by teacher unions in the state, as well as many of the Assembly Democrats Cuomo is working hard to sway.
Dive Insight:
According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, Michael Whyland, the Assembly Democrats' spokesman, says the legislators are more focused on increasing minimum wage and passing legislation such as the DREAM Act. Knowing the importance of the DREAM Act to the Democracts, Cuomo has tried to tie the bill, which helps give tuition to students who have entered the country illegally, to his Parental Choice in Education Act. The attempt to combine the two has only slowed down the process for both bills.
The state's teacher unions, meanwhile, reportedly see the bill as a "shell game" that gives tax dollars to "elite private schools" that are possibly in bed with corporations and "the super rich."
