ALBANY, N.Y. August 21, 2012 — New York State United Teachers today announced endorsements in nearly 200 state Senate and Assembly races, backing incumbents and challengers the 600,000-member union believes advocate for working families while fighting against policies that would harm students, their public schools and colleges, and organized labor.
NYSUT’s Board of Directors voted to issue the endorsements after a three-day, intensive endorsement conference in which political activists reviewed two years of voting records for incumbents, while also heavily weighing the working relationships that union leaders — on the local, regional and state levels — have built with their elected representatives.
“We are living in extraordinarily complicated political and fiscal times. That was certainly reflected in the passion and resolve expressed by activists during our discussions,” said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. No single vote served as a litmus test. Instead, “Activists sorted through the ‘bad votes’ on Tier 6, record budget cuts and the undemocratic property tax cap, but they also weighed the important ‘wins’ — balancing votes that legislators cast on the millionaires’ tax; killing a proposed $250 million competitive grant program for school districts; dramatically increasing funding for SUNY, CUNY and community colleges; and protecting the privacy of teacher evaluations. These are votes that helped students, teachers and New York families, and can serve as building blocks for a better future.”
NYSUT Executive Vice President Andrew Pallotta said the grassroots endorsement process — in which local union presidents and political activists make recommendations to the NYSUT Board of Directors — served as a sounding board for members’ deep disenchantment over painful budget cuts and layoffs that are jeopardizing years of progress in New York’s public education system. He noted when schools open next month, they will be operating with $1.1 billion less in state support than in 2008-09, as well as some 35,000 fewer teachers and paraprofessionals helping students learn.
“Voting records are just one way to measure a candidate’s support for the issues our members are concerned about,” Pallotta said. “We also looked hard at whether or not an incumbent or challenger is an outspoken advocate for public education and if a senator or Assembly member enjoyed excellent relationships with local leaders and are willing and able to use the bully pulpit of their office to appeal to the public on issues important to NYSUT members.”
