School Privatizers Donate Heavily to NY State Senate GOP: Common Cause

A new report by Common Cause may offer a clue why Republicans in the New York State Senate oppose the proposal to create a monitor for the troubled East Ramapo school district.

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Common Cause/NY’s report, “Polishing the Apple: Examining Political Spending in New York to Influence Education Policy,” analyzes efforts to influence the debates around education policy and funding—Specifically, about using tax dollars to fund private schools, including religious schools.

The top three recipients of pro-privatization campaign contributions during the 10-year period between 2005-2014 were The New York Senate Republican Housekeeping account ($5.04 million), Cuomo-Hochul 2014 ($3.06 million) and The Independence Party Housekeeping account ($1.2 million), according to Common Cause.

“The top two recipients of contributions from privatizers (Senate Republicans and Gov. Cuomo) have introduced more extreme versions of education tax credits than those in other states,” according to a statement from Common Cause.

The full report, with much more information about lobbying by union as well as pro-privatization groups, is available here.

State intervention in the affairs of East Ramapo was recommended by state-appointed fiscal monitor Hank Greenberg, who told the New York Education Department in November 2014 that he believed some form of state intervention was needed to repair school system and reverse bad decisions by the East Ramapo Board of Education.

“The district’s finances teeter on the edge of disaster,” he wrote in his report, East Ramapo: A School District in Crisis.

The district, which includes parts of the communities of New City, Pearl River, Nanuet, Spring Valley, Suffern, New Hempstead, Chestnut Ridge, Monsey and Wesley Hills, has 9,000 students in its schools. However, another 24,000 school-age children live there, and go to private schools—mostly yeshivas.

Opponents include the East Ramapo Board of Education, which is controlled by the private-school community, and the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council.

Rockland County Republicans support the monitor plan. In an open letter letter to state lawmakers that was published in the Rockland Voice, they said:

“It must be noted that there have been many reports of reluctance and outright opposition to this bill by other Republican Assemblymen and State Senators,” the letter said in part. “We, as representatives of the Republican Party in Rockland County where the East Ramapo School District is located, want to make it very clear to our fellow party members that we fully and unequivocally support this bill to place a monitor in the East Ramapo School District. We implore the members of our party who have a vote in this matter to put aside any and all political concerns and to act in the best interests of the children in the East Ramapo School District. This should not, and cannot be a partisan issue.”