NY State Teachers Union Declines to Endorse Gov. Cuomo

The New York State Teachers Union has left incumbent Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo off its list of endorsements for this fall’s election, a possible sign that the group continues to harbor some raw feelings over some of the governor’s positions.

According to the New York Post, the union was not happy with Cuomo’s support of the controversial teacher-evaluation system that’s tied to the equally controversial common core program that the governor also supports.

Additionally, the union, which represents more than 600,000 teachers in the state, also balked at Cuomo’s support of charter schools.

The union also did not endorse Cuomo’s main opponents, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout. In fact, the only statewide candidates the union endorsed are Democrats Thomas DiNapoli for comptroller and Eric Schneiderman for attorney general, both of whom are running for re-election.

Westchester Congresswoman Nita Lowey and Congressman Eliot Engel both received the endorsement of the teachers union. Also receiving union support are state senators Jeffrey Klein, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Ruth Hassell-Thompson, George Latimer and David Carlucci, and state assembly members Amy Paulin, J. Gary Pretlow, Shelley Mayer, Steve Otis, Thomas Abinanti, Sandra Galef and David Buchwald.

Click here to read the full list of endorsements by the teachers union.