Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Cynthia Nixon Releases Statement on the End of the State's Legislative Session


Despite many press conferences, the Governor and his allies fail to actually deliver, once again

Cynthia also released a video on Tuesday calling for the Governor to act on criminal justice reform before the legislature recesses 

  With the close of session today, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon released the following statement. 

"Another legislative session has come to a close, and, yet again, the Governor has failed to address the greatest drivers of inequity in our state: our education system and our criminal justice system.  

"Despite being sued by numerous parents in low-income school districts across the state, the Governor refused again this year to fully fund Foundation Aid, which would address the $10,000 gap in per pupil spending between our state's wealthiest and poorest school districts.  He also has refused to end over testing in schools and the punitive teacher evaluation system he put in place, which proved so unpopular that one in five of our state's children have opted out of these tests. Additionally, Cuomo refused to increase funding for CUNY and SUNY, even though tuition has risen by $1,700 during his time as governor and only 3.6 percent of students qualify for his so called free college program. Most, hypocritically, the Governor failed this session to pass legislation that would ensure a speedy trial and a more just discovery statute. While the Governor made these proposals a centerpiece of his budget address, he since broke his promise to the Browder family and others who have been devastated by our state's discriminatory justice system. 

We need a Governor who will invest in schools, not jails. After 17 years of fighting for education funding for our state's poorest districts, I am committed to destroying inequity in this state. After 8 years, the Governor has shown that he is far more interested in making headlines than he is in actually addressing the racial and economic inequality that plagues New York."

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