Cuomo and Silver, Russell stays above the fray

A year into his first term leading New York, Andrew Cuomo continues to boast high approval ratings from voters in both parties, according to a new poll.


Gov. Cuomo's approval rating stands at 73%, with 20% disapproval, according to the survey, released Monday by Sienna College.


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Mr. Cuomo, who has deftly dealt with the Legislature with careful prodding and effusive praise, issued a news release that sharply criticized the 2010 law that left teacher evaluations up to each district to negotiate. He called out the Assembly by name, a rare move so far in his yearlong tenure.


“The Assembly-led legislation in 2010 protected the teachers union at the expense of the students and instituted a system that was destined to fail,” Mr. Cuomo said Tuesday.


Mrs. Russell voted for that law.


“I believe that the districts and their employees are perfectly capable of addressing this issue on a district-by-district basis,” Mrs. Russell said.


For his part, Mr. Silver disagreed with Mr. Cuomo on a ceremonial point but one of Mr. Cuomo’s top applause lines at his State of the State address. Mr. Cuomo had dubbed himself a “lobbyist for students” in the speech, pledging to change the system so that students could succeed. The system now, Mr. Cuomo said, serves at the pleasure of the “education bureaucracy.”


At a meeting of the labor-backed Alliance for Quality Education on Tuesday, Mr. Silver told an audience that the parents are the true lobbyists for students.


Asked which side she agreed with, Mrs. Russell again split the difference, saying all elected officials and students’ parents — of which she is both — are the effective lobbyists.


Mr. Cuomo “is entitled to a certain amount of leeway when it comes to rhetoric,” Mrs. Russell said. “The governor is focusing on education reform from a student perspective.”


The ceremonial moniker may have been little more than a sound bite, but it reflected the desire of all parties involved to portray themselves as the ones who really understand public education and who really have the students’ best interest in mind.