Where education is concerned in New York State, the past few years have been both painful and chaotic. It sounds crazy doesn't it? How can 'reform' cause so much controversy, disruption and anger? Onlookers on the outside just assumed public schools were whining because they were unwilling to change, but as they scratched the surface they realized how wrong those changes were, and that they were painful--especially to students.

It began a couple of years ago when Governor Cuomo called himself the "Lobbyist for Children." As he stood on his bully pulpit, touting statistics, he slashed budgets, increased accountability, and piled on mandates. Besides those changes he did something much worse, he tried to destroy the confidence that the public had in public education.

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