The Bronx Special Issue 2015
Education Enigma What Carl Heastie’s ascent means for schools
By GEOFF DECKER from CHALKBEAT NEW YORK
city & state — May 13, 2015
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HE’S BEEN A MUTED VOICE ON EDUCATION. Heastie’s predecessor, Sheldon Silver, was a staunch ally of the teachers unions, which have been aggressively organizing against Cuomo’s education plans. But despite his more than 14 years as a public official, Heastie’s views on education are murky and his legislative record on education issues is minimal. (That’s not atypical in the Assembly, where most issues are negotiated in a package behind closed doors.) On most hot-button issues, he’s said little. “He’s a supporter of all public schools,” a spokesman said when asked for his position on last year’s charter-school funding debate. He did not make Heastie available for an interview. Teachers and principals who work in the northeast Bronx schools that Heastie represents say he’s been a responsive and visible presence,
SHANNON DECELLE
H
e supports charter schools, but deplores the co-location policy that’s allowed them to flourish in New York City. He voted for mayoral control in 2002, then reversed himself seven years later. And he’s said public schools need a big increase in funding while also sponsoring a bill that would direct funds toward private-school seats. Carl Heastie, the northeast Bronx legislator and new speaker of the state Assembly, is entering the fray at a critical moment for public education. Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to make dramatic changes to laws governing teacher tenure, evaluations and the number of charter schools allowed to open across the state. But Heastie’s record on education is sparse and, at times, conflicting. As the teachers unions, charter-school advocates, and the rest of Albany’s power brokers look for an ally, here are five things to know about the speaker.
Teachers and principals who work in the Bronx schools that Carl Heastie represents say he’s been a responsive and visible presence.
batting away co-location proposals they opposed, speaking at graduation ceremonies, and even regularly visiting one school’s student council meetings. He touts his role in securing funds to build two new schools in his district on his Assembly website. Despite his previous obscurity outside of the Bronx, Heastie’s rise has excited some who believe the borough’s schools have been neglected for decades. “Bronx is in the house!” offered Betty Rosa, a former superintendent of Bronx schools who now represents the borough on the Board of Regents. HE’S SUPPORTED POLICIES THE UNION CARES ABOUT. Under Silver’s leadership, the Assembly remained closely allied with the city and state teachers unions. Reducing class sizes and school overcrowding were top priorities for Silver, and the unions counted on
him to scuttle or amend legislative proposals they opposed. Heastie, too, has said overcrowding is an issue and has occasionally spoken out about a need for the state to more adequately fund low-income schools, a perennial issue for the unions and other advocates. “Resources alone doesn’t teach children, but it goes a long way,” Heastie said in 2012 at a press conference organized by Alliance for Quality Education. City teachers union chief Michael Mulgrew said he is counting on Heastie to continue pushing Cuomo to meet the state’s court-decided funding targets for city schools. “I think he understands, as an assemblyman from the city and from his section of the Bronx, that the idea that the state hasn’t met its obligation constitutionally is something he would probably be interested in,” Mulgrew said.
Heastie also kept Queens Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, an ally of Silver and longtime proponent of increased school funding, as chair of the education committee. HE HAS BROKEN THE TRADITIONAL MOLD FOR AN ASSEMBLY DEMOCRAT. The lone charter school in Assembly District 83 never had to worry about its representative having its back. That’s the impression school leader Kevin Brennan was left with last year after he showed up at Heastie’s Albany office. Brennan, who runs the Bronx Charter School for Better Learning, had wanted to know whether Heastie would support some controversial changes to the charter-school law that would help his school get free space. “Why even bother to come up here?” Heastie told him, Brennan recalled. “You know I already support cit yandstateny.com