UPDATED 8/29/24 : Who Gets Your COPE Money? New Action Goes Beneath the Covers - Parts 1-4

Some illuminating work from David Ginsburg at the New Action site on where COPE money goes. Here are links to parts 1, 2, 3 with a 4th part to come which I will add to this post. I copied selectively from Part 1 for key recipients, with links to each part for further reading. We've always called for a more open reporting from the UFT to members, like this info could be in the never read NY Teacher, but it might actually get more people to read it before lining their bird cages.

Norm

Here is a link to part 4:

PART IV (COMPLETE LIST)

8/14/24

The breakdown below of the 10 largest recipients of our various union funds alleviates some of the mystery as to who benefited most from our contributions from 2022 and 2023. This article is not meant to be an exposé by any means; it is simply meant to help our membership see where our money is going because we deserve to know. We are in no way encouraging members to cancel their union dues and/or COPE donations. Our union needs our support in order to thrive... David Ginsberg

FOLLOW THE MONEY: WHICH LEGISLATORS BENEFIT MOST FROM OUR UNIONS? – PART I (David Ginsberg)

7. Kathy Hochul: $186,500

Contributions: 2022 American Federation of Teachers: $69,700  2022 Voice of Teachers for Education: $69,700  2022 United Federation of Teachers: $47,100

Governor Hochul is the first individual to make this list and she does so in a big way, bringing in nearly $200,000 from our teachers’ unions, including nearly $50,000 directly from the UFT. Despite all the money teacher unions have given over to Hochul (both directly and through Super PACs), it has been difficult to ascertain whether or not she appreciates our support. For the sake of this article, we will leave the politics out of it and focus strictly on her policies regarding public schools.

Mayoral Control: Despite an immense amount of pushback from educators, parents, and even democratic legislators, Governor Hochul was committed to extending mayoral control for Eric Adams, a notorious enemy of public education, for the next four years. A ruling came down that mayoral control would be extended for two years.  

Students and Social Media: In June 2024, Hochul passed the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act into law, which “prohibits social media companies from pushing ‘addictive’ algorithm-driven feeds to anyone under 18 without parental consent” (source: uft.org). Hochul also passed the New York Child Data Protection Act, which “prevents social media platforms from collecting data on children ages 12 and younger without parental consent and from children age 13 and over without informed consent.” 

Charter Schools: In 2023, Hochul revealed her FY 2024 budget and it was a blow to public education. Hochul reopened 22 closed charter schools (AKA zombie charters) throughout New York State; 14 of which were located in New York City. This was actually a decrease from Hochul’s original proposal, “which could have allowed more than 100 charter schools to open in New York City.” The UFT, who had backed Hochul without seeking input from its general membership, was not pleased. Do not be fooled by the letters next to candidates’ names. Pay attention to their actions.

Smaller Class Sizes: On September 8, 2022, Governor Hochul signed the class size bill into law that would reduce class sizes for NYC schools. While it remains to be seen how willing the City will be to enact these laws, Hochul’s support is certainly appreciated.

Funding: On the surface, the governor seems like an ally. After all, the governor originally approved $825 million (2.4%) in additional funding for New York State schools for FY 2025, $340 million of which would be going to NYC schools  However, if you look past the headline, a more grim picture quickly appears.

We can start with the fact that both City and State were expecting more money under Hochul’s original proposal. NYS had anticipated a $1.3 billion increase in funding, a difference of about $500 million from what the governor proposed. Additional funding for NYC schools was short $131 million from what city officials were estimating. These cuts occurred because of Hochul’s approved budget, which introduced two underhanded changes that are extremely detrimental to school aid – a change in the Foundation Aid formula and a change to the “save harmless” contingency, both of which you can read about in this excellent article by Julian Shen-Berro of Chalkbeat.

Hochul’s first change disrupts the formula for calculating Foundation Aid. Instead of using rate of inflation on a year-by-year basis, Hochul decided to determine funding by using the average rate of inflation over the last 10 years. Given our soaring inflation over the last few years, changing the funding formula to use a 10-year average decreases the amount of funding our schools receive.

The second change was just as subversive as the first. Hochul sought to essentially put an end to the “Save Harmless” contingency that ensures that schools will not lose funding if their enrollment drops. “Save Harmless” (also called “Hold Harmless”) has been enforced for decades. Liz Rozenberg of City & State New York explains that if Hochul gets rid of this provision that has served as a lifeline for many schools, “50% of the 673 districts that receive foundation aid will lose funds” Funnily enough, Hochul received so much pushback from both sides of the aisle on this issue that she removed her proposal to end “Save Harmless” a couple of months ago (more info here), so it will not appear in the FY 2025 budget. 

Teacher Recruitment: In 2023, Hochul signed state legislation to “spur teacher recruitment – with a focus on increasing diversity – through the state.” Hochul pointed out that New York State needs to add nearly 200,000 teachers over the next decade “to meet workforce needs.” We always hear about and witness teacher shortages firsthand in our schools, so any push towards increasing those numbers is a good thing.

As you can see, Hochul has done some good things and some terrible things for public schools and educators. Is she worth the political donations she has received? You decide.

10. Carl E. Heastie: $51,125

Contributions: 2022 NY State United Teachers: $25,000  2023 VOTE COPE (NYSUT’s non-partisan action fund): $1,125  2023 NYS United Teachers: $25,000

Heastie is the Speaker of the New York State Assembly, which may explain why he received more than double the donations of the next highest individual legislator. Heastie is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to educational policy. According to this New York Times article from 2017, Heastie supported an extension of mayoral control, but refused “to bend to the Senate’s demands to increase the number of charter schools in the state as a condition to extend mayoral control of the city’s schools.” Heastie continues to support mayoral control, which has become an increasingly contentious issue during Eric Adams’ tenure. 

On the other hand, Heastie was supportive of the class size reduction act, which should serve as a benefit to students and teachers, assuming there are no detrimental caveats. The long term plan to decrease the maximum allowable number of students per class sounds like a great idea, although it remains to be seen if the City will actually abide by all of its stipulations.

On other issues, Heastie seems to be playing the fence. When asked about Hochul’s proposed changes to the Foundation Aid formula, Heastie said, “We would, of course, make sure the districts are whole, but we are open to re-examining the Foundation Aid formula. But we want to make sure that our rural and suburban districts aren’t harmed by any proposal.” Any type of concession that would favor Hochul’s agenda would be a tragic mistake that would take away major funding from our public schools. 

14C. Melinda Katz: $25,000

Contributions: 2022 United Federation of Teachers: $10,000  2023 United Federation of Teachers: $15,000

Melinda Katz is the current District Attorney for Queens County. Katz previously served as Queens Borough President and held positions as an NYC Councilwoman (2002-2009), and as a member of the New York State Assembly (1994-1999). Katz has proven to be friendly towards our union and public education in general. In 2008, Katz co-sponsored a resolution to “reform city school planning to better address the problem of overcrowding.”

In 2017, when 3,500+ students, teachers, parents, and alumni signed a petition to remove Interim Acting Principal Rosemarie Jahoda from Townsend Harris H.S., Katz stepped up by writing a letter to former Chancellor Carmen Fariña in support of their cause (source: Chalkbeat). Jahoda was ousted two months later. 

17. Letitia James: $24,000

Contributions: 2022 VOTECOPE (NYSUT): $10,000  2023 VOTECOPE (NYSUT): $14,000 

One of the most notable names on this list, James is the current Attorney General for the State of New York. James and NYSED Commissioner Betty Rosa have made a concerted effort to further diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements (DEI) for public schools (James, Rosa DEI letter). James and Rosa also threatened schools with lawsuits should they make enrollment difficult or impossible for migrant students (source: NY Post).

In 2016, when she served as NYC Public Advocate, James sued the New York City Education Department for the failure of SESIS, a computer system meant to track students with disabilities (source: NY Times). According to the lawsuit, “children (were) deprived of necessary assistance and the city lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements” because of the system’s shortcomings. SESIS often deleted student information and was unable to provide data on IEPs. In the meantime, SESIS is still around, although it will supposedly be replaced at some point.

James has also filed several lawsuits against charter schools over the years. In 2014, James pushed a lawsuit to “block the co-location of charter schools with existing district schools” (source: Brian Lehrer Show). Two years later, James filed a civil rights suit against Success Academy for failing to identify and provide adequate services for students with disabilities in an attempt to drive the students from their network of schools (source: NY Post).

Despite James’ lawsuits, former attorney general candidate, Zephyr Teachout, didn’t seem to think James went far enough. Teachout wanted to implement a larger investigation into the hedge fund managers pushing for charter expansion. Teachout, a former special education teacher’s aide, named names of billionaire supporters of charter schools.

20. Robert Jackson: $19,800

Contributions: 2022 VOTE COPE (NYSUT): $19,800

Senator Jackson represents the 31st District of New York. In 1992, as President of Community School Board 6 in Manhattan, Jackson led a lawsuit against the State of New York in order to get equitable funding for NYC students. Jackson felt NYC students weren’t receiving proportionate funding, and he was right. Despite comprising 39% of the student population of New York State, they were only receiving 32% state education aid (source: Baruch case study). 

In 2008, Jackson, then serving in New York City Council’s 7th District, co-sponsored the same resolution to reform city school planning to address overcrowding as Melinda Katz (see above). 

Most recently, to the benefit of all Tier 6 members, Jackson served as the primary sponsor on a bill that amended the calculation of our Final Average Salary (FAS). Now, our three highest consecutive years of earnings will be used to calculate our FAS instead of our five highest consecutive years. In other words, future retirees can expect a little bit more money when they receive their pensions.

Furthermore, Jackson is an advocate for public schools. In 2022, pro-charter super PAC, New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany, spent nearly $100,000 in an effort to defeat Jackson in his re-election bid. Jackson still managed to trounce his opponent, Angel Vasquez, “a former teacher, who later worked as a deputy political director for the United Federation of Teachers.”

FOLLOW THE MONEY: WHICH LEGISLATORS BENEFIT MOST FROM OUR UNIONS? – PART II (David Ginsberg)

This article is the second installment in a multi-part series. For the first installment, see here.

 

FOLLOW THE MONEY: WHICH LEGISLATORS BENEFIT MOST FROM OUR UNIONS? – PART III (David Ginsberg)

This article is the third installment in a multi-part series. For the first installment, see here. For the second, see here.

Please check back for our next (and last) installment in this series where we will provide a complete list of those who received political donations during fiscal years 2022 and 2023.