Cuomos education plan filled with goodies for powerful teachers union as he tones down support of charter schools

What a teacher’s pet.Ex-Gov.

Andrew Cuomo released a 25-point education plan Tuesday — boosting several policies backed by the New York teachers’ union while toning down his support for charter schools hated by the labor group.The press release from Cuomo’s New York City mayoral campaign outlining his educational platform makes no mention of charters — the popular privately-managed, publicly-funded alternative schools that are fiercely opposed by the United Federation of Teachers and its boss Mike Mulgrew.The Democratic primary frontrunner buried mention of his support of charters — which are mostly staffed by non-union members — in bullet point 16, under the heading “Support Diverse High Impact School Models.”“Specialized high schools and public charter schools that demonstrate strong results for students — especially those of color or from underserved communities — must be supported and expanded, not politicized or undermined,” Cuomo said.“Access to excellence should be available in every neighborhood for students.”Cuomo’s soft-pedaling on the school networks was a far cry from his aggressive pro-charter advocacy days as governor, when he boasted of being the “students’ lobbyist.”In a rebuke of then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, he rammed through a state law that required the city to pick up the rental costs of charter schools to lease space in private buildings if the mayor and city Department of Education refused to allow them to co-locate in public school facilities.“Cuomo is definitely playing ball with the teachers’ union,” said a longtime political insider.His plan does promote other initiatives backed by the UFT and public school teachers, such as more early childhood education programs and “community schools” with wraparound health services.He also backed implementing the UFT-backed class size reduction law with adequate state funding.The Cuomo campaign would not explicitly say if he would support a state law to lif...