New York Teacher's Union Abandon a Democrat Over School Choice

The New York Sun reports:

Lawmakers in Albany were given a powerful reminder of the political danger of siding in favor of school choice measures when the state's largest teachers union yesterday endorsed the Republican candidate in an important special election that will take place next month for a seat in the state Senate.

For New York State United Teachers, which represents nearly 600,000 teachers, custodians, bus drivers, and clerical employees, its preference came down to a single factor.

The Democratic candidate for the Senate seat, Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine, had attached his name to legislation that would give tuition tax credits and other benefits to parents of children in private and parochial schools. The Republican in the race, Assemblyman Will Barclay, had not. Control of the state Senate in New York is in the hands of a narrow Republican majority that Governor Spitzer, a Democrat, has expressed hope of dislodging.

Mr. Spitzer left a tuition tax deduction out of his proposed budget this month after earlier promising religious school leaders that he would include it. The decision by Mr. Spitzer drew an unusual public rebuke from the archbishop of New York, Edward Cardinal Egan, and four prominent Orthodox rabbis. Last night, in his State of the Union address, President Bush proposed federal scholarships for poor students to attend private and parochial schools.

"This is a big issue for us, quite frankly," the president of the New York State United Teachers, Richard Iannuzzi, said in an interview. While the union considered Mr. Aubertine a friend, his record on the private and parochial school funds question is a "diversion that concerns us," Mr. Iannuzzi said.

The rejection of Mr. Aubertine, on whom Mr. Spitzer and state Democrats are counting to take over an open Senate seat in northern New York, is a vivid example of the consequences confronting lawmakers who don't toe the line set by Albany's major interest groups, which keep a vigilant eye on voting and sponsorship records.

"What message does it send if you ask people to support you on that issue and then you endorse somebody who hasn't supported you?" Mr. Iannuzzi said. "We would be sending a mixed message. The issue here is that we look at records.

NYSUT is one of the Senate Republicans' largest contributors. Between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2007, the union contributed $654,831 to members of the Senate Republican conference, with each member receiving at least one check, according to the New York Public Interest Research Group.

In 2006, Mr. Aubertine was among several co-sponsors of a two-house bill that would have provided lower-income parents of children in private or public schools a refundable tax credit of up to $3,500 to offset the costs of tuition, tutoring, textbooks, or academic summer camp.
The union considers tax credits as a "precursor" to tuition vouchers and warns they would divert money from public school districts and thus teachers.

Public education in New York state is about teachers and their compensation package.Maybe it's time to separate school from state.