NYC Kids PAC endorsement of Tony Avella for State Senate

For Immediate Release: October 29, 2010

Contact: Shino Tanikawa: (917) 770-8438

Mel Meer: (718) 428-3659

Today, NYC Kids PAC endorsed Tony Avella for election as State Senator for District 11, Northeast Queens. NYC Kids PAC was formed by public school parents in 2009 to support candidates who work for the issues that matter to parents and their kids, including smaller classes; less reliance on test prep and standardized testing; more provision of art, music, science and physical education; greater parental input into decision-making at the school, district and citywide levels; and full transparency and accountability to ensure that resources are invested in these priorities.

As Shino Tanikawa of the Parent Commission on School Governance and NYC Kids PAC says, “Throughout his career, Tony Avella has stood up for our kids, so now we are standing up for him. He has been a strong supporter of reducing class size, equipping our schools with the latest technology, and providing our kids with new and uncrowded facilities. He has opposed the insertion of charter schools into public school buildings, which merely makes overcrowding worse. As Councilmember, he voted against Chancellor Joel Klein’s capital plan for school construction because it was inadequate to alleviate the extreme overcrowding in Queens , as well as citywide. He is against 'teaching to the test' and for providing a rich and varied curriculum to our kids. And as State Senator, he will work to ensure that our schools do not suffer even worse budget cuts in these tough economic times.”

Gary Babad of the NYC Public School Parent blog and resident of NE Queens says, “Tony Avella warrants the support of parents, teachers, and anyone else who values public education. He has been a fierce critic of Chancellor Klein’s and Mayor Bloomberg’s dictatorial control. He has called for the firing of the Chancellor, the hiring of a real educator for the position, and for the re-establishment of true parent involvement in the schools. Tony is sincere in his support for parents and children, with a keen grasp of the issues; beyond that, he is that rare creature, an honest politician who takes the time to listen. I urge everyone in Senate District 11 to get out and vote for Tony Avella on November 2. He will be a true friend in Albany .”

Mel Meer, school parent in Bayside and founding chair of Community Board 11's Education Committee: “ Community School District 26 in NE Queens used to be a shining example of excellence; it exists now in name only. Parents having a problem at their local schools now have to grovel in downtown Manhattan to get relief. And our local high schools, including Bayside, Francis Lewis and Cardozo are bursting at the seams. Yet when it came time to vote to change the system to restore the voices of parents and teachers, Senator Padavan sponsored the legislation that did little more than continue the present system unaltered. He has also consistently voted with the Republicans for funding formulas favoring the suburbs. Clearly it's time for a change.”

As one of the characters in Frank Capra’s classic film “State of the Union ” said: “You’ve got an honest man. You don’t know how lucky you are.” That man is Tony Avella. At every moment in the City Council he has delivered integrity and honesty. He has voted for his constituents even as he resisted enormous pressures to "go along". He has not accepted a lulu for his committee chairmanship and he has delivered real positive change for our neighborhoods. He will be a great state senator.

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Last night, State Senate voted to continue to keep profit in public education, 45-15

Last night, the NY State Senate approved the expansion of the charter school cap last night by a vote of 45 to 15, without any of the necessary accountability and transparency provisions and without protection of parent and student rights. Check out how your Senator voted here.

As the NY Post reported this morning, “Privately, they [the Senators] conceded that passing the measure was an attempt to derail a threatened big-ticket political campaign against them by Mayor Bloomberg and other prominent charter-school supporters that could cost them their razor-thin majority in the November elections.“

As the Daily News reported, “charter school advocates… have threatened to spend $10 million to unseat opponents.”

Now only the Assembly and Speaker Silver are standing in the way of this unprecedented move to privatize our public school system and force more charters into our already overcrowded school buildings. On Monday, Assemblymember Karim Camera of Brooklyn introduced an identical bill in the Assembly.

Sign our petition now, to send a message your elected leaders that they need to stand up for the rights of public school parents, children and taxpayers, rather than the charter school lobby and the hedge-fund managers who appear to have determined the outcome in the Senate.

As of this morning, after less than two days, our petition already has more than 800 signatures, but it needs even more if we are going to get across our message strongly enough to rival the millions that the charter school lobby is willing to spend to achieve their goal of putting more profit and unregulated greed into the running of our schools. The petition is posted here.