Kathy Hochul defies her own party on Trump’s $26 billion school choice bet: ‘I’m not going to leave money on the table’
Source: Fortune ·
“I’m not going to leave money on the table when it could help our kids,” Hochul said, making New York the 31st state to join a federal tax credit that critics warn will subsidize private schools at public education’s expense.
From the source
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has opted the state into the Trump administration’s Education Freedom Tax Credit, breaking with the Democratic leaders of both legislative chambers and making New York the 31st state to sign on to the first nationwide federal school choice program. Hochul is only the second Democratic governor to join, after Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. “I’m not going to leave money on the table when it could help our kids,” Hochul said in her Oct. 9 announcement, adding that she had been clear New York would participate “if, and only if, all schools and students, including those in our public schools, could benefit.” The decision came days after Albany’s top Democrats urged her to stay out. “New York should opt out of the federal voucher program and continue investing in the public schools that educate the overwhelming majority of our children,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said in a statement. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) warned that…