The Cuomo administration on Thursday sent a letter to outgoing education commissioner John King and Board of Regents chair Merryl Tisch. It said the administration plans to introduce education "reforms" through the budget process, and it includes questions in 12 topic areas, including teacher evaluations, struggling schools, teacher training, charters, and technology. It also asks broader questions about mayoral control, and the selection process for the education commissioner and the Board of Regents.

Read the full text of Gov. Cuomo's letter »

In response, UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued the following statement:

This letter comes right out of the playbook of the hedge funders for whom education "reform" has become a pet cause and who poured money into the Cuomo re-election campaign.

The governor owes these people big time, but unfortunately the children of New York will end up paying his debts.

The "Hunger Games" approach of the governor’s hedge fund pals specifically does not address the real issues of our schools and children — especially the huge disparities in local school funding and the $6 billion the state owes for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity and which the governor has shown no interest in funding.

This failure translates into oversize classes, lack of supplies, along with shortages of librarians and guidance counselors, arts and music and all the other supports for teachers and students that would help our schools succeed.

This is what the governor should be talking about rather than the agenda of the "special interests" who want to ignore parents, blame teachers and privatize public schooling.