Cuomo to Teachers: Who Cares What You Think?

This makes me just so hopping mad:

The committee charged with making education-policy recommendations to Gov. Andrew Cuomo will hold its first public meeting on June 26.

The long list of committee members reads like a who’s who of education leaders in the state, from Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers union, to Geoffrey Canada, CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone.

Oh, really? "Education leaders," did you say? Well, there must be plenty of teachers and principals on the panel, right?

Wrong; here's the roster:

Richard Parsons, retired chairman, Citigroup (chairman)

Lisa Belzberg, founder and chair emeritus, PENCIL

Geoffrey Canada, CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone

Jessica Cohen, outgoing superintendent of the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES*

Jean Desravines,CEO, New Leaders

Elizabeth Dickey, president, Bank Street College of Education

Stanley Druckenmiller, former chairman and president, Duquesne Capital*

Sen. John Flanagan, chair, Senate Education Committee

Patricia Gallagher, member, Lake Placid School Board and Lake Placid Community Alliance for Responsible Excellence in Education (C.A.R.E.E)*

Matthew Goldstein, chancellor, CUNY

Michael Horn, executive director, InnoSight Institute

Thomas Kane, professor of education and economics, Harvard Graduate School of Education

John B. King, Jr., commissioner, New York State Education Department

Eduardo Martí, vice chancellor of Community Colleges, CUNY

Sara Mead, associate partner, Bellwether Education Partners

Karen Hawley Miles, president and executive director, Education Resource Strategies

Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, chair, Assembly Education Committee

Michael Rebell, executive director, Campaign for Educational Equity

Carrie Remis, executive director, Rochester Parent Power Project*

José Luis Rodríguez, CEO, Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc.

Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey, president, Say Yes to Education

Sanford I. Weill, former CEO & chairman, Citigroup*

Randi Weingarten, president, American Federation of Teachers

Irma Zardoya, president and CEO, NYC Leadership Academy

Nancy Zimpher, chancellor, SUNY

I guess Randi Weingarten is solely in charge of representing the hundreds of thousands of teachers in New York State, but we need two people on the panel to represent the interests of Citibank. Plus Druckenmiller to represent hedge fund managers; we all know how committed they are to educating kids.

But these are all Very Important People, unlike teachers and principals, who are... well... not as important. They're only, you know, teaching the kids...

Andrew Cuomo couldn't insult teachers more with this crap than if he spit right in our eyes. No teacher or principal should listen to anything this panel has to say about education. He could have been like Jerry Brown and showed that he actually respects us by listening to what we might have to say; instead, he has modeled himself on Chris Christie.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am getting damn sick and tired of being treated like I'm irrelevant simply because I actually spend my day teaching kids. And, yes, I'm talking to you too, Mr. President.

We shouldn't have to beg for a seat at the table - it's OUR table!

You guys ignore teachers? Hey, so do I!