Differences between I.D.C. and regular Dems on education

Jessica Bakeman

ALBANY—Education issues like charter schools and a proposal for an education tax credit could split the State Senate's Democrats, with advocates on both sides of the issues waiting to see whether ta proposed reunion of regular and Independent Democrats will come to fruition.

Charter school advocates, for example, would rather see an I.D.C.-Republican coalition in the Senate, the leadership structure that delivered this year's pro-charter state budget, which included funding increases and improved access to government-operated space. Labor leaders and some public-education advocacy groups, on the other hand, are hoping for a majority of exclusively mainstream Democrats which would be more inclined beat back pro-charter legislation and the tax credit proposal.

Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate think their respective conferences will yield better outcomes for students in terms of school funding.

“What Senator [Jeff] Klein and I have decided to do is work together as one collective body in order to create opportunities to move legislation forward,” Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told Capital during a recent phone interview. “And I think it would be premature to put our conferences at odds about anything.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/08/8550161/differences-between-idc-and-regular-dems-education