Dear  public education supporter:

Today through Sunday June 22, 2024 is early voting; Election day is Tuesday June 25, 2024. Check your polling place and hours here.

And please vote for the defenders of public education who we’ve endorsed.

Former NYC principal Jamaal Bowman deserves your support, based on his education record representing CD 16.  He has introduced important bills, including the Green New Deal for Schools and More Teaching Less Testing Act.  Moreover, he was one of only a handful of Democrats to vote against the College Transparency Act, which would have authorized the federal government to keep a dossier on every college student through life.

Another contested election is happening in AD 69 on the Upper West Side. Micah Lasher may be the establishment candidate for Assembly, but voters should be aware he has consistently stood on the wrong side of  education issues for many years, first  as the chief lobbyist for Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Bloomberg, and then as the head of the pro-charter organization Students First NY.

Over his career, Lasher has pushed for extending unilateral Mayoral control and the expansion of charter schools, for school closures and charter school co-locations, and for weakening teacher tenure by basing it on student test scores.  Though he omitted these issues from his campaign website and flyers, including  when he unsuccessfully ran for State Senate in 2016, there is no indication that he has changed his mind or apologized for any of them. No wonder he has received thousands of dollars in donations from billionaire hedge funders and members of the charter lobby, including several board members of Success Charter schools, as well as Emma Bloomberg and her husband, Jeremiah Kittredge, who used to run his own charter lobby operation before he was caught up in scandal.

In contrast, Eli Northrup, whom we strongly endorse for  AD 69,  will be a progressive champion for our public schools.  You can check out Eli’s thoughtful Kids PAC survey here. Micah Lasher refused to fill out his.

We have now posted the surveys of the other five candidates for the Assembly as well who we strongly support. We are convinced that each of them will be terrific advocates for our public schools and our children.

You  can check out their surveys below.

Claire Valdez survey – candidate for AD 37 in Queens

Emily Gallagher survey – candidate for AD 50 in Brooklyn

Maria Ordoñez survey – candidate for AD 70 in Manhattan

Jonathan Soto survey – candidate for AD 82 in Bronx

Please vote for Jamaal Bowman for Congress, and Eli, Claire, Emily, Maria and Jonathan for the Assembly!  And share this post with friends, allies, and colleagues who care about preserving and strengthening our public schools.

NYC Kids PAC