EdVANTAGE Blog

There is still no official resolution of the question of which party will exercise control over the State Senate. There is increasing speculation, however, that Democrat Malcolm Smith will prevail, ending more than 40 years of Republican control.  A vote for Majority Leader is scheduled for tomorrow — Wednesday, January 7.

Meanwhile the group that tagged our state has having the “most dysfunctional” state legislative process in the nation, concludes that our legislature is “Still Broken.”  That is the name of a new report by New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice.  Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver vehemently disputes

I’m not sure how one weighs relative dysfunctionality across states, and it sounds like a depressing excerise to pursue.  But from speaking with counterparts with superintendents associations in other states, I conclude that “the grass is not necessarily greener” elsewhere.  Whatever their procedural shortcomings, at least our state legislature chambers are not overtly hostile to public education, as in some states.  Year after year, the legislature has made education funding a priority.  In any event, we don’t have the option of lobbying another state’s legislature.