Gov. Cuomo Citing Schools Report As Support For Education Reform

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Gov. Andrew Cuomo is using a new school report as evidence for his call to reform education in New York.

The report says more than 109,000 students are in 178 failing schools statewide: 50,000 students in New York City, 8,800 in the Hudson Valley and more than 5,700 on Long Island.

Listen to Gov. Cuomo Citing Report As Support For Education Reform

As WCBS 880's Paul Murnane reported, last week in the Bronx, Gov. Cuomo called to mind an old mental health saying.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. If the school is failing, it's going to fail again unless you do something different," he said.

Gov. Cuomo is proposing takeovers by other districts or nonprofits and merit pay for teachers rated highly-effective. The teachers' union said for Cuomo, it is all about scoring political points and leasing campaign donors and they are hearing nothing about classroom issues.