Cuomo vs. de Blasio: the ‘insanity’ of public schools

Mayor Bill de Blasio:

“We don’t accept a reality that leaves our children unready for their futures. And we’re going to do things the same old way and expect a different result. What do they say the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result? We’re not falling for that. We know that we wont get the change we need without pre-K and without after school.

About 20 minutes later, Gov. Andrew Cuomo:

We need new ideas. Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result. The education industry has said the same thing for decades: more money, more money, more money and it’ll change. We spend more money per-pupil than any state in the nation, we’re number 32 in results. It’s not just about putting more money in the public school system. It’s trying something new and that’s what charter schools are all about.

De Blasio and Cuomo dropped their own versions of the oft-used clichés in respective education speeches today. The adage, which Albert Einstein may or may not have said, is one that politicians and news media both like to use to point out government’s failings.