Cross-posted from the Politics K-12 blog
Former New York Gov. George Pataki became the latest Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential election Thursday morning.
Pataki served for three terms as governor of the Empire State, from 1995 through 2006, during which he raised charter school caps and attempted to create a $500 education tax credit for private school tuition and services such as tutoring and after-school programs. He also pushed to revamp the state’s complicated education funding formula to give local districts more control over how they spend their state aid.
During his tenure, he often proposed funding freezes and cuts to the state university system as part of his strategy to eliminate a $4 billion budget shortfall. And his first budget as governor proposed to cut 300 education administrators and recommended the sale of the $675,000 Albany home traditionally occupied by the schools’ chief.
Pataki, who will be among the most moderate of Republican contenders, announced his candidacy through a video. It did not focus on education, or any other specific policy issues, but concentrated heavily from his leadership during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.