I love this – student power! What a great response to the union ads! Watch the 30-second video at: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/charter-school-releases-an-ad-supporting-cuomo/

As he girds for confrontation with what he calls the state's educational bureaucracy, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has found an unexpected ally singing his praises on cable television: a group of high school students in East Harlem.

Earlier this month, ninth and tenth graders at the Renaissance Charter High School for Innovation filmed a video inspired by Mr. Cuomo's declaration in his State of the State address that he intended to take a second job as a lobbyist for public school students.

A nonprofit group that supports charter schools, the New York City Charter School Center, saw the video and was impressed. With a few tweaks to make it television-ready, and a modest outlay by the charter center, the clip has been playing this week as a 30-second commercial on NY1, the New York City cable news channel.

The Charter School Center is the latest group to take to the airwaves to praise the governor: last year, a coalition of business leaders called the Committee to Save New York spent nearly $12 million supporting his agenda, mostly through television and radio advertising.

The charter center's ad buy is quite small, and its spot was only scheduled to be shown for a few days. But Mr. Cuomo, who has been able to spend relatively little from his campaign treasury thanks to ads running on his behalf from outside groups, is apparently grateful. Last week, he provided the ultimate virtual show of support: he posted a link to the video on his Twitter account.

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January 27, 2012, 6:45 pm