Craig Johnson Becomes State Chair

Big news for DFER-NY as former state senator Craig Johnson – a real star – becomes state chair:

Democrats for Education Reform is reuniting with an old Albany friend as it prepares to resume a larger presence in the state.

The political action committee’s New York chapter named former state Senator Craig Johnson as board chair, Executive Director Joe Williams said. Johnson’s role on the board, which is unpaid, will primarily be to fundraise, an area that has lagged in recent years as the state’s education advocacy field has grown more crowded, Williams said.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to get the donor base engaged again,” said Williams.

Johnson, who won his seat in 2007 in a Long Island district long dominated by Republicans, aligned with DFER on successful legislative efforts required to qualify for federal Race to the Top funding.

The most notable was a revision to the Charter Schools Act that more than doubled the number of charter schools allowed to operate in the state. Snubbing pressure from his Democratic colleagues, Johnson “single-handedly“ blocked an early version of the bill that would have banned school building co-locations and slowed down the authorizing process.

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