Charter School Magnate Moskowitz Says She's Not Running For Mayor
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Charter school magnate Eva Moskowitz said she will not run for mayor in 2017.
Moskowitz, an outspoken critic of Mayor Bill de Blasio, made the announcement on the steps of City Hall Thursday morning.
"I am not running because I think what could be accomplished in public education is game changing, life changing," she said.
The former city council member and founder and CEO of Success Academy charter schools had frequently been touted as a potential challenger to de Blasio. The two have battled over funding and space for charters.
During her announcement, Moskowitz said instead of challenging de Blasio, she's doubling down on her commitment to education reform, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
"I'm doing for education, frankly, what Apple did with computing for the iPhone; what Google is doing with driverless cars," Moskowitz said.
A savvy political operative backed by big-money hedge-fund donors, she has positioned herself as the city's loudest charter school leader and fought with the teachers union and City Hall over teaching techniques and space for her schools.
After Moskowitz stepped down from the podium, Bill Easton with the Alliance for Quality Education stepped up, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported.
"The hedge fund billionaires who have sponsored Eva Moskowitz's efforts have already made it known they plan to run another candidate," Easton said. "So we can fully anticipate that they will have a puppet candidate to run on their behalf."
Success Academy operates 34 charter schools in New York City and has 11,000 students.
On Wednesday, she helped draw thousands of charter school supporters to a rally in Brooklyn and at City Hall. Participants called on the mayor to give more space in public schools to charters.
When asked about Moskowitz's announcement, de Blasio simply said "the choice was hers'' not to run before he touted his administration's education achievements.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
