State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo told RA delegates his office would fight corruption in the education system, making sure that "every dollar is going where it is supposed to go."

In an electrifying speech that ranged over education policy, the labor movement and his work as attorney general, Cuomo declared, "I am A.G. because of N-Y-S-U-T. That's how I spell my alphabet!"

He promised to follow up the education loan scandal he uncovered last year with additional investigations, including testing practices "to make sure they are not rigged."

He also cited an investigation his office is conducting into school districts that have placed individual attorneys on district payrolls, while at the same time retaining them as consultants. The individual attorneys are thereby entitled to salaries and benefits, including pensions.

Cuomo thanked teachers for educating his children and ensuring the promise of public education, and particularly for their longstanding support of him and his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo. He recalled that when his father first ran for governor, he was given little chance against Ed Koch, then the mayor of New York City. The campaign, run by Andrew Cuomo (then 23 years old), was a success because of fervent labor support.

"That was enough," Cuomo said, because labor is not a special interest, as critics have charged. "They call it a lobbying group. Baloney! It is the voice of the middle class and we are proud of it and never run from it."