Ah, the sounds of summer!

Some of you might hear a breeze flapping a sail while others recognize the sound of waves lapping at the shore. Perhaps your ears hear the wind rustling the leaves just below the mountain summit or the sounds of the city that surround an outdoor café.

But, depending on where you're coming from — or where you're at — some other sounds were either faint distractions in the distance or consuming enough to drown out most of the more pleasant sounds of summer.

Those were the sounds of politics: local, state and national.

Cap attack

You are, by now, well aware of the fight that began in the spring, ran through the summer and will likely continue this fall to turn back Gov. David Paterson's proposal to arbitrarily cap school property taxes. Our arguments against the cap are strong and sound: It is an election-year gimmick that has failed miserably in other states, hurts schools, limits local control and — irony of ironies — doesn't provide any real tax relief.

NYSUT worked closely with other groups, individuals and organizations such as the Working Families Party, Alliance for Quality Education and the PTA. Each saw the proposed cap for what it was: pandering to those who shout about tax relief but refuse to face the real issue of tax fairness. We cooperated on television and radio ads, news conferences, op-ed pieces and letters to the editor. We supported one another in efforts to convince lawmakers and those who elect them that tax caps are not in the best interest of the people of New York.

Most importantly, we made the case that imposing arbitrary tax caps is a moral issue, exacerbating the existing inequities in school funding and making it far more difficult — if not impossible — for a generation of poor children — more often children of color — to close the achievement gap.

The reality is, wealthy districts will never have too great a difficulty finding the money they need to support their schools. A 1 percent increase in the tax levy of these property-rich districts would still raise considerable revenues. And if taxpayers in a wealthy district want to exceed the cap, they will have far less trouble than a poor district in getting the 55 percent vote needed for an override.

A very different scenario would play out in poorer school districts. Low-income communities — which disproportionately serve children of color — have less property wealth, crippling their ability to raise the local funds needed to support their schools. That same 1 percent increase in the tax levy in a poor district raises far less money than in a wealthy district. And poor school districts rely more on state aid, which is always precarious during economic downturns such as the one we are currently experiencing. Moreover, low-income communities would have great difficulty mustering the votes they'd need to override a cap.

This is a moral issue. Clearly, a tax cap would further divide the "haves" from the "have-nots," hurting poor children and underachieving students more and undermining the progress we've made in closing the achievement gap.

As you'll read on page 3 of this New York Teacher, our grassroots efforts paid off when the state Assembly — under the leadership of its courageous speaker, Sheldon Silver — answered the flawed tax cap proposal with its own bill that offers real tax relief to those who need it most.

The Assembly's bill was a combination of a circuit breaker — which targets tax relief to senior citizens and low-income families — and a "millionaire's tax," which ensures the state's wealthiest individuals pay their fair share. These are the tax-relief solutions NYSUT supports and, according to recent polling, so do the majority of New Yorkers.

And, while we laud the Assembly for doing the right thing, we are discouraged by the vote taken in the state Senate to embrace political expediency, the arbitrary cap, over good policy. A great many of these senators — Democrats and Republicans — are our longtime friends. But as a result of their actions, NYSUT's local and political leaders from across the state recommended — and the union's Board of Directors agreed — that NYSUT suspend the endorsements of all 38 senators who voted "yes" on the governor's tax cap.

It was a rare and, in many cases, a painful decision, but it was a matter of principle.

Higher ed cuts

We were faced with another Capitol crisis when Gov. Paterson cut funding from the City University of New York by $51 million. This was on top of a $148 million general fund reduction to the State University of New York.

As we've said before — as we will continue to say — cuts to public higher education during tough economic times are counterproductive.

Investing in our colleges, universities and community colleges — not destroying them — is what it will take to fuel our state's revitalization. It is long past the time for public higher education to cease being the state's budgetary scapegoat.

It's Obama

NYSUT officers and more than 30 other members closed out August in Denver as delegates to the Democratic National Convention. While it's no secret that NYSUT was an early and ardent backer of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, we enthusiastically followed her lead and that of our two national organizations, the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association, in supporting Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois as he made history in capturing his party's nomination.

Like Sen. Clinton, Sen. Obama is right on our issues — education, health care and labor — and will be an outstanding president, working with vice presidential nominee Joe Biden to restore dignity to the White House and U.S. credibility around the world.

Many NYSUT members and staff are already working closely with colleagues from NEA and the AFT to help elect the Obama-Biden ticket and to put an end to the failed, hurtful and embarrassing policies of the last eight years.

Yes, it was an exhilarating summer. Intermixed with state and local politics were workshops and conferences for NYSUT locals and leaders. In addition, both of our national unions elected new officers at conventions held this summer. At NEA, Dennis VanRoekel takes over as president, with Lily Eskelsen as vice president and Becky Pringle as secretary-treasurer. And, at the AFT, New York's own Randi Weingarten was elected president, joining Toni Cortese (also a proud New Yorker) now as secretary-treasurer and Lorretta Johnson (an SRP!) as the new executive vice president.

Yes, this summer was exhilarating — and often exhausting. And, yes, it will be followed by an equally critical and challenging fall with a lot at stake for all of us.