Politics on the Hudson

Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, D-Ossining, has been picked as a ‘legislator of the year’ by the state School Boards Association. She is to be honored at the association’s annual dinner in Albany on Sunday.

Galef, now serving her eighth term, was honored for pushing bills (unsuccessfully so far) like having the state pay for charter schools, exempting schools from the Wicks law (which drives up construction costs) and preventing the state from imposing “unfunded mandates’’ on localities.

She has long been a leader in the reform movement, the school boards’ association pointed out. She’s one of the few lawmakers who won’t accept “pork-barrel’’ grants from the state to fund pet projects.

The association is also honoring Senate Education Committee Chairman Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, who also wants the state to pay for charter schools.