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Mayoral Control Sans Control
July 1st, 2009

If you can’t beat them, ignore them.

That might be the philosophy Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the five borough presidents adopted after the State Legislature failed to renew mayoral control of schools by yesterday’s deadline. Instead, they re-established the defunct Board of Education, appointed close allies to the mayor and adjourned for the summer — crossing their fingers that the State Senate would no longer be deadlocked when school starts again.

They then filed into City Hall’s blue room this afternoon to rally support for their move, with Bloomberg berating the State Senate and their squabbling. The borough presidents, mayor and Council Speaker Christine Quinn talked of unity, keeping consistency for the kids and for teachers. Bloomberg emphasized that the new board was temporary — a band-aid fix, not a real solution.

“What we’re trying to do here is to continue on as though mayoral control was approved, and it’s our assumption that it will be sometime in the very near future,” said Bloomberg. “If in the fall we find out that it wasn’t, we have a different set of issues. They have voted for continuity and consistency.”

For what else was sacrificed in Albany, see After the Deadline.

That continuity vote by the city’s new Board of Education was to keep Chancellor Joel I. Klein at the helm of the city’s school system, giving him the same responsibilities he had yesterday. By and large, it was the borough presidents — who each have one appointment to the seven-member board — that could have derailed this so-called seamless transition.

When asked whether they would change course if the city’s chancellor decided to implement a policy they disagreed with, the borough presidents all said they would voice their concerns, but not make a fuss about it in the press.

“I’ve never had a problem telling the chancellor what’s on my mind,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. — whose appointment to the board has expressed the most opposition to the administration’s control of schools. “I am not here to rubber stamp anyone.”

Not everyone is satisfied with this outcome. Moments before the mayor and borough presidents walked into their press conference this afternoon, one advocate took to the microphone, calling the latest incarnation of the Board of Education a sham.

“We think this is a total sham,” said Jane Hirschmann, who was kicked out of the press conference for not having media credentials, of Time Out From Testing. “This is still the mayor… All we have is testing. I just want the voice of the parents to be heard today.”

By Courtney Gross on July 1, 2009, 2:38 pm
In category: Albany, Education, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, Law, Public Finance, nextNY | 1 Comment »

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One Response to “Mayoral Control Sans Control”

  1. Lynn Says:
    July 1st, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    What were trying to do here is to continue on as though mayoral control was approved” — This is the way Mayor Bloomberg deals with everything. Mayoral control was NOT approved. For a few hours, it actually looked like teachers could get back to TEACHING in September, instead of constantly teaching to the tests. Everyone (except for King Bloomberg) that when you learn things because “this will be on the test” instead of learning for learning’s sake, the minute the test is over, the information is gone from your mind.
    It is truly a shame that we are raising a generation of children who have no math ability, can’t spell, have no concept of grammar, and have poor comprehension skills. If we gave today’s children statewide tests from 10 years ago, they’d all fail.
    THIS is what mayoral control of the school system has produced.

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