A state law giving Mayor Bill de Blasio control over city schools will expire June 30 unless lawmakers pass an extension.
After a meeting Monday with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Republican Senate Leader John Flanagan and Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said they are working to negotiate an agreement.
The Assembly and the Democratic governor support a three-year extension of mayoral control.
Flanagan has criticized de Blasio’s handling of public education and now supports a one-year extension — along with the appointment of a new state education inspector with some oversight power over city schools.
De Blasio, a Democrat, initially asked for a seven-year extension of the policy, which was first enacted in 2002.
The extension is one of the largest challenges facing lawmakers before their expected adjournment June 16.
(AP)
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One Response
The issue of how New York City’s public schools should be governed should not be about “deBlasio” or “Cuomo” or “Noodleman.” It should be about how to get the best schools for the children of the city’s taxpayers. Before mayoral control, there was a forgettable hodge-podge of community school boards of varying quality, from very good to shamelessly corrupt.
I like the idea of putting all the power over the school system in the hands of an elected mayor, who has a high profile and can be held accountable by voters. Under the old system, turnout in elections for the community school boards was rarely higher than 10%, with the result that local school boards could be dominated by political stooges or the teachers’ union. (I have a family member who is a member of that union.)
Anything that takes control away from a high-profile elected official, like the mayor, is probably a bad idea.