By 2009, Mayor's Control Of Schools Could End

The battle  to maintain strong mayoral control is among the next major battles we will  have to fight in NYC.  The forces of the status quo hate mayoral control because: a) it creates accountability and thus makes genuine reform more likely; and b) as Joe Williams points out below, politicians love the diffusion of power (when there's no mayoral  control) because it opens up all sorts of avenues for patronage.

Lawmakers and interest groups are crafting plans to  weaken or end mayoral control of the city's public schools once Mayor Bloomberg leaves office, as voter support for shared power grows.

The City Council, the principals union,  and the teachers union have all convened working groups charged with proposing what to do when City Hall's control expires in 2009. While  saying no decision has been reached, some members of the working groups say they are inclined either to balance the mayor's control with independent oversight or squash it altogether.  The  opposition to  mayoral control was seconded by a Quinnipiac poll released yesterday showing 51% of voters support balancing the mayor's power with an independent school board.  As Mr. Bloomberg took over the schools in 2002, support for mayoral control was split, with 45% of voters approving and 43% opposing.

Supporters of mayoral control of the schools cautioned that polls should not dictate policy.

"You have to remember that 51% of New Yorkers  thought the Yankees should have traded A-Rod last year," the executive director of the lobbying group Democrats for Education Reform, Joseph  Williams, said. "Making  tough decisions sometimes forces you to lose votes in the popularity contests,  but it is part and parcel of mayoral  control."

Mr. Williams challenged some of the opposition as coming from politicians who stand to gain from a diffusion of power.

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By 2009, Mayor's Control Of Schools Could  End
BY ELIZABETH GREEN -  Staff Reporter of the Sun
July 27, 2007
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/59336  <BLOCKED::BLOCKED::">http://www.nysun.com/article/59336> <http://www.nysun.com/article/59336>   

Lawmakers and interest groups are crafting plans to weaken or end mayoral control of the city's public schools once Mayor Bloomberg leaves office as voter support for shared power grows.