PA James at Friday's event (photo: Sara Valenzuela)
With a Wednesday evening event in Manhattan, Public Advocate Letitia
James concluded her five-borough "Our School, Our Voices" series of
community forums on the future of mayoral control of the city's schools.
Speaking before a gathering of around 60 people at John Jay College
of Criminal Justice, James raised the issue of increasing local control
over school governance through more community engagement and parental
involvement. "Mayoral control has functioned as a business model," James
said, largely referring to its implementation under former Mayor
Michael Bloomberg, who won the right to control the city's system
through state law in 2002.
Mayoral control over the city's schools was established to address a
chaotic and corrupt school governance system. It was extended by the
State in 2009 and is set to expire in June of this year. State
legislators will soon decide on extending the system, perhaps as part of
ongoing budget negotiations that are set to conclude by April 1.
Education policy is proving, as usual, to be among the most contentious
areas of debate.
Mayor Bill de Blasio went to Albany in late February and
asked lawmakers
to make mayoral control permanent. Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed a
three-year renewal, while the Democratically-controlled State Assembly
has put forth a seven-year extension. The Republican-controlled State
Senate has not taken a definitive position, but Sen. Jon Flanagan, who
heads the Senate education committee, has said he's still waiting to see
if Mayor de Blasio deserves to keep the power. There is mounting
pressure on de Blasio to show that he can turn around the city's most
struggling schools.
"In all likelihood, based upon my experience working with the New
York State Legislature, it looks like mayoral control will continue. The
question is, in what form," James told Gotham Gazette after Wednesday's
forum. She believes that extending the degree of local control is still
possible. "I believe that, yes, we could somehow expand the
opportunities for parental engagement, parental involvement, and sharing
governance on the Panel for Education Policy as well as strengthening
Community Education Councils beyond just advisory."
Wednesday's forum, like the others James has hosted, included a
panel, along with other guest speakers, and audience input. Manhattan
Borough President Gale Brewer and City Council Member Helen Rosenthal
addressed the forum on issues of technology in education and increased
transparency of Department of Education data, respectively.
While differing on the extent to which Mayor de Blasio - or any Mayor
- should have power over city schools, panelists agreed on the central
tenet that education should be removed from the sphere of politics as
much as possible. Some even advocated for what seems to be the
impossible task of ending mayoral control.
Sam Anderson, member of the Independent Commission on Public Education (
iCOPE),
which sees education through a human rights lens, said, "Mayoral
control by definition is dictatorial." Its structure, he said, does not
allow for the involvement of parents, students, and educators in the
decision-making process, and that it should be done away with.
Most panel members, however, seemed to understand that mayoral
control is a reality, however harsh it appears to some. Teresa Arboleda,
a public advocate appointee to the Citywide Council on English Language
Learners said, "I would love to see mayoral control go, but considering
all the obstacles, we have to be real." She insisted that it be
separated from the budget debate and that a big step in diluting the
Mayor's power would be in establishing fixed terms for the PEP members.
Currently, the Mayor appoints 8 of the 13 members, with the rest being
chosen by the Borough Presidents.
Anne Looser, a high school special education teacher and a member of
Teachers Unite, focused on the strengthening of School Leadership Teams
as a means of "local control and site-based governance." Noah Gotbaum, a
parent member of a Community Education Council, said if mayoral control
does continue, it should be along the governor's proposal of three more
years while the City explores alternatives.
James explained that in her belief and from what she hears from New
Yorkers, people need to have a say and be heard at the community,
neighborhood, and school levels. "We must demand that the infrastructure
now in place under mayoral control is supported and respected," she
said.
"The School Leadership Team, Community Education Council, the PTA,
and all the educational councils, which I have appointees on, must have
an important role helping shape educational policy and priorities in
their district and maximizing opportunities for community input."
Calls for attention to this issue may be heard at the state level,
though it is unclear how much even Mayor de Blasio is listening. James
capped her campaign with a Friday policy breakfast at CUNY Law School
with renowned education policy expert Diane Ravitch as keynote speaker.
(On Sunday afternoon- March 15, James [...] hosted an "Our Schools, Our Voices" rally
at City Hall park, calling on the State to meet its funding obligations
based on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity ruling.)
Then, on March 28, according to Gotbaum, students, teachers, and
parents will come together in Manhattan to "fight Governor Cuomo's
destructive agenda" by rallying outside the governor's office.
James is optimistic about the momentum the movement is gathering. "I
think [these forums] are very effective because I really believe that
there's power in people," she said.
"Our hope really rests in the Assembly and I hope the Assembly
members are listening to basically the calls of their constituents," she
added. "They're petitioning their government. They want change. They
believe that concentrated power just does not work and [it's] in the
interests of not only the students but the parents, and in furtherance
of government - or I should say, in furtherance of democracy."
***
by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid
