Gotbaum Report: Involve Parents More in Schools; But Supports Mayoral Control
By DAVID SIMS
The Commission on School Governance, a body appointed by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, Sept. 4 recommended that the state law allowing mayoral control of the city school system be renewed with some revisions, especially focusing on the Department of Education.

BETSY GOTBAUM: System working, but not perfectly.

"As I've always said, mayoral control is moving our public education system in the right direction, but it is far from perfect," Ms. Gotbaum said in a statement. "Over the last six years, the DOE has failed to engage parents and stakeholders in a meaningful way, has doled out many millions in no-bid contracts, and has been anything but transparent with its data."

UFT: More Collaboration Needed

United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten offered a measured reaction but noted, "I think almost everyone agrees that more transparency and accountability are needed at the Department of Education." She added that "collaboration and community involvement are also areas where improvements must be made."

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: Scoffs at report's proposals.

When asked about the report, Mayor Bloomberg was dismissive, saying, "You can't have it two ways. Either the Mayor is going to be in control or he's not going to be in control. And it is the height of hypocrisy to have a bill that is called mayoral control and have the Mayor not in charge. Plain and simple."

Responding to the report's recommendation to give the Panel for Education Policy more independence from the Mayor and the Chancellor, Mr. Bloomberg was equally frank.

Plays the Red Card

"If you want a committee to run it, take a look at what happened in the Soviet Union," he said. "Take a look at what happened to school systems in this city. You want to go back to that? It's going to be up to the Albany Legislature."

The commission, which was chaired by Stephen R. Aiello, a president of the old Board of Education in the 1970s, stated in the report that "there is a general consensus that putting one elected official in charge of education is preferable to the former governance arrangement that dispersed authority and responsibility." It also allowed that "Mayoral control improves the process of collective bargaining by better balancing incentives for fostering school improvement while controlling costs."

But the report also called for "additional checks on the power of the Mayor," saying that "witness after witness who testified before the Commission, even those who support Mayoral control, indicated that there need to be more checks on the authority the Mayor exercises over the schools." It also states that "parents and community representatives are frustrated with the absence of effective institutional channels through which they can have a meaningful voice in policy, express their concerns about existing practices, or acquire information about their schools."

With the law due to expire next June, pressure is mounting from Mayor Bloomberg's supporters for renewal. A recently formed non-profit political action group called Mayoral Accountability for School Success is pushing for the extension of mayoral control over the schools by state legislative leaders and Governor Paterson. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a close ally of Ms. Weingarten's, said last week that he was leaning toward renewal of the law, with possible modifications.

The UFT and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators are also preparing reports on mayoral control, with the UFT Governance Committee set to weigh in on the issue in a few weeks, and the CSA presenting its own report in November.