Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Panel for Educational Policy

Panel for Educational Policy

  • Where To Go with Mayoral Control

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    Mayor de Blasio at school (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Mayor de Blasio's mishandling of the public school pandemic response has led to calls to reform or replace mayoral control of New York City schools.

    Almost six years ago, I wrote in these pages advocating the case for mayoral control based on the still-valid theory that quality education depends on maximum funding based on the Mayor's control of the city budget and the need for political

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  • Death of Bloomberg-Era School Roils East Harlem

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    Protesting school closure (photo: Andrea Gabor)


    Earlier this month, Kevin Medina, a high-school sophomore, stepped up to the microphone at a crowded public hearing to defend the East Harlem middle school that, he says, changed his life.

    “I’m a Hispanic kid,” said Medina, who now attends Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology. “I live with my grandmother, who is disabled and who is on welfare. We have nothing. But because of this school I may go to M.I.T. for free. Because of these teachers, who made sure we have everything we

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  • Mayoral Control Debate Ignores Need for Community Control

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    Mayor de Blasio (photo via The Mayor's Office)


    Since Mayor de Blasio’s cries about the dire consequences of the State Legislature not granting him an extension of mayoral control over the city’s public schools didn't seem to work, this perhaps provides us with a little space to have a more open and less hysterical discussion about possible alternatives. What I find striking about the mayoral control debate is the false assumption that there exists a wide consensus on the need for it.

    A May 2017 Quinnipiac Poll, consistent with other polls on the subject, found that

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  • Calls for More Transparency, Oversight in Department of Education Contracting

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    The Mayor & education leaders (Demetrius Freeman/Mayoral Photography Office)


    As mayoral control of city schools comes up for Albany renewal again this year, one concern being raised by a variety of analysts is how and where the New York City Department of Education spends its money. Namely, the opacity of DOE procurement and contracting continues to be of concern to those worried about waste and a lack of oversight for the department with an annual expense budget of more than $20

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