In Albany, knives are being pointed at Gotham City public school children. Lawmakers are seeking to end the mayor’s control over the city’s systems. Will Governor Hochul be able to protect Mayor Adams from the assassins?
This week, the Democratic majorities in the Assembly and state Senate left the mayoral power update out of their budget proposals, indicating they would take up the issue only after the budget is finalized, when Hochul’s influence has waned.
The law giving the mayor powers expired in June after Congress extended it for just two years, until 2022, but in return the government agreed to 1) a New York City-only “class size” law; United Federation of Teachers, 2) the fine print that reduced the mayor’s control over policy making over the Education Policy Board;
Oh, and there’s a study coming out this spring by the state Department of Education on the “effectiveness” of mayoral control, but it’s likely to be crap because SED (which is completely independent of government) is a total travesty. Too much.
After more than 20 years, there’s no reason why the mayor can’t take the lead. permanent — Like the governance of every other school system in the state, a settled issue — except that state legislators enjoy toying with city kids to please the UFT.
Hochul proposed a four-year extension (as in 2022) in this year’s budget. That would at least end Albany’s political games for a while.
But the Democratic majority in Congress clearly wants to intervene more.
John Lew (D-Queens), who runs the Senate committee responsible for overseeing New York City schools, elaborated on Monday, telling a crowd of UFT members gathered in Albany: It’s not just one person at city hall who knows best, it’s the teachers! ”
There is no mention of what parents One might notice that minority parents form the backbone of Adams’ political base.
Meanwhile, Mr. Liu and other police officers have complained about how Mr. Adams enforced class size laws. The law aims to force the city to spend an additional $2 billion a year to hire 18,000 new UFT members, despite years of steady enrollment decline citywide. (However, it has so far increased slightly due to the impact of the immigration crisis.)
And it’s no wonder that many parents would rather put their child in a class of 25 or 30 students at a good school than force them into a small classroom at a bad school with a bad teacher. Please don’t.
UFT Director Michael Mulgrew and his allies (Council Speaker Carl Heastie only) Finally became We want a mayor with a free hand to make charter schools flourish (and address the state’s teachers union on bended knee) and demand accountability from teachers, principals, and a sclerotic education bureaucracy.
Adams is in a predicament as Hochul proves reluctant to spend his political funds on Adams (not to mention the city’s children).
It’s despicable that New York City school governance is at the mercy of politicians in Albany who can terminate a deal hours before they do. And it’s awful that Lew, Heastie and the rest of Paul, who are supposed to answer to the city’s voters, are content to continue playing what is essentially a corrupt game with the government. The future of Gotham’s children.
