By Kathianne Boniello
The question of what role Queens will play in the running of the city’s schools was left up in the air this week as Borough President Helen Marshall kept silent on school governance changes approved Tuesday by the state Legislature.
The current seven-member Board of Education has two people appointed by the mayor and one representative from each of the city’s five boroughs. The borough reps are chosen by each respective borough president, and the current Queens appointee, Terri Thomson, has served since 1998.
Come July 1, the Board of Ed, as it has been known, will take a hike and a new 13-member advisory board will take its place. The new board, which will have seven members appointed by the mayor and one representative picked by each borough president, will be chaired by the schools chancellor, who will be chosen by the mayor.
Because the new board is advisory, it will not have the perks currently enjoyed by the city Board of Ed members, which include cars and full-time assistants and secretaries.
But the state Legislature has thrown an interesting twist into the process by requiring that each borough representative be a parent with children in public schools.
That leaves out several formerly obvious choices, including Marshall — who promoted herself as a possible Board of Ed rep during her campaign for borough president — and Thomson, who sends her children to parochial school. Marshall had issued no statements on the subject of school governance and the Legislature’s actions as of press time Tuesday.
Thomson had little to say on her future Monday afternoon.
“My term ends June 28,” said the Citibank executive, who remained mum on the question of her future involvement with the board.
Parents with children in city public schools, the new legislation assumes, have personal interests in the public education system.
State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose), one of the state Senate’s lead negotiators on the issue of school governance, said the change should not pose a problem.
“The thought was it should be someone who has not only a strong interest in education but a vested interest,” Padavan said. “It was seen as one of the pluses.”
Thomson has been praised — and criticized — during her four-year term on the board. Since 1998, Thomson has clashed with former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani several times, most notably when she cast the deciding vote naming Harold Levy as the city school’s chancellor when the mayor opposed the choice.
In 2001, former Borough President Claire Shulman asked for Thomson’s resignation after the Flushing resident failed to support Ninfa Segarra for the board’s presidency. Segarra, who won the post, was Giuliani’s choice for the job.
Since Marshall took office in November, she and Thomson have appeared to work well together, most notably on calling for increased school funding and more school construction in Queens.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
