While Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein’s plan to consolidate the current 40 city school district offices into 10 instructional divisions continues to move forward, mixed emotions from educators and elected officials are beginning to surface regarding the plan’s potential consequences.
Community School Board 30 member John Ciafone spoke with The Courier regarding what he felt was a plan destined to fail. "A centralized system will work in certain areas of the city but in other areas it will fail miserably," said Ciafone who added that the areas that would be hurt the most would be the most diverse in culture. Ciafone stated that the new system would eventually lose touch with the communities in the outer boroughs. He also doubted whether 10 regional superintendents, which are part of the plan, would be able to run 1,200 schools.
Ciafone, who is a practicing attorney and a past president of the CSB 30, called the task involved in the Chancellor’s plan "Herculean," and stated that the New York City Board of Education tried to centralize in the past and failed.
Some parents and educators we spoke with stated that they were happy to see the school boards close. Community School Board 30 member Jeannie Basini who was active in school related issues for 15 years prior to her election to the board stated that she wrote to Klein congratulating him on finally abolishing the boards. Basini emphasized that her views were not limited to her particular board but all school boards in the city. "I didn’t think the school board members were sincere with their agenda," said Basini who added members often used their positions as "stepping stones" for political aspirations. The long-time school activist stated that she felt some board members often had "feelings of grandeur" because of their position and that she sought her position on the board to keep an eye on the other members.
While Basini stated that the current school board system was not responsive to parent needs, she admitted that the new centralized system might make it harder for parents to get their concerns heard and remedied.
Ciafone stated that the current system was not perfect but was still better than the centralized proposal. "School boards were good in some areas and not so good in others," said Ciafone, who also admitted that some boards were "riddled with corruption." However, he stated that for the most part the boards did a good job and served the community. "We didn’t get paid so we didn’t eat the budget and were not an entity of waste. We were the watchdogs," said Ciafone.
Ciafone mentioned the changes that took place in December 1996 when Rudy Crew took the hiring powers away from the board. "That was a good decision to take the board out of hiring principals and assistant principals because there was a lot of corruption," said Ciafone, who added that in that same year school boards were taken out of the budget. He said that decision had a negative impact because school boards couldn’t advocate anymore. "We couldn’t be true watchdogs since we didn’t have a say in the budget." Ciafone added that when school boards were taken out of the budget, they were essentially "killed."
This paper tried contacting Community School District 26 Superintendent Claire McIntee and Community School District 25 Superintendent Michelle Fratti concerning how they felt about the new centralization plan, which calls for the abolishment of district offices. No responses were obtained after several calls to both offices.
Basini stated that she felt district office staff members would not respond to questions about the new plan because they are afraid. Basini also stated that district offices are filled with incompetence since many tenured teachers who couldn’t get fired for poor performance were transferred there.
Ciafone also stated that district office staff members would most likely not reply to questions about the centralization plan since many were vying for future employment and didn’t want to appear rebellious. "Wait and see," said Ciafone. "They’ll talk a lot when they don’t get the job."
