STEVE M. DUCH
For the over one-million students in New York City Public Schools (NYCPS), mayoral control of the school system is vital to their academic successes. I’ve been a part of the NYCPS for more than 30 years, first as a teacher, and then as a school supervisor, an assistant principal and finally a principal at Hillcrest High School in Queens.
Over the years, I saw many chancellors come and go. I saw problems in my schools and couldn’t find a person who could help me solve them. I quickly learned that it was not advantageous for principals to “rock the boat” or “to break out of the box” since it was frowned upon by all levels of the organization from the classroom to the Board of Education.
Teachers were transferred to schools without any input from the principal. It took years to remove incompetent teachers. There was no transparency and no accountability. It is no surprise that so many of our schools failed.
But a few years ago we embarked on a new model – one person, the mayor, became responsible for the success or failure of millions of young minds. So what did the mayor do when given the power? He hired a new school chancellor who made changes.
As a result of mayoral control, our schools have become beacons of hope for our city. Principals have been given choices and they face the consequences. By today’s standards, my school would have been considered a failure 13 years ago when I first arrived. Today, however, it is “well developed” on its Quality Review, and received a high “B” rating on its Progress Report. Hillcrest is an NCLB school in good standing, a school where 98 percent of last year’s graduates entered college – 85 percent to four-year colleges. A week doesn’t pass without visitors from as far away as Europe and as close as the high school down the street coming to Hillcrest to learn about our transformation into seven four-year Small Learning Communities.
The mayor and chancellor created a system of management where the principal makes decisions and has the ability to guide the path of the school. They have created a system where their success or failure is linked to the students’ success or failure.
City students have only one chance at a quality education – only one person should be accountable for that education – not a panel, not a school board, not a committee. That person should be someone every city resident can vote for or against – the mayor.
I hope that the State Legislature will do what I believe works best for New York City and its children. Renew the mayor’s ability to control New York City’s schools and continue to hold the mayor accountable for school success. Reauthorizing the law should hinge on whether the law has worked, not on dissatisfaction with individual policies or personalities.
Steve Duch is the Principal at Hillcrest High School.
