Assembly passes revised mayoral control legislation

The New York State Assembly on Wednesday, June 17 passed revised New York City school governance legislation that, if approved by the Senate and signed into law, would renew mayoral control of city public schools. The current governance law, enacted in 2002, is set to expire on June 30.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, sponsor of the new legislation, said in a statement that it “strengthens and improves” city schools by increasing parent participation, and reinstates community superintendents in community districts to better address parent concerns. He added that the legislation “preserves and improves” the accountability associated with mayoral control of the public schools.
In his weekly WOR-AM radio show on Friday, June 12, Mayor Michael Bloomberg threw his support behind the legislation, noting, “It preserves the parts of mayoral control that really are important and addresses some of the criticism where people felt that you could do it better."
While public school advocacy groups acknowledge “several positive provisions” in the proposal, they say it has its fair share of shortcomings.
Critics like Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), are calling for checks and balances and transparency in the bill. Among other revisions, they are urging legislators to include fixed terms for the 13 Panel for Education Policy (PEP) appointees; an independent parent and student outreach and training initiative and a two-year expiration date for the law.