By Anna Gustafson
More than half of Queens residents support renewing mayoral control of the public school system and approve of the way Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been handling education, a Quinnipiac poll found.
According to the poll released last week, 57 percent of borough residents believe mayoral control should be continued, and 58 percent of Queens residents polled were pleased with how Bloomberg has run the schools.
City residents gave the green light to the mayor, who is running for a third term, to continue his handling of the schools that has been criticized by some borough lawmakers and Queens education leaders. The poll reported 57 percent of city residents wanted to see mayoral control continue and 57 percent approved of the way Bloomberg has run the schools.
Manhattan residents gave Bloomberg the best marks on mayoral control, with 65 percent of the residents saying they want to see the mayor continue to run the schools. Individuals in Brooklyn were the least happy with Bloomberg and 50 percent of residents there said they would like to see school governance continued.
The same trend continued with how pleased residents were with the mayor’s handling of the schools in general. Some 65 percent of Manhattan residents again approved of the way Bloomberg is running the schools, while only 49 percent of individuals in Brooklyn said they were happy with the mayor.
“For the school districts I represent, such as 25, 26 and 28, there’s widespread dissatisfaction with the level of input they are given under mayoral control,” state Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) said. “We’re one city, but I don’t think there’s any serious debate that people in Manhattan get more attention from city government than those of us in the outer boroughs.”
State senators were expected to vote on their mayoral control bill Thursday.
The state Senate majority conference reached an agreement on school governance with Bloomberg a little more than a week ago, and lawmakers, including Senate President Pro-tem Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), said the bill gives more of a voice to parents and strengthen the role of community superintendents.
The Assembly passed a bill in June that would allow Bloomberg to retain control of city schools for another six years. Many of the Queens representatives approved the bill, but Assemblyman Mark Weprin (D-Little Neck) voted against it and said he wanted a clearer delineation of the role of district superintendents in order to give them a more active role.
“I’m not against mayoral control,” Weprin said. “I’m against the way they’ve done it.”
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e-mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 174.
