The New York Times’ Jennifer Medina and Robert Gebeloff have a very good article today that looks at the New York City public schools under the control of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Since 2002, the state and city of New York have let Bloomberg make the New York City education department a free-floating agency, independent of state and city government bureaucracies. Bloomberg in turn has empowered schools chancellor Joel Klein to control a budget that has swelled from $13 billion in 2002 to $22 billion today. State legislators will soon decide whether to keep NYC schools under mayoral control.

Some results of mayoral control include principal and administrators getting large salary increases. There was a big "accountability office" established to monitor student progress. And without having to follow state and city procurement practices, the schools have rewarded no-bid contracts.

What the state of New York decides has national implications. Other big cities, like Chicago, swear by the mayoral control model, which strips power traditionally held by school boards. Former Chicago Public Schools head and current Education Sec. Arne Duncan has become something of a mayoral control evangelist, and preached the gospel recently in Detroit. The idea behind mayoral control is that it cuts through the loathed education bureaucracy and holds two prominent public figures (the mayor and the mayor’s appointed education leader) accountable.

There’s little evidence mayoral control in New York or Chicago has undermined public schools. But there’s also little evidence it’s improved student performance.-MB

Comment RSS - You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.