Let the people run the schools
Mayoral control of New York’s public schools, set to expire this summer, may wind up on the negotiating block again despite the fact that since becoming the law in 2002, it has led to consistent improvement in math and reading scores and graduation rates in the nation’s largest school district. Gov. Hochul correctly put a four-year extension in her budget — much better than her predecessor, who toyed with Mayor Adams’ predecessor. Really, it ought to be made permanent law.
When the mayor runs the schools, a focused management team can follow through with a principled agenda. The Education Department can build strong partnerships with other departments. Change, while never rapid, can happen in less than the length of time it takes a kindergartener to graduate high school.
To the extent that the concept still has its opponents, it’s because it’s a misnomer. Yes, the mayor chooses the chancellor, who makes most critical policy decisions. But nobody bats an eye at mayoral control of parks or police or the health department or sanitation because they intuitively understand that in those realms, making the city’s highest and most visible elected official responsible and accountable is the best way to give the voters a say in their direction. In other words, mayoral control is democratic control.
Before 2002, city schools were run by a seven-person Board of Education. Each borough president appointed one member; the mayor appointed two. The result was that five-sevenths of the power rested with officials in largely useless offices chosen in under-the-radar elections. Meanwhile, 32 community school boards, their members elected by a few hundred people, predictably operated as selfish little fiefdoms.
The appearance of popular input belied the reality that petty politics ruled, and the bureaucracy always won.
Nothing ensures that any particular mayor will lead well. But giving the people the power to elect the person who sets the direction and calls the biggest shots — and putting public education squarely at the center of our political debate — is the best chance we’ve got.