Mayoral control is back. Maybe it never went away. An Ithaca Journal report out of Albany says that the State Senate supports giving Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano control of that city’s schools. And Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said recently that he’s interested in mayoral control, too.
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren has so far refrained from making definitive remarks about mayoral control. During her election campaign, she said she wouldn’t pursue it, since Rochesterians have already had this debate.
But the Journal article quotes Warren saying she’s leaving the decision regarding Rochester and mayoral control to the governor and state lawmakers.
It’s hard to imagine why Warren would leave lawmakers in other parts of the state to decide what’s best for Rochester’s students, or why lawmakers would take action of such magnitude on their own. Lawmakers seem to be responding to Spano’s request, and could conceivably do the same for Brown and Warren.
Warren certainly has enough motivation to pursue mayoral control. She would be in a better position to support the area’s charter schools and help bring in new ones. And she would have more control over the $1 billion schools modernization program, which she recently criticized for cost overruns and delays.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg managed to convince the State Legislature that he should take control of the city’s schools in 2002. And since then, student performance at the largest school district in the country has been under intense scrutiny by both advocates and critics of mayoral control.
Though New York City school students have made some gains during this time, it would be inaccurate to attribute this entirely to mayoral control.Â
This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2014.
Some of you might recall that I complimented City Newspaper reporter, Tim Macaluso for getting it right regarding the potential paper-tiger-subterfuge, which Board of Education Commissioner and president Van White is attempting to run on the community. See the COMMENTS portion of the article at following link:
http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/News…
I had also noted in my above referenced COMMENTS, that “at times, I have been among City Newspaper reporter Tim Macaluso’s biggest critics.” Well, this article represents a classic example of why I frequently criticize Mr. Macaluso’s reporting. Sometimes it’s difficult to determine if the guy is really paying attention to what’s going on around him, or if he is just plain dauncey, or a shrewd and calculating operative who formulates his reports in a manner aimed at soliciting specific types of responses.
For example, why would any education reporter write: “It’s hard to imagine why Warren would leave lawmakers in other parts of the state to decide what’s best for Rochester’s students, or why lawmakers would take action of such magnitude on their own.” This guy is kidding, right? I mean, first of all, even though I’m sure they would confer with her, ultimately it’s not up to Mayor Warren whether or not “lawmakers in other parts of the state [specifically, in Albany] decide [that] what’s best for Rochester’s students” is for the State to take control. Anyone who has been paying attention knows that there have been ongoing discussions for many months, if not years, regarding the possibility of a State-takeover of public schools in both Rochester and Buffalo, and we know, with regard to governance — “lawmakers [and policymakers] in other parts of the state [specifically in Albany, i.e., the New York State Board of Regents and New York State Legislature actually have the power to] decide what’s best for Rochester’s students.” So, what is this guy talking about? Is his question simply a matter of being uninformed, dauncey, or shrewd and calculating? Does anyone know?
It truly is up to the mayor Howard to make the decision. If she chooses to take over the district as mayor, that choice would be hers and give her the controlling interest. Should the mayor model Buffalo and the other, she would first make that decision and then provide the way to do it in Rochester. Why does Rochester, NY need a state takeover of their school district? They should opt for a City Mayoral takeover and establish a qualified sub section/agency in city government to run it.