New York City mayoral candidate Bill Thompson. (REUTERS)
Mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson promised yesterday he’d retire the city’s deteriorating stock of classroom trailers if elected.
The former Board of Education president seized on reports highlighting the unhealthy conditions in some of the 350 outdoor trailers — including mold and leaks — in calling for their ouster.
“These trailers were designed as a stopgap measure — some dating back 20 years — with the assumption that they would be removed as soon as real classrooms were built. But that never happened,” said Thompson, who was flanked by United Federation of Teachers and other officials on the steps of City Hall. “It’s time to retire them completely and give our kids real classrooms.”
The Bloomberg administration has said it would eliminate the trailers, but relatively few have been removed.
Still, Department of Education officials blasted both Thompson and the UFT — which is backing him in the race for mayor — for exaggerating the extent of the problem.
The officials said a UFT report found mold in only two trailers, which are being cleaned.
“During Bill Thompson’s tenure at the Board of Education, the number of students served in trailers skyrocketed,” said DOE spokeswoman Erin Hughes.
“[His] vow to eliminate all trailers immediately raises serious questions about where he would educate those children and how he’d pay for it.”