Three of the top Democratic candidates vying for mayor played puppets to the powerful teachers union yesterday — vowing to scuttle key elements of Mayor Bloomberg’s education agenda.
The trio — former city Comptroller Bill Thompson, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and current city Comptroller John Liu — said they would impose a moratorium on shuttering low-performing schools and they’d halt the practice of allowing charter schools to share building space with traditional public schools.
Their statements parrot the line of the United Federation of Teachers, whose coveted endorsement they’re seeking. It was not a coincidence that UFT boss and political puppeteer Mike Mulgrew stood next to them at the City Hall press conference, critics charged.
“Just now on City Hall steps: A scary look at NYC’s possible future where the UFT runs the schools and Michael Mulgrew calls all the shots,” Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson tweeted.
Thompson, former president of the old Board of Education, said closing schools is “an admission of failure . . . Let us stop school closings and let us stop co-locations.”
Thompson insisted he supported charter schools. But given the expense and scarcity of real estate in the city, banning charter schools from occupying space in public school buildings would in effect, block new charter schools from opening, charter supporters said.
Liu complained that charters co-located with traditional schools “create so much friction and tension with the school buildings.”
But Bloomberg defended his policies. He claimed the graduation rates at new schools are about 20 percentage points higher than at the failing schools they replaced.
“It’s made a real difference in the lives of thousands of students,” Bloomberg said.
He accused his would-be successors of answering to “union might” rather than students.
Conspicuously absent from the union event was another Democratic mayoral candidate, Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
“I do not support a moratorium [on school closures],” Quinn said.