It ain’t broke, but it needs some fixin’.
That was the general consensus at the first in a series of state Assembly public hearings yesterday in Queens on whether to maintain mayoral control of the city’s school system.
The state law that gave Mayor Bloomberg control of the public schools in 2002 expires in June – but even critics of the law didn’t argue for a return to the old days.
“We can’t let the law expire and go back to the way it was,” said Assembly member Mark Weprin, who has been a frequent critic of Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.
About 200 parents and advocates at the hearing called for a host of improvements, particularly to address a lack of parent engagement and transparency under mayoral control.
They called for greater independence for the Panel for Education Policy – which was derided repeatedly as a rubber stamp for the mayor – the creation of an independent body to review DOE statistics, and for elected parent groups to have a greater say in big decisions.
“We cannot continue to have a system that alienates parents and educators by imposing reforms without any consultation,” said Ana Maria Archila, of the Campaign for Better Schools.
Education officials acknowledged they were working to improve parent engagement.