Tough Fight Ahead For Mayor' Continuing Schools Control

A decision by the state legislature whether to continue mayoral control of the city public school system is still two years away, but signs that Mayor Michael Bloomberg will have a huge fight on his hands trying to convince state lawmakers to continue with the centralized system are already coming into view.

Bloomberg and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), one of his arch-rivals on this issue, are already waging a small war over several issues involving teachers, such as tenure and class size.

But the mayor also faces strong opposition from influential Queens legislators, such as Assemblymembers Catherine Nolan and Ivan Lafayette, and from community and parent groups.

Last week, the usually placid mayor lost patience with the teacher's union and blasted the organization as being the same as another of his arch enemies, the NRA (National Rifle Association).

Speaking at a Department of Education rally in support of another school reorganization plan, which is opposed by the UFT and others, according to media reports, the mayor charged the UFT is merely a "small chorus" acting in its own selfinterests, "just like the NRA".

He added: "You always do have the problem of a very small group of people who are singleissue focused having a disproportionate percentage of power. That's exactly like the NRA."

UFT President Randi Weingarten refused to give an immediate comment, but the following day, said something more threatening: that she wants to form a "multi-partisan" task force to judge mayoral control of the school system and come up with possible alternatives.

Such a task force would give Weingarten and her organization plenty of time to formulate a position on continuing mayoral control of the schools before the legislature takes it up again next year.

As we noted earlier in this column, on Monday, April 9, the mayor brought together about 100 supporters of his latest reorganization plan for a rally at DOE headquarters, meeting his challengers head on and possibly thinking ahead to June 2009.

Bloomberg made mayoral control of schools his main goal after being elected for the first time fought doggedly to get it, and has withstood constant attacks against it, so he's not likely to jeopardize what would be a major legacy of his mayoral reign without an all-out battle.

The recent rally and aggressive steps to push the Department of Education's priorities, such as teacher tenure reform and opposition to limiting class sizes, a very unpopular position, indicate the mayor is ready to wage a knock-down, drag battle for what he believes to be in the best interests of the city's 1.1 million public school students.

Sometime critics of the mayor's school policies Nolan and Lafayette have not been advocating a vote against mayoral control, but have been outspoken critics of the DOE on occasion.

Despite their outspokenness, however, they have supported major funding for city schools, beginning with the $11.3 billion school construction

plan early in 2006 and the multi-billion

dollar plan to distribute school

funds more equally to favor poorer

districts, part of the

approved 2007- 08 state

budget.

But in a recent news

release, Nolan

(D- Ridgewood), who heads

the assembly Education

Committee, reported meeting in

Albany with parent representatives from her district "to share their concerns about education and the effects of mayoral control".

Nolan, whose committee will be the first hurdle to be cleared in giving mayoral control of the schools an extended life, said she came away from the meetings "with a clear sense that parents are frustrated and angered by the DOE's inability to really listen to them".

She recalled the promises made by the mayor when the landmark mayoral control law was passed.

"The mayor convinced everyone, including myself that parents would have a voice in how their children were educated," she remembered, adding ruefully, "We voted to give the mayor control, but from where I sit, good intentions are not enough."

At another point, Nolan hinted at possible curbs on the mayor's complete control, saying "The DOE should not act alone, but should be tempered by parent involvement and state government oversight."

Deputy Assembly Speaker Ivan Lafayette (D- Jackson Heights), who has often been at odds with Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, recently clashed with him over his opposition to reducing class sizes, for refusing to build more schools and classrooms and for refusing to hire more teachers to utilize the additional classrooms.

All of these differences over school policy were reinforced recently at a meeting Klein held with a group of Queens legislators.

Lafayette, who like many other Queens lawmakers and school activists has been grappling unsuccessfully with the immense school overcrowding problem, complained that Klein "fails to understand... that these 500 additional teachers and new seats would not be done all at once, but would take place over a five-year period", and that the funding is being provided by the city and state.

All of the dialogue on these vital issues convinced Lafayette that, "Under the surface, what Klein is really saying is he doesn't want to comply with the teachers' contract which was just agreed upon in the fall of 2006."

From all appearances it looks like Nolan's and Lafayette's positions dovetail with the official UFT stance, which clearly portends trouble for the mayor.

It is also very interesting that Nolan and Lafayette rank high in the Democratic hierarchy in the Assembly headed by Speaker Sheldon Silver.

It also must be kept in mind that among others who are opposed to the mayor's current and third plan for restructuring the school system are Comptroller William Thompson Jr., Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and about 20 City Councilmembers. At every turn, the mayor has strong opposition to how he's running the schools. All of this could build up to major demands for changes to the complete control mandate that the mayor received a little more than five years ago from Albany.

Keep in mind, however, that at that time the mayor was just beginning his mayoral career. Still, he persevered and won the major battle for running the schools against strong odds.

Today he's an established entity, one of the most popular and powerful chief executives in the city's history.

The never-ending fight to control the schools will build into a huge confrontation in the next two years with a lot at stake for students, parents, lawmakers and, not least of all, Mayor Michael Bloomberg.