Campaign for Better Schools

Six in ten New Yorkers believe the mayor should no longer run the city’s school system, and that the responsibility should be given to a citywide panel, according to a Marist Poll released today. When asked the question, “Do you feel the responsibility for running the city’s public schools should remain under Mayor Bloomberg or should responsibility be given to an appointed citywide Panel on Education Policy?” 60% said transfer the responsibility to the Panel on Education Policy and 32% said it should remain with the mayor.

“The Marist Poll shows growing support for the end of one-man rule,” said Choua Vue, Education Policy Coordinator for the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. “The fact that graduation rates for English Language Learners has actually declined shows us that mayoral control, as it currently is, has not helped immigrant students. To make sure all students receive a quality education, mayoral control will need to be strengthened with a better system of checks and balances.”

“These results show that New Yorkers are opposed to one-man rule of schools,” said Zakiyah Ansari, a parent leader and representative of the Campaign for Better Schools. “There is strong support out there for checks and balances to the mayor’s power. People realize that one person can’t possibly know what’s right for over a million school children.”

The Campaign for Better Schools supports maintaining mayoral control but adding checks and balances to the mayor’s power through a meaningful Panel for Education Policy (PEP). The Campaign proposes set terms for PEP members, and that a narrow majority of members be appointed by someone other than the mayor. This would give the PEP the independence it needs to weigh in on major policy issues in a meaningful way.

“The poll shows that people want their voices to be counted and they want a way to participate in this system,” said Ana Maria Archila, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York.

“This poll shows their is a strong sentiment for having a meaningful Panel for Education Policy, in fact it sounds like many New Yorkers want to go further than our campaign’s proposal, under which the mayor still controls the chancellor and almost half the PEP,” said April Humphrey, Campaign Coordinator.

“New Yorkers understand the dangers of putting too much power in any one individual,” said Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children. “Even if they like what this mayor does, they may not like what the next mayor does. They want to see checks and balances to protect the system from abuse and improve the educational quality for every child.”