FAQ
Who is the campaign for better schools?
The Campaign for Better Schools is a diverse coalition of more than two dozen parent, youth, community based and education advocacy organizations from all five boroughs of New York City that came together to develop and advocate for a community-driven proposal for improving mayoral control.
Are you are against mayoral control?
No, the Campaign for Better Schools is not against mayoral control. We believe it needs to be improved.
A school system as diverse as ours, which serving 1.1 million students, has more than 80,000 teachers operating in more than 1,400 schools; should not be run exclusively by one person without any checks and balances to their power. We also believe that there needs to be greater transparency and more opportunities for public participation. We think that the mayor, with others involved, should remain accountable for the school system but we need to end one-man rule of our educational system.
What are the Campaigns major objectives?
- Greater public participation for parents, youth and communities in decisions affecting schools;
- Increased checks and balances because no one person should make all the big education policy decisions; and
- Greater transparency over school performance and finances, so the public can know what is really going on in our schools.
Who will appoint the Chancellor under your proposal? What role would he have with the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP)?
The mayor will continue to appoint the Schools Chancellor, who will retain oversight over the day-to-day operation of the school system. But under the Campaigh for Better Schools proposal, the chancellor should not be a voting member of the PEP, but may serve as an ex-officio member.
What changes do you propose to the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP)?
We propose three changes to the PEP:
- The PEP should have a narrow majority of members appointed by the City Council or other elected officials, and a minority of members appointed by the mayor.
- PEP members should serve for set terms, rather than being removed at-will whom ever appoints the.
- The PEP should select a Chair who sets meeting agendas
Does the Campaign for Better School have a formular regarding who will be appointing all the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) members?
No, we believe that a slim majority ought to be appointed by some elected official other than the mayor. But we are not recommending a particular formular, rather those details we are leaving to the New York Stat Legislature.
Broadly speaking we would imagine some combination of the NY City Council and borough presidents, and perhaps the public advocate or comptroller might be involved in appointments. But the Campaign for Better Schools hasn’t made any specific recommendation.
Will this proposal take us back to the days of gridlock and corruption that plagued our educational system during the days of the Board of Education system?
We don’t want to go back, we want to go forward and do better – The Campaign for Better School does not seek to return to the old “Board of Education” system.
The Campaign wants to develop a betters system that provides “Mayoral leadership” but does not allow for “One man rule” when it comes to our children’s education and their futures. Parents, students and communities have a valuable role to play in the educational future of our children. And it is essential that the powers of the mayor are subject to some checks and balances and that data coming from the Department of Education is transparent.
You say you are for mayoral control but you want a majority of the board appointed by someone other than the mayor. Doesn’t that mean an end to mayoral control?
No. We believe in mayoral control in the sense that final responsibility should lie with the mayor. In our proposal argues for mayoral leadership, the mayor still appoints the chancellor and the Chancellor would continue to exercise broad authority to direct policy and the day-to-day operations of the school system. Additionally, the mayor will also appoint close to half of the members of the PEP. He and the chancellor would only need to convince one other person to vote with them if a controversy arises. If they can’t get one more vote, than the policy is probably not a good one.
The mayor has argued that any changes to the present system will bring a return of the dysfunctional bureaucracy and an end to mayoral control?
This absolutely wrong, the mayor is presenting the public with a false choice: either you accept his form or mayoral control or you are abandoning mayoral control completely. The truth is, “mayoral control” comes is several different forms every city does not have the same system and there is no one template for “mayoral control.” For example under Boston’s system of mayoral control, the mayor appoints the central board (their equivalent of the Panel for Educational Policy) and then the central board selects the chancellor.
The point is, mayoral control can take a slightly different form and still be mayoral control. Our goal is move away from the present system of one-man rule that has come to signify New York City’s version of mayoral control.
Haven’t there been some successes under mayoral control? Aren’t graduation rates going up? Isn’t there more equity in the schools?
We don’t dispute that some progress has been made. But some of our neediest students are still being left behind, and that is unacceptable:
- Less than one out of 3 Black and Latino students graduate with a regents diploma.
- Less than one out of 4 Black and Latino males graduate with a regents diploma.
- Only 26% of English Language learners graduate within four years and more than half drop out over the course of seven years.
The Campaign for Betters schools argues that we can, and must do better than this for your children.
Reading and math scores have gone up too. Why would you want to change something that is working?
In 2008, less than 40% of Black and Latino 8th graders are reading at their grade level.
While state test scores show improvements, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows no significant progress since 2002. This test is thought to be the “gold standard” for testing and compares cities across the country.
In addition, according to NAEP, the achievement gap has not significantly narrowed despite claims to the contrary by the administration. Even on state 4th and 8th grade reading and math tests, the achievement gap between Black and Latino students and White students has barely budged since 2003.
How have local communities and parents been lock-out decisions that impact their children?
The Department of Education (DOE) has routinely failed to engage school communities on critical decisions such as school closings and the placement of new schools inside existing neighborhood schools. As recently as March parents groups had no choice but to fail a lawsuit against the Department of Education in order to have some input into school closings in their neighborhood.
How do you propose getting increase parental involvement?
Meaningful parent, student and community participation in educational decision-making is critical to the Campaign for Better Schools. We propose the creating an independent Center for Parent and Student Service and Empowerment to outreach, train, and support parents and students; strengthening the powers of the School Leadership Teams and Community Education Councils; and establishing a process for community input in opening and closing of schools.