General News
UFT: Jury still out on mayoral control of schools
Jan 31, 2008 3:48 PM
City Council members hear from UFT President Randi Weingarten at a Jan. 11 hearing on school governance.
Well in advance of the scheduled 2009 sunset of the temporary state law that gave the mayor control of the public schools, the City Council convened a Jan. 11 hearing on school governance at which UFT President Randi Weingarten testified that any firm decisions on restructuring and “mending or ending” mayoral control were premature.
“First, the public has [to] come to a significant understanding of what’s worked or hasn’t worked under the present system that was devised seven years ago,” Weingarten said. With three reorganizations in seven years, there’s been no evaluation of what’s worked or not worked and, until then, she said, one more reorganization is one too many.
There’s also no agreed-upon measure of school success, she said, though the city puts its faith in test scores on standardized tests.
“Polls show that parents and, indeed, most informed people, yearn for a broader vision for our youngsters, one that includes literacy and numeracy, but also the ability to think critically, to appreciate the arts, to cultivate sound values and to be good citizens,” Weingarten said. “The mayor famously said, ‘Judge me on the results.’ Which results?
“We see progress, things moving in the right direction, but we have seen the same pace of change under previous chancellors, and previous governance systems, as well.”
She added, referring to the boroughwide forums the UFT is conducting on school governance [see story below], that “the union itself is still thinking through its position on school governance … engaging in a unionwide discussion, and are including other school stakeholders, most particularly parents and community leaders in our deliberations. I don’t want to presume on their conclusions” before saying mend it or end it to mayoral control.”
She did, however, offer a framework for evaluating what’s at stake in school governance.
“Getting results requires a number of key components,” she said. “It requires qualified teachers and working conditions that foster real progress. It requires engaged parents and collaboration among teachers and principals.
“It requires an accountability system that’s fair and accurate.”
She criticized the fact that the debate has bogged down around a yes or no on mayoral control itself, despite a city school-system history in which the mayor had almost complete fiscal and collective bargaining authority and that “the mayor appointed each and every member of the central school board, and when he didn’t, he virtually appointed the schools chancellor.
“What did change and what we applauded, was Mayor Bloomberg’s agreement in 2001 to unambiguously say he would be accountable,” though she acknowledged how “ the last few years have shown limitations, too — namely, the lack of transparency, checks and balances and public deliberation” that flowed from consolidating all power in the hands of one elected official.
“For any governance system to work, it needs checks and balances and a continuing voice by parents and teachers,” she said. “Neither the military nor the corporate model is appropriate for schools.”
The complete testimony is posted on www.uft.org.
