Category Archives: Mayoral control

Where are NYC’s Science Talent Winners?

Posted on January 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

Leonie Haimson documents a precipitous drop in NYC’s share of semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search program during the Bloomberg/Klein administration.

Let’s see how this one gets spun.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Mayoral control, Schools

Tagged , , ,

An Equal-Opportunity Offender

Posted on November 19, 2010 | 3 Comments

Bloomberg, Black, and Klein

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s designation of Cathie Black as the next schools chancellor offends almost everyone.

To educators, Black’s lack of education credentials (like Joel Klein’s) shows Bloomberg’s basic disrespect for their profession. How would physicians react to the designation of a publishing executive as Surgeon General, or lawyers to Black’s designation as U.S. Attorney General? Continue reading →

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Mayoral control, Schools

Tagged , , , , ,

Because He Can

Posted on November 12, 2010 | 3 Comments

Because He Can

Michael Bloomberg’s appointment of Cathie Black as NYC schools chancellor shouldn’t surprise anyone. Bloomberg simply used the mayoral control powers the state legislature granted him in 2002 and 2009.

Why did he appoint Black? For the same reason that a male canine tends to indulge in his favorite relaxation exercise: because he can. Continue reading →

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Mayoral control

Tagged , , , , ,

Who’s Accountable?

Posted on October 18, 2010 | Leave a comment

Since July, 2004, when Public Law 108-271 changed the name of the General Accounting Office to the Government Accountability Office, “accountability” has dominated discourse in our political arena.

When a disaster hits, whether it’s a construction crane collapse, a gas line explosion, an oil platform disaster, a municipal budget shortfall, or the perceived failure of the nation’s educational system, editorial writers, politicians, and pundits pile on, demanding “accountability.” Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Mayoral control

Tagged , , ,

Term Limits: The Rub with re-Democratizing NYC

Posted on February 16, 2010 | Leave a comment

NY City Hall

One of the perquisites of being Mayor of NYC is that you get to decide who in the city can make millions of dollars. Officially, the path to city deals—for concessions, leases and major development projects—goes through any one of a number of committees, boards and commissions that dole out the city’s money, seemingly (partially) independent of the mayor. Yet, unofficially, or at least a level or two below the surface of public perception, the mayor’s fingerprints are all over the process. For all of these decision-making groups have two things in common: They were established through the 1989 charter revision, and the mayor appoints a majority of their members. Changing this with a new charter revision will be no simple task. Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision, Mayoral control

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Unbalanced Coverage: NYC School Closings

Posted on February 2, 2010 | 1 Comment

WNYC’s Morning Edition ran a four-and-a-half minute story about the lawsuit brought by the UFT and the NAACP against NYC to stop the city from closing 19 underperforming schools. Articulating the NAACP position was NYS NAACP Chair Hazel Dukes, whose sound bite ran for 10 seconds. But the story gave City Hall, in the person of Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, a three-and-a-half minute interview to make the city’s case. No quote from UFT.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Mayoral control, Schools

Tagged , , , ,