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GovernanceSoon after Mayor Bloomberg was elected he urged the New York State legislature to end the school systemdecentralization by abolishing the local community school boards and the citywide Board of Education aswell. The only reason community school districts, as geographic entities, were retained was because they

were the subjects of a lawsuit brought under the national Voting Rights Act, and therefore protected by thefederal Office of Civil Rights. Many would have rightfully thought that if the Mayor was willing to beresponsible for the success or failure of the NYC school system there would have been a personalinvestment to ensure its success and enhance the community involvement in the process. Apparently thiswas not to be the case.

The state legislation that established mayoral control essentially abolished both the locally electedcommunity school boards and the appointed citywide board of education that had governed the citysschools. Under Mayoral control all education decision-making was centralized and the participative roles ofparents and community constituencies were eliminated. The chancellor created Community EducationCouncils (CECs) that represent parents in each community school district, and a Citywide Council on HighSchools, both designed to function as advisory bodies but they are not utilized that way and both ended upwith limited roles. The mayor created the Panel on Education Policy (PEP), a citywide consultative groupestablished to provide advice to the chancellor. The Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) consists of 13appointed members and the Chancellor. Each borough president appoints one member and the mayorappoints the remaining eight. The Chancellor serves as an ex-officio non-voting member. The PEP receivesbriefings and reports and approves major policy decisions and as history has shown us there is littlequestion that the Panel for Educational Policy will go against any major policy decisions since a majority ofits members are appointed by the mayor and if anyone goes against the Mayor they get replaced asproven by The "Monday Night Massacre.5 On that night, Mayor Bloomberg and Staten Island BoroughPresident James Molinaro dismissed three PEP members for indicating that they were planning to voteagainst the mayors proposal to end social promotion. Councilman Robert Jackson, who is chair of theEducation Committee said The current administration continues to make decisions that adversely impactstudents and their families. It is well known that the PEP rubber-stamps co-locations and school closingswithout any consideration of a school communitys input. (http://politicker.com/2012/03/council-membersintroduce-resolution-to-limit-mayoral-control/)

According to analyses of international performance data from the Organization of Economic Co-operationand Development (OECD) and the McKinsey Group, the top performing countries in terms of public schooleducational achievement focus on capacity building and collaborative practice as the primary drivers ofchange, while explicitly downplaying high-stakes accountability.1 Additionally, studies in the United Statesshow that schools in communities with higher levels ofcivic engagement, all other things being equal,[are] best able to develop the essential supports necessary for school improvement and make effectiveuse of those supports.2 They include the ability to build professional capacity within a school communityand to effectively engage families and the broader community in school improvement efforts.3 Theresearch also shows that in neighborhoods with high needs, it is not enough simply to have an activecommunity structure, and that, a much more powerful model of school development is neededone that

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melds a comprehensive community school initiative.4(http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/bureaus/opm/reports/2013/NYC_NoMoreRubberStamp_v24_Jan2013.pdf)

Many of our legislatures today are addressing Mayoral Control by introducing bills i.e. theMontgomery/Weprin bill and reports of studies with recommendations i.e. NYC Comptroller John C. Liu NOMORE RUBBER STAMP: REFORMING NEW YORK CITYS PANEL FOR EDUCATIONAL POLICY. NAtew York Citys

Proposal: CPAC does not want to create the detailed plan but state and affirm thatany future legislationregarding the educational system ensures accountability, be totally transparent, has checks and balancesand encourages public involvement. The promise of a successful mayoral control can still be realized inNew York City, but change must take place and we must ACT! Accountability, Collaboration and

Transparency.Some points in the Bill and Report we stress are:

The borough presidents each appoint one member, and they must have a child in a New York CityPublic School

The other 8 PEP members can be selected splitting it between City Council appointees and Mayoralappointees. The City Council appoints 4 members: 1 should be a representative from a college oruniversity but feel they should have to be a NYC resident. 1 should be a current or past member ofa parent organization specified that it should be an organization recognized by the DOE in A-660,meaning a PTA/PA, Presidents Council or CPAC. 1 should be a current or past member of a parenteducation council and it should specify CDEC, CCELL, CCHS or CCSE. 1 should be an at largemember. The Mayoral appointees The Mayor shall appoint 4 members, all of whom are NYCresidents and 1 of which is a parent of a NYC public school student

Another option would be 8 appointed members by the Mayor but from a pool of candidatesnominated by a PEP nominating committee comprised of representatives from the following group:

Mayor, Labor, Education, Electeds and Community. (See John Liu's report @http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/bureaus/opm/reports/2013/NYC_NoMoreRubberStamp_v24_Jan2013.pdf) All persons nominated but be NYC resident.

Members should have fixed terms and only removed for cause.

Members should be able to serve out their terms even if their eligibility changes.

PEP should have the power to interview and pick a chancellor who has proper educational,managerial and personal (working with parents and getting input) experience.

The Community School Districts should be restored to their lawful place in the governancestructure, and district superintendents should have real power returned to them as intended by law

The current CFNs are not geographically based and lead to a duplication of efforts as well asdisenfranchise our communities that our schools reside in. CFNs have also made it impossible for

parents to get answers in this current system. We urge the Legislature to require that thespending, personnel and responsibilities of the CFNs be reassigned to superintendents offices withappropriate staff to do the job properly.

CEC elections have had an average of less than 50% enabling some candidates to get elected with1 vote. All registered voters should be able to a part of the process.

Governance systems like our communities are unique with its own constantly changing culture. Asuccessful and sustainable governing structure demands collaboration from teachers, principals, parents,students, neighbors, and the larger community. Mayoral Control in NYC has a culture of "My way or thehighway" at the expense of our children, families and schools. An improved mayoral accountabilityprocess committed to building collaborative structures would set the course for sustainable improvementof our schools.

1 Leana, C., The Missing Link in School Reform, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2011.2 Bryk, A. and Schneider, B., Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement, as discussed in Warren,M., and Mapp, K.,A Match on Dry Grass:Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform, Oxford University Press, 2011.3 Bryk, A., et al., Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago, as discussed in Warren, M.,and Mapp, K., Ibid.4A Match on Dry Grass: Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform, Oxford University Press,2011.

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5. Bloombergs Finest Hour, New York Sun, March 17, 2004, http://www.nysun.com/editorials/bloombergs-finest-hour/44673/, accessed on August15, 2012; Herszenhorn, D., Bloomberg Wins on School Tests After Firing Foes, New York Times, March16, 2004, http://tinyurl.com/98wx3yk,accessed on August 15, 2012; and, Phillips, A. and Walz, M., Bloomberg Announces an End to SocialPromotion in Grades 4,6, Gotham Schools,August 10, 2009, http://gothamschools.org/2009/08/10/bloomberg-announces-an-end-to-social-promotion-in-grades-4-6/, accessed on August 15,2012.http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/leadership/PEP/default.htmhttp://politicker.com/2012/03/council-members-introduce-resolution-to-limit-mayoral-control/

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