The Campaign For Better Schools Chides The Mayor

Mayor Bloomberg thinks of himself more of an authoritarian or a King than a democratically-elected official. He's responded to "King Mike" before but it is his policies that have most of his critics concerned. The forced extension of term limits is just the latest and most public of his decisions that help a few to the detriment of the many. Just ask the people who have been priced out of their neighborhoods thanks to his zoning laws. Another issue that has many parent up in arms is his total control of the school system. NYC's schools were broken before he came into office, but singular rule by Bloomberg hasn't done much to help alleviate the situation.

From The Daily Politics:

Here's a brief video of an anti-mayoral control of schools rally that took place at City Hall yesterday and gives some idea of what Mayor Bloomberg will be up against as he tries to convince state lawmakers to reauthorize legislation that put control in his hands before it sunsets next summer.

Participants, who shouted "one man rule has got to go," deemed mayoral control a "failure" and announced the formation of the Campaign for Better Schools, which includes more than 25 groups like AQE, the New York Immigrant Coalition and the Coalition for Educational Justice, to fight its reapproval without changes.

Elected officials on hand for the rally: Councilman Bill de Blasio, Sen. Eric Schneiderman and Sen. Kevin Parker. Schneiderman and Parker both voiced support for stronger public participation in education policy-making, which is an issue that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has also cited (specifically, the need for more parental input) as a priority for his Democrat-controlled house.

Earlier this fall, some Assembly Democrats warned it would be more difficult for Bloomberg to preserve mayoral control - a key element of his legacy - if he sought to extend term limits and run for re-election.

Bloomberg thinks he knows what's best for all of us but if anyone knows how dysfunctional the school system is, it would be the parents who send their children by the hundreds of thousands off in the morning. He's already dismissed the will of the voters on their decision to enact term limits, but here we have a chance to not only strip him and the Council of that decision in the newly reconfigured State Legislature but rescind his power over our schools as well.