Two ways to have your voice heard starting next week on Mayoral control and DOE policies

Mayoral control will lapse again in June and either be renewed unchanged or amended. The last time the State Education Department held hearings on this issue, hundreds of parents and teachers showed up to point out the fundamental flaws in the system, and SED put out a huge report on its inherent problems and anti-democratic features. Yet Gov. Hochul ignored the public and insisted it be put in the budget and renewed unchanged for another four years. The Legislature settled on two. This time as before, she and Mamdani are asking for four years. You should recall that though Mamdani campaigned on the need to reform the law, he quickly switched his position after he was elected.

I urge people to testify if they can, to speak out against one-man rule, a system with no effective checks and balances at the local level, and which for more than twenty years has led to inordinate waste, fraud and abuse as well as ineffective and/or unjust education policies. Some talking points are available in the presentation we did for the NYC Bar Association the last time this issue came up.

2. Our newly appointed Chancellor Samuels is holding a “listening tour,” also starting next Tuesday to hear from parents, teachers and community members on what direction to take our schools. Two sessions will be held in each borough, one during the day and one at night. A list of the sessions is posted here; and you can register at on.nyc.gov/ChancellorConversations .

If you’re interested in attending one of these sessions and speaking up on the need for a real NYC class size plan and/or more rigorous protections around student privacy and the use of AI, please respond to this email.

Stay warm and thanks!