Deals, disdain, and political connections: living in a banana republic known as Bloomberg Inc.

June 22, 8:21 PMNY Education ExaminerLorri Giovinco-Harte

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Titled after the unflattering term used to describe a country that is ruled by a small, powerful elite, the Huffington Post piece, The Banana Republic of New York Schools is a candid and often scathing commentary of mayoral control in New York City under Mike Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein.

Written by NY City parent advocate, Leonie Haimson  it describes a system of governance marked by political ambitions, authoritarian rule, and a lack of empathy for students and parents.

Haimson writes:

Here in New York City, we are living in a banana republic known as Bloomberg Inc. This sad reality is most apparent when it comes to our public schools.

Our Board of Education, which the Mayor decided to rename the Panel on Educational Policy, perhaps to demonstrate its irrelevance, was called into session on Thursday, with only one hour's public notice, to rubberstamp a school budget that contained $400 million in cuts to our schools.

On the subject of Chancellor Klein's handling of the city's school children, Haimson explains:

Chancellor Joel Klein has repeatedly announced that he has no intention of reducing class size, despite the state mandate to do so, and has been repeatedly cited for misusing hundreds of millions of dollars meant for this purpose, as reported in audits by the State Comptroller and the State Education Department. Indeed, if he has his way, Klein recently announced, he would shrink the teaching force by 30 percent, forcing class sizes to increase even further.

Only two of the top twenty executives at the Department of Educator are educators, while the rest are former lawyers and management consultants. Instead, the Mayor's decisions are influenced by a small group of billionaires, including Eli Broad, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, and Mort Zuckerman, none of whom would ever consider sending their own children to a New York City public school.

While these moguls continually praise Klein's leadership, even though he has allowed class sizes to remain at thirty or more for hundreds of thousands of students, they themselves send their children, as did Bloomberg and Klein, to private schools where no classes are larger than fifteen.

Haimson also rebuts the mayor and chancellor's claims of rising test scores and improved graduation rates.

Haimson's piece is a must read for those who are interested in the subject of mayoral control in New York City and who wish to read the perspective of someone who has had first hand experience with the current administration.

To read the full piece, visit The Huffington Post.