Bloomberg creates Board of Ed which will rubber stamp his decisions until he regains control

July 5, 7:50 PMNY Education ExaminerLorri Giovinco-Harte

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At least, this is what appears to have happened.

Unable to get our dysfunctional state Senate to complete any of the tasks in front of them (other than to collect their tax payer funded salaries), New York City has been forced to revert back to the old system of a Board of Education. 

The Senate was scheduled to decide whether or not to extend mayoral control of the city schools, but because our political leaders can't figure out how to play nice, the city has been forced to quickly form a Board of Education.

Not to worry, though - Mayor Bloomberg, along with New York City's five borough presidents,  compiled a 7 member board, made up mostly of friends and sympathizers to Mayor Bloomberg, who have agreed to approve all of Chancellor Klein's contractual decisions and who will most likely disband quietly if the Senate (in the event that they get their act together ) votes to extend mayoral control.

Critics of mayoral control in New York City are reportedly looking very carefully at the newly appointed Board of Education, which is feared to be just another attempt to give Mayor Bloomberg complete control of the schools.   Parent Advocate Leonie Haimson expressed the following:

There seems to be no shame and embarrassment about their collective refusal to acknowledge the need for any independent vetting of spending and policy decisions, and to insulate our children, our schools, and the taxpayers from destructive and wasteful policies.

We will have to wait and see what will happen when the Senate eventually gets back on track.