Anthony Cody describes the campaign to put mayors in charge of school districts and the reasons behind it.
The biggest supporter of mayoral control is Arne Duncan. When mayoral control was up for renewal in Néw York City, he weighed in to support it. He lobbied against any effort to give the mayor’s appointees set terms; he insisted they should serve at the pleasure of the mayor to give his absolute authority over every decision.
That allowed the mayor to ignore protests against school closing and charters, both of which are priorities for Duncan.
Who else supports mayoral control? The Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation. The billionaires don’t like democracy.
Unfortunately, mayoral control hasn’t worked out so well for Néw York City, Chicago, and D.C., but why let evidence get in the way of a desire for total power?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Here’s what Chicago got under mayoral control. Lies, diversions and deceptions. Parent and community voices ignored. Rubber stamping of reformer policies.http://ilraiseyourhand.org/content/foia-shows-cps-board-members-had-no-financial-data-savings-shutter-50-public-schools
You left out Duncan’s attempt with Senator Feinstein at the illegal according to the California State Constitution mayoral control of LAUSD and other school districts of instituting mayoral control. In their desperation they lied to the California Legislature by stating that one of the reasons for mayoral control was that those before Daley took over the Chicago Public Schools in 1995 had put the Chicago Schools into $1.8 billion in debt which Daley, Vallas and Duncan had to clean up. The fact is that the 1994 Chicago Public Schools 1994 Budget shows a surplus. How do you have a $1.8 billion deficit with a surplus? Why you lie for political and ideological reasons. How about dumping both Emmanuel and Duncan at the same time. That would send a message wouldn’t it.
The corruption is slicker than in Louisiana, but no less vile.
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/20113457-419/with-rahms-depaul-plan-weve-entered-a-new-arena-of-stupidity.html
Even The Nation is chiming in. http://www.thenation.com/blog/174478/rahm-emmanuels-zombie-pigs-vs-chicagos-angry-birds#
We know that most city, state, local and national governments in most nations and regions are somewhat corrupt. It comes with the territory: none of us humans are incorruptible, and when one rises into power, it is very, very easy to steal. That being said, the only thing that keeps people with power from stealing and doing wrong, in general, is the fear of the consequences of being found out. We don’t want to feel guilty or look bad, we don’t want people to yell at us in anger, and we don’t want to lose reputation or to go to jail, get divorced, get beaten up, lose our jobs and homes, or even be executed. Without public pressure and inquiry, however, it’s much easier for someone to get away with stuff. With mayoral control, you also get much, much less transparency, and potentially much more corruption than before, since there is essentially no public, democratic input or even right to find out: requests for information are constantly stonewalled, and since there are no ‘factions’ competing against each other, as there would be with an elected board, the press and the public get no opposing sides leaking condemnatory facts about each other — and hence enlightening the public.
Instead, we have pretty all the major players (right-wing Republican AND Democrat billionaires and their bought-and-paid-for mouthpieces and shills and pundits) clamoring for less democracy, less input by ordinary people, shipping industrial jobs overseas for one-twentieth of the former salaries and wages, eliminating or cutting back on Social Security and pensions, and blowing up the public schools and any accountability for the wealthiest, and demonizing unions. Only the very richest and the most ‘connected’ people need run the country — and to hell with everybody else.
In Phoenix, it is not the mayor, but the governor and the superintendent of public instruction who wield the power, or, rather, who bow down to the power of $$$$. They have a noose around the neck of public education and tighten it a bit every day. First, the legislation was written so that a public school district could receive more funding per student for the schools it converted to charter designations. Unfortunately, many districts are jumping on that bandwagon–so this week the public education stranglers are attempting to shut down that option for districts.
And the current and former Supts. of Public Instruction in AZ are not and have never been educators. In fact John Huppenthal, the current Supt, never even attended public schools. Both are anti-public school ideologues though.
patriciahale,
I have heard that Huppenthal has developed a fondness for world travel on the Pearson dime. Who elected these people??
It also easier to implement the Soviet-styled education plan.
Yup…we are there. Remember Hitler’s students?
Sorry, don’t understand. What is your reference to Hitler’s students?
Diane — “mayoral control” can mean a lot of different things. With respect to NYC, what should the system that replaces mayoral control look like? From what I’ve read and heard, none of the mayoral candidates are advocating for a return to the system that existed before Bloomberg took office. Nor is the teachers’ union. What they criticize is usually phrased as “mayoral form in its current form,” and the most radical change they advocate is that the number of PEP members appointed by the mayor be reduced to a minority of the 13 slots (versus the current 8 out of 13 seats that the mayor appoints). What’s your view?
Here in New Haven, the incumbent mayor controls the only appointed school board in Ct. Of course, him having been elected for 10-year consecutive terms has been a factor.
This mayor, who is retiring after this term, has imported one of NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s lawyer reformers to be our next superintendent after the retirement of the current mayor’s appointee of, guess what, 20 years.
It gets better.
The local teacher’s union (NHFT) management, is staffed by the mayor’s cronies and do his bidding. Unfortunately the rank and file teachers have their heads in the sand and do not seem to see the train bearing down on us. This is the coming hybridzation of charter and public schools in New Haven. Or the charter schools will take the cream of the students and the public schools will have to deal with everyone else.
Oh, did I forget to mention that the mayor sits on the public district BOE and the sits on the board of Achievement First, a private charter organization that has, not coincidentally, as one of its founders the recently appointed State Commissioner of Education?
And, the mayor appointed the then CEO of ConnCan, a charter school advocacy group, to the NHBOE. And, the mayor recently appointed an administrator from Achievement First to the NHBOE. And the mayor saw to it that a unused school was sold to Achievement First so a new charter high school could be built using 35 million of state funds? And this is just what I know about….
So tell me, does anyone see where this is headed? While all eyes are elsewhere?
Reblogged this on Carolina Mountain Blue and commented:
Mayoral control over a school district is a bad idea…no, check that: it’s a very bad idea, period.
Dictators like their power. Fortunately in Nevada there are many cities that have no mayor. Unfortunately, the state is dictating policy and evaluation based on test scores.
This is from about a month ago but it addresses Arnie dead on: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/28/simmons-critics-join-common-cause-to-block-latest-/?page=all
Our mayor of our tiny town is a bungling shill for the machine. the UN sustainable development occupy disorienting common core power trip. cozying up to the regional pushers and all the crony phonys pretending to help our town but destroying it while syphoning our tax dollars out of our town, and attaching tax increment financing in secret to unessecary “improvements” to town and school, which will eventully bankrupt us forcing us into a regional governance and school. A rare public school with 40 to 50 per grade and everyone can walk to school.Now the borough wants to lease the tiny wonderful public school. clearly to run it into the ground syphoning dollars and rearranging it to merge into Arne Duncan’s Utopian dream of School as community center, dog pound, hair salon meth treatment center old folks home and psychology centers. and as Melissa Harris Perry says, they are not our kids anyway. and the sad mayor can get a lifetime appointment to do whatever Arne and Melissa want.
the commentor above who questioned the Hitler comment needs to study a bit of Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Frankfurt school, Fabian socialist or just 18th 19th century German philosophy and politics to get a clue. or just google Hitlrs Education system or Stalin’s education system. its too easy today to get history on line to ask these questions.
Don’t “hate on” someone for asking questions! If they don’t know, they don’t know. Simply provide a link where the individual can read and make up their own mind.
…billionaires don’t like democracy…
OTOH, can we find examples of, say, the Forum for Education and Democracy supporting elected boards via an electorate fully informed of the duties and responsibilities of the board members?
I’d be happy to see board members thoroughly educated on the meaning of their oath of office (e.g. via Robert Strauss’ education judgment rule), regardless of whether they are elected or appointed.
Of course businessmen would favor mayoral control. Businesses are not democracies. Having elected school boards is messy, but it does empower the populace.
I am so looking forward to the next presidential election.
Need to buy the Duncan some walking shoes cause he WILL BE OUTTA OF HERE!!
Obama let the Educational system down…he has let the bridges fall down..
After catching the 911 creep, I guess he thought his job was over.
“After catching the 911 creep. . . ” HA HA! Kabuki theatre at its finest.
In all fairness, my union supported it twice. Why they did so I have no idea.
It is as true today as it was in the 1920s and 1930s: one of the major roadblocks to re-building a real labor movement is the poor character and poor judgment (and corruption) of the very people who are currently in charge of what’s left of our labor movement. It’s sad when the head of the American Federation of Teachers has never been a teacher (or worked in any school in any way, shape, or form).
Yes, the UFT has always supported some form of centralized control and signs are pointing to their continued support this time albeit with some tweaks. The UFT leadership seems to believe that one day they will get their mayor of choice despite not being able to since – my memory lapses here – maybe briefly in 1988. The highlight was the 3 people they endorsed in 2001, one after another as each one faded, that led to Michael Bloomberg’s takeover. Now they wear buttons proudly showing 12-31-13 his last day in office. Reminds me of the Giulani countdown. And the Koch one too.
And Flerp is right — none of the candidates or the UFT are really offering a serious alternative. Having worked under every type of system from 1967 through 2005 I have lots of ideas that might work that involve school level bottom up democratically run schools. We can have that system if they make me czar.
Thanks for the response on that issue, Norm. I’d be interesting to hear some of your ideas. My sense is that despite all the tough talk about how awful Bloomberg has been, at most we’ll see very minor tweaks to his approach under our next mayor, whoever it is.
I am in favor of school boards, however, they are so divided they can’t possibly change anything. In Milwaukee, I supported mayoral control partially for that reason but also my good friend Tom Barrett is mayor and he received 5 of my books with the intent of really changing the system within the public schools and, yes, with unions in tact and teachers in the lead.
Of course mayoral control didn’t go through and the board remains inept and the Governor is intent on closing schools and replacing them with vouchers. But the people of my former state wanted Walker instead of Tom so the beat goes on. I left Wisconsin partially because of Walker but more because of the not so bright people that voted for him. It isn’t just that he doesn’t have a college degree. It’s that he doesn’t have one because he was caught with campaign violations running for student government. Not to mention Koch bros policies to destroy education
Oh well, sometimes the masses are asses.