As soon as he was elected NYC mayor in 2003, Michael Bloomberg asked the Legislature to give him full control of the schools. The Legislature, wowed by the billionaire mayor with a reputation for business acumen, gave him what he wanted. He promptly renamed the Board of Education, and turned it into the Department of Education, no longer an independent agency but a branch of city government, like the Fire Department or the Department of Sanitation. It’s previous governing board, called the Board of Education for more than 150 years, was dubbed the Panel on Educational Priorities. The PEP had a majority appointed by the mayor, who served at his pleasure. He could fire them at will. Bloomberg used his power to reorganize the entire school system four times, to close scores of schools, especially large high schools, to open hundreds of small schools and charter schools.
The old Board of Education had a public relations department of three people, whose main job was to write press releases. Under Bloomberg’s control, more than 20 people joined the PR department, and they existed to glorify and exalt every action or decision by the mayor and his chancellor.
This authoritarian structure has remained in place for almost 20 years. No mayor wants to give up control of the schools. The schools continue to be plagued with problems, not surprisingly. Mayoral control solved nothing, despite years of extravagant (and illusory) claims about a “New York City miracle.” Academics wrote books about the glories of mayoral control, now forgotten. The “miracle” faded away.
Parent leaders wrote a demand to restore democratic governance, which appeared in the Gotham Gazette.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Actually, the NYC Dept of Education is NOT a city agency like any other — and certainly not like the Sanitation or the Fire Dept, as the Mayor’s authority over the schools comes directly from the state. Unlike those other agencies, the City Council can make no law regarding the policies of the NYC DOE. As such, the ONLY local elected who has any real direct power over our schools is the Mayor and his appointed Chancellor, and there are no effective checks and balances at the local level, especially given that he has a super-majority of appointees on the Bd of Ed, now called the Panel on Educational Policy. The inherent problems of such an autocratic system were further exposed by the recent appointment of Joe Belluck to the PEP by our new Mayor , Eric Adams, Belluck is the head of the SUNY charter committee which has authorized 2/3 of the charter schools in NYC, and clearly does not have the interests of our public schools at heart. More on this here https://nypost.com/2022/02/14/eric-adams-expected-to-tap-charter-school-backer-for-citywide-panel/ and our press release here. https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2022/02/education-advocates-and-parents-speak.html
The appointment of Joseph Belluck to the city’s PEP sure looks like a reward to the charter billionaires who funded Mayor Adams’ campaign.
Leonie,
I suspect you could write a book on the disastrous Bloomberg administration of the schools, not only closing schools and opening hundreds of small schools with barely qualified leaders, but the award of hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to dubious tech providers. At one point, as I recall, you saved the city $600-700 million by calling out one such contract.
Does Joseph Belluck need to appear before the city council? Or does he have to answer questions under oath in any setting?
Because he did not seem to have to do so in his job as head of the SUNY Charter Institute’s board of enablers of the worst charter practices.
Belluck truly was one of the worst overseers I have ever seen. I recently watched an over the top appearance by him where he seemed to believe his job was fawning over a Success Academy administrator and asking her the “hard question” of whether the location of the fancy new Success Academy digs in some of the most expensive real estate in Manhattan was made more difficult because of the Lincoln Tunnel noise.
If we had any decent journalism at the NYT or Chalkbeat NY or anywhere else, there would be a real investigative story on Belluck and his so-called leadership of the SUNY Charter board since Pedro Noguera resigned in disgust from the rabidly pro-charter board many years ago.
Belluck has no integrity and like Trump, because of a horrible media he has been able to act without a modicum og oversight.
No to both questions. Perhaps you can email Chalkbeat with your suggestion at ny.tips@chalkbeat.org The NYT is probably a lost cause.
Leonie,
Thank you for your good work. Maybe you have a way to publicize this.
I am going to post a link to the video of the 12/09/2021 meeting of the SUNY Charter Institute in which the white SUNY Charter Institute board members – led by Joseph Belluck – demonstrates their unique definition of “oversight”. It is a remote meeting to approve renewals.
At 52:43 in the video, Joseph Belluck begins their rubber stamp approval of Success Academy by introducing their representatives as “Last, but certainly not least….” and it gets worse from there.
After seemingly permanent Executive Director Susan Miller Carello demonstrates her own oversight abilities by presenting that Success Academy Hudson Yards is absolutely and positively perfect and should be given a 5 year renewal to reward them for their perfection — no oversight needed! — Joseph Belluck asks his fellow white trustees whether they have any questions. His fellow trustees are so over the top impressed with Carello’s presentation of Success Academy’s perfection that they are speechless and so delighted to confirm they have no questions for this charter school network that is a model of perfection.
(It is interesting to watch Belluck’s reaction when the 3 Success Academy representatives introduce themselves. The second one is an attractive young Success Academy head of the school management office at Hudson Yards. While Belluck barely acknowledges the other two, when she introduces herself, she gets a unique “Hello, welcome” smiling acknowledgement that the others don’t.)
At 55:19, you see Belluck doing his version of asking hard questions after the other trustees pass. He asks the same young woman who got his special welcome:
“My only question to you is how is it for the school being located at Hudson Yards, the sort of new up-and-coming area of Manhattan?”
Belluck then has a “tough oversight” conversation with that young woman about how amazing the facilities are and how “vibrant” the community is.
That short “oversight” conversation ends with Belluck saying “YOU CAN’T ARGUE WITH SUCCESS…” while he and the other white trustees laugh and celebrate the love they have for Success by rubber stamping the renewal!
It is sickening to watch that definition of “oversight” at 58:02
(I had to use all caps because it is astonishing that the head of oversight of this problematic charter so blatantly revealed his oversight philosophy — “you can’t argue with Success”.)
The entire “oversight” lasts from 52:43 to 58:30 and consists of Belluck’s over the top fawning before his directing the rubber stamp approval.
I will try to post the link, but if not, it is possible to google it.
https://sysadm.mediasite.suny.edu/Mediasite/Play/a57a466126264e39b1eb9630403bfa041d
^^^This is a link to Belluck leading that meeting, and I especially recommend everyone watch beginning at 52:43 for the 5 minute “love fest” that constitutes oversight by Belluck.
^^You may have to rewind a bit on this video to find the right time to see the full presentation of Belluck’s “oversight”. Begins at 52:43.
Twenty years of mayoral control did not solve any of the alleged problems public school were dealing with, BUT that step back did move one city closer to an authoritarian dictatorship.
What’s next, hunting witches, burning books, et al. — all at the whim of a mayor with way too much power. The same level of power the traitor that once lived in the White House was striving for.
“authoritarian” and the richy rich oligarchy in charge: whatever makes money for the oligarchy becomes a sort of “game, set, match” recipe
I agree about mayoral control, but the two “parent leaders” are not exactly representative of typical NYC public school parents. They’re hyper-woke activists whose main concern is probably that Eric Adams won’t go along with the policies they’ve been successfully pushing for years. Shino Tanikawa has no kids in NYC public schools. When she was on the community education council for my district, she infamously told another board member that she refused to work with her because “I must protect myself from harm caused by non-racists,” and that she would only work with the board member if she “exhibited her commitment to anti-racism work.”
If anyone’s interested, here is an Atlantic article documenting the absolute insanity that surrounded the District 2 Community Education Council.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/meta-arguments-about-anti-racism/615424/
It’s hard to take seriously the guy who professes to be outraged at a few words on a single power point slide who is suddenly appalled that anyone would criticize a guy who is supposed to be participating in an important meeting who decided it was necessary in the middle of a zoom meeting to hold his daughter’s friend’s mother’s nephew on his lap.
People in glass houses…..
Furthermore, that Atlantic article was far more nuanced than flerp’s shocking attack on Shino. In fact, it was other people – not Shino – who first raised the issue of that child, and apparently quite a few (100?) people watching noticed it.
“Emily Hellstrom, another council member who wants to end screening, criticized Wrocklage as well. “What you did, it was purposeful, it was knowing,” she said in the meeting that went viral. “The premeditated obnoxiousness you started off with, with the whiteboard … You had a smirk and a grin on your face when you pulled that child in, and … in a joking tone, you said, ‘My living room’s integrated right now,’ as if the hundreds of years of segregation were nothing, because you happened to have a Black friend. It was so belittling. It was so snide … Perhaps you didn’t intend it to be racist. And that does not matter. It was perceived as racist by many people … You need to look deep inside and say ‘I hurt a lot of people.’”
In fact, the people who first objected were two white parents so I don’t know why you are attacking Shino for this and defending the white guy who even the Atlantic writer noted was quite obnoxious himself:
“At times, Broshi was on the receiving end of antagonizing behavior rather than dishing it out. At times, Wrocklage antagonized others or presumed bad motives. ”
But part of implicit bias is that folks like flerp ONLY exaggerate the supposed “harm” done by those who are anti-racist (like a few words on a single power point slide taken out of context) while these folks get all riled up if anyone dares to criticize someone who represents their own view. Flerp’s demonization of Shino was unwarranted.
Note that the Atlantic article in no way made the ugly character assassination of Shino that flerp did. That reflects flerp’s own feelings, not anyone else’s.
Shino was president of D2 CEC for many years, and both her daughters went through the public schools from Kindergarten through HS. She is now an appointed member of the CCHS and is highly respected by both elected officials and the larger parent community. She was also an appointed member of the School Diversity Advisory Group, and many other education Task forces. Nequan is the long-time president of CEC 16 in Bed Stuy, and is also very well-respected by parents, advocates and city officials. Moreover, they have both been on the record in opposition to Mayoral control long before Eric Adams was elected – so the above comment is incorrect on that matter as well.
Shino served on the Parent Commission on School Governance more than a decade ago, on which I was served.. We provided detailed proposals on how Mayoral control should be reformed at that time, which people can check out at http://www.parentcommission.org/parent_commission_Final_Report.pdf
Instead of addressing the substance of their oped — whose point of view is widely shared by many parent leaders and advocates throughout the city, the anonymous commenter above makes gratuitous and ad hominem attacks that are sadly misinformed.
I agree with the main point about mayoral control. But Shino is not a “parent leader.” She’s a toxic ideologue and a political activist. I know you agree with her and are probably friendly with her. But this is how she is seen by loads of parents in District 2, which is why her fellow travelers were almost uniformly swept off the education council in the last election
FLERP!,
I thought you didn’t have kids in public schools anymore. Isn’t it hypocritical for you to be citing others as “unqualified” who are like you?
If I held myself out as a “New York City public school parent” when I had no kids in public school (and in fact was sending my kids to, say, the Dalton School), then yes, I would not be worthy of anyone’s respect.
FLERP!,
Is there some anti-Asian bias in your post? Why are you so angry at Shino? She has obviously been involved in public schools from the time she sent her own kids to public schools, and unlike both of us, is actively working to try to improve them.
And you dismiss her as a “toxic ideologue”? Talk about a double standard.
She is more of a parent leader than the overpaid leaders of billionaire-funded ed reform advocacy organizations that fight to destroy public schools and to empower privately operated schools to replace them.
NYCPP, yes, you’ve nailed me, I’m a massive anti-Asian bigot.
Anyone interested in this can read the Atlantic article, which I think sums up well the overall tenor of the woke bullshit on the District 2 board when Shino and her allies were on it.
FLERP!,
You certainly use gratuitously ugly words to describe a parent trying to do some good.
Even if you disagree with Shino, the incredibly ugly language you use to demonize her speaks for itself.
Your language is also unattractive.
Joseph Belluck, chair of State University of NY Charter School
Committee, backed out of agreement to serve on NYC education board. Mayor Adams extended the offer, Belluck accepted, then criticism poured in against appointment. Reported by PoliticoPro reporter Medina Toure on Twitter.
Diane,
Thanks for the update! wow!
Maybe Belluck didn’t want the scrutiny. After all, that video of him in all his embarrassingly sycophantic “oversight” glory is out there for everyone to see – unless SUNY has removed it since I linked to it.
Diane,
I can’t find that tweet anymore so wondering if she took it down. Maybe Joe Belluck is taking that PEP position after all.
The tweet is here. Belluck did withdraw. https://twitter.com/madinatoure/status/1494126162020384770?s=20&t=Gy84ApnGxBYtt4W0XeHtdQ
Leonie,
Thank you very much. I saw that tweet last night, but for some reason couldn’t find it again, so I appreciate you posting the link.
Thank you for bringing this to everyone’s attention to make sure this potential appointment didn’t go unnoticed.
The anonymous troll proves my point once again, by not responding to any of my substantive points, but making another ad hominem attack by using the phrase “fellow travelers” with its red-baiting connotation. He even implies that there is something wrong about being a political activist, and that you can’t be a parent leader and an activist! I will no longer respond to his wrongheaded nastiness but invite your readers to check out the oped itself and the Parent Commission report if they’re interested in the actual problems with mayoral control.
For the third time in this thread, Leonie: I agree that mayoral control should be ended.
A bill currently before the NYS legislature would remove all charter authority from SUNY, it has a powerful sponsor, the legislature adjourns on 6/2, additionally the teacher union will be supporting bills that change the makeup of the PEP and remove total control from the major. The “woke” members of the SF Board of Education were just removed in a recall vote – the public cis far less “woke” than s0-called advocates.
Section 12 provides that all obligations to oversee and supervise char-
ters authorized by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New
York prior to the effective date of this act shall be transferred to the
Board of Regents on the effective date of this act.
Thanks, Peter. Belluck withdrew his name for PEP membership and claims he is not a charter advocate. But his actions belie his words. SUNY just approved two charters for Long Island, where they will take away the best students and weaken already struggling public schools.