June 4, 2009
Contact: Gia Storms
(212) 669-4813; (917) 626-6757

Testimony Submitted by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum at

Hearing on “Oversight: Mayoral Control of New York City Schools”
Thursday, June 4, 2009

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said, "Thank you to the Education Committee and Councilmember Robert Jackson for holding this important hearing on Mayoral Control in New York City Schools. As numerous news accounts have indicated, the State Legislature is nearing a decision on the school governance law. Having spent many hours with legislators in Albany and in New York City, I am impressed by the thoughtfulness and level of attention they have paid to the matter.

The Commission on School Governance, which I convened in 2007 at the request of the leadership in State Legislature to independently assess school governance in New York City, has helped to shape the dialogue on this important issue. This past March, the Brookings Institute Press published a book, When Mayors Take Charge: School Governance in the City. This book takes an in-depth look at mayoral control in New York City and has received national attention.

Just to reiterate, the Commission’s report recommends, and I believe, that we should maintain mayoral control, but the law must be amended to ensure greater public accountability and meaningful input from parents and the community.

By and large, I am pleased that many of the recommendations of the Commission have been incorporated into proposed legislation and are being publicly discussed in Albany.

Although there are some points on which the legislators agree, there are also many points of contention that deserve serious debate. For example, some disagree on how the Panel for Education Policy (PEP) should be configured.

Although we propose that the mayor maintain the majority of appointments to the PEP, it is our hope that Albany will change the law to establish fixed terms for its members, and make the chancellor an ex-officio member to ensure greater public accountability.

One point on which many of the lawmakers I’ve met with seem to agree is that we need to have more oversight and transparency with regards to the finances of the Department of Education (DOE). The DOE has a nearly 18 billion dollar budget – larger than the GDP of many countries – and it is absurd that there is no clear oversight of their finances. That is why we propose that the DOE be subject to the same procurement oversight as every other city agency.

There is also a need to subject data produced by the DOE to independent oversight and analysis. We believe the Independent Budget Office should serve as an outside evaluator to monitor and assess this data, including test scores and graduation rates.

Under the current system, parents learn about decisions and changes that have significant impact on their children’s lives – such as school closings and openings, placements of charter schools, and changes to admissions policies, to name a few – after these decisions are made. This is unacceptable. Moving forward, the Department of Education must adopt a clear process for consulting with and notifying parents of major decisions.

We know there are several different proposals in Albany that would create a more meaningful process for parental participation—and I believe they all have merit. For this reason, I have suggested a process for increasing parental participation. This process mirrors the Contracts for Excellence process, established by the State Legislature, in which parents and the community provide oversight of expenditures related to the Campaign for Fiscal Equity.

Some of the bills being considered seek to ensure that the Office of the Public Advocate has oversight authority over the DOE - I strongly support this component. I also whole-heartedly endorse the proposal of a “Parent Academy” put forth by the Campaign for Better Schools. Such an entity where parents can receive training, attend workshops, and receive help from independent advocates, would serve as an essential complement to any process that Albany enacts.

I would like to conclude by saying that I was glad to hear Chancellor Klein acknowledge that there is much room for improvement in the lines of communication between parents and the Department of Education. I couldn’t agree more. Thank you."