Comments on: What happens when mayoral control expires: a step-by-step guide

By: School guide

School guide — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:53:10 +0000

Generally I do not post on blogs, but I would like to say that this post really forced me to do so! really nice post,and very informative

By: The End of Mayoral Control…or Maybe Not | TakePart Social Action Network™

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:40:05 +0000

[...] I. Klein as chancellor so he can continue his work uninterrupted. Also, (according to an excellent GothamSchools article providing a step-by-step guide for what must happen, by law, when mayoral control expires) the [...]

By: peter

peter — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:47:24 +0000

I served on a District Leadership Team in Bklyn in the pre-Klein days … parents, teachers, supervisors, district office staff, we all had signifcant input … today some schools work closely w/ SSOs, others have nothing to do w/ them … too many schools are failing, the “answer” lies somewhere between CSB and the SSO structures … however I am a fan of the devolved ISCs, the CFN model, bringing budget, HR to the school level.

By: KitchenSink

KitchenSink — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:57:33 +0000

To prove that I am not a BloomKlein mole, I would even suggest that a better Photoshopper than me should dress the mayor up in Lenin gear. After all, even the Soviet Union needs a public figure…

By: KitchenSink

KitchenSink — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:54:48 +0000

Ahem, where do you get “more efficiently and more effectively by the CSDs” from? You had smart, well-meaning educators whose job was to justify their jobs by creating priorities and mandates that in many cases had NOTHING to do with what was actually happening in schools or what kids need.

Maybe there was big picture vision where principals, teachers and staff developers were brought into the process and had real investment in reforms in privileged and highly competent District 2. But the most vulnerable families were left with squabbling bureaucrats and teachers who closed their doors so they could ignore today’s mandate so they could do right by their students, just as they ignored last semester’s already forgotten district “priorities.”

RIP the CSD structure and its good intentions but faulty design; and it should stay that way.

By: leonie haimson

leonie haimson — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:46:27 +0000

“They estimate the costs of running the community school districts as they used to function is $340 million. Some of that is currently covered in superintendent salaries, which constitute about $5 million of the city budget right now, not including benefits. But other parts are not.”

Not a cent has been saved w/ the dissolution of the CSDs. Instead, the costs have been displaced onto the SSO’s, which means that schools have absorbed the costs that used to be provided to them for free. Not to mention the mushrooming salaries, contracts, and headcount at Tweed when it centralized many of the functions previously performed more efficiently and more effectively by the CSDs.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:32:53 +0000

This is all well and good and very helpful, but will you be back soon to give rioting advice and tips on what to wear in the new Soviet Union?

By: peter

peter — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:03:44 +0000

Community School Board elections were proportional representation elections … on each paper ballot the voter cast their vote in preferential order (1, 2, 3, etc.). When a candidate was elected their surplus ballots were distributed to the next choice on their ballot. Elected means they received 1/9 plus one of the votes. Once all surplus ballot are distributed votes are distributed starting with the candidates with the fewest # 1 votes, their ballots are “exhausted” … until only nine candidates remain.

If a slate of candidates receives 51% of the vote they elect five members, not nine … if a candidate receives 1/9 plus one of the total number of votes they are elected.

Complicated but it assures a diverse Board … Depending upon the number of votes the counts took a number of days to a week.

The Mayor, not a fan of elections, will skewer.