More than 3000 no-bid contracts totaling $6.2 billion in the last three years, most of which had no documentation or explanation of why they were awarded, and 59 percent of which started prior to the DOE Committee meeting at which the contract was supposedly approved, according to the State Comptroller?

And in 25 percent of the regular contracts, according to the City Comptroller, the DOE spent over the amount budgeted — sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars — with “taxpayer money … squandered through an opaque process that does not take advantage of the competitive marketplace.”

The members of the BOE have a fiduciary and regulatory duty to clean up this mess and to oversee the contracting process, and yet they voted to abdicate this responsibility and ceded ignored complete authority for procurement and contracting to the Chancellor alone. What a disgrace. They should hang their heads in shame.

We all know MC, in some form or other, is going to be renewed, revived, whatever the term is now, when the senate gets its act together.

Jefferson knew despots quite a bit more despotic than Bloomberg, who has made most people in the city happy enough to elect him twice–and is confident that he’s going to be able to stand for election again in the fall, even after using his executive power to overturn term limits.

If his decisions are despotic, they must have violated some constitutional mandate. Can you please clarify what exactly is this despotism, other than his pointing out where bad principals and burned out teachers are hurting kids and trying to do something about it?

More to the point, our legislators of but SEVEN or so years ago knowingly passed a law with a “sunset.” (Lapse is more their fault than the lawmakers of 100 years back, no?) They may or may not have known what they were doing, but as yesterday’s events proved, “chaos” did not ensue, and the “Soviet Union” did not come to Chambers Street. (Debatable. See numerous prior comments re irony. Or your Klein quote.)

And what part of “deliberations” was unclear?

Last, should we stand and applaud, or kneel and kiss the signet ring, that the “Bored of Education” — having worked their rotator cuffs sore in a few brief minutes — voted themselves a vacation until September? Nothing to see here folks, let’s just keep moving along. Wouldn’t want the board to be a calamitous distraction, let alone fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities for a third of the city’s budget. Good gosh no.

Those who have the most to lose are the STUDENTS, about whom all the performance hype is doing a life-long disservice.

Where are your principles, principal?

P.S. To answer your first question: yes. Or are you willing to admit this meeting was, and this board is, an utter charade? Got Patrick?

I don’t think 100 years ago the state legislature was envisioning one of their own chambers failing to address a major piece of legislation, creating a temporary decision-making body, and I fail to see how this meeting violated Open Meetings Law. The existence of this Board of Education may execute the letter of the current applicable law, but given the circumstances no rational person would argue that it follows the spirit of the original law. It is a calamitous distraction from the real work of education our children and preparing for next year that administrators, teachers and principals have to do this summer.

AN ACT in relation to public officers, constituting chapter forty-
seven of the consolidated laws.

Became a law February 17, 1909, with the approval of the
Governor. Passed, three-fifths being present.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows:

CHAPTER 47 OF THE CONSOLIDATED LAWS
PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW
ARTICLE 7
OPEN MEETINGS LAW
Sec. 100. Legislative declaration.

It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that
the public business be performed in an open and public manner and
that the citizens of this state be fully aware of and able to
observe the performance of public officials and attend and listen
to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of
public policy. The people must be able to remain informed if they
are to retain control over those who are their public servants.
It is the only climate under which the commonweal will prosper
and enable the governmental process to operate for the benefit of
those who created it.”

http (colon) //www (dot) tenant (dot) net/Other_Laws/Pubofc/pubofc09 (dot) html

So I ask: WHAT OF THE DELIBERATIONS that lead up to today’s off-off-broadway performance?
Our leaders were wiser in 1909. (Less Kremlinesque, too.)