The Senate adjourned for summer break early without dealing with mayoral control (Times, Daily News)
Kevin Parker’s “Better Schools Act” was debated and voted on last night but lost 40-15. (Daily News)
Yesterday’s control talks failed because Democrats and the mayor can’t agree on amendments. (Post)
The Daily News says if the Senate can get anything done at all, it should also take care of school control.
Many waitlisted kindergartners still don’t have seats in their local schools. (Downtown Express)
The West Side Spirit profiles Insideschools’ storied history and financially troubled present.
A dozen city students recently traveled to South Africa to meet with Nelson Mandela. (Daily News)
This weekend is the memorial for the controversial and beloved principal Frank Mickens. (Daily News)
Some states see charter schools as stimulus cash cows and are opening new ones. (Wall Street Journal)
Better data management could be driving D.C.’s test score gains. (Washington Post)
In a speech on the 100th anniversary of the NAACP, Obama pushed education. (Post)
QueensParent
Well this is just interesting. So the Assembly bill doesn’t get a vote but according to the Daily News, Senator Parker introduces his own bill and it gets an immediate floor vote with no hearings or debate whatsoever, and then he claims Mayor Bloomberg is a tyrant? This man’s actions are just shameful. No wonder it lost 40-15, which is probably the same margin by which the Mayoral control bill would pass if it weren’t for those same tryrants who won’t even let it come to a vote. I have kept track of this whole debacle and when the Assembly held a hearing in my borough I was actually able to attend it. I assume that the Assembly held hearings in all of the boroughs but I’m not certain. In any event, how could these senators, who couldn’t even bother to hold hearings about the school governance bill before it expired, just pop up at the last minute and demand all kinds of changes? God, as strange as it seems to me right now, I have new found respect for Speaker Silver.
QueensParent
Oh and I might add, the Daily News points out that even though the democrats (they don’t deserve a capital D) couldn’t get organized to vote on school governance, they did manage to push through $85 million of pork projects for themselves before leaving, including money for a parrot adoption service in Queens. How’s that for priorities folks?
Pogue
1) Tyrants change voter laws without public approval to help themselves. (Term limits)
2) Never take NY’s newspapers at their word, anymore, (especially the editorial boards), they do not represent the people.
Michael M.
“How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!”
– Samuel Adams
The Senate did EXACTLY what many parents have been advocating, and for this I am relieved and surprised, and I THANK them.
They dug in their heels (a bad habit learned in June, ironically) and voted NO on continued Mayoral Tyranny, and NO on rubber-stamping the Assembly Silver/BLOOMBERG bill. In short, they ultimately did what the Assembly, and the City Council (re School Crapital Plan and Term Limits) could not see fit to do — reflect the will of We The People.
Clearly, there’s no chaos, though there has been an edu-junta.
Hashing out the LEGAL structure for the next six or so years can take a summer breather.
Re yesterday’s GS teaser that BLOOMBERG wouldn’t sign a Senate compromise: As my grandmother used to say, “It ain’t the heat, it’s the lack of humility.” If Mayor Mike wants to be the Governator, why lift *Mayoral* term limits? Sheesh.
Dissenter
Michael with the use of all those capital letters and exclamation points, I think you have gone off the deep end. QueensParent is right. The Senate adopted a set of rules, announced them publicly, and then turned around and didn’t follow them. What example of democracy is that? Face it. You have lost. There are the votes in place to pass the bill Mayor Bloomberg wants with regard to school governance by a very wide margin. Sens Parker et al know this — so what do they have left but to stand on their empty soapbox (and in the case of Sen Parker, it is very empty). How ironic that the Senate just a few days ago announced they effectively did away with their rules of filibuster until one of their members realized that it really does mean they can’t block pieces of legislation they just don’t happen to like. I am a parent and you don’t speak for me. I want the legislation to be voted on. Since you can’t get your way the non-defensible position you have left is to try to prevent it from being voted on.
Pogue
I wanted term limits voted on. Anyone else?
Michael M.
But Pogue, we DID vote on term limits. TWICE.
Ain’t that RIGHT, D?
(Apologies for the caps lock. My lack of having figgered out how to do underscoring makes me sad to be an American.)
Dissenter
Pogue, it doesn’t matter what you want. What matters is what the law says. Term limits under the City Charter are determined by the City Council. Voters approved term limits by referendum. There are still term limits, three terms instead of two. I get that you don’t like that there are three term limits for elected officials, but under the City Charter, it is legal. If you don’t like a law, get it changed. The City’s legislative body voted to increase terms to three from two. I gather you don’t like what they did, but they are the City’s legislative body and your representatives approved this change, as they are permitted under the law to do, by a very wide margin. Again, you don’t like what they did but it is totally legal under the City Charter. If you don’t like the charter and want to restrict what the City Council is permitted to do, get it changed and stop whining.
Michael M.
Change the Charter?
How bout we just trow da bums out?
Can we agree that term limits are good if the numer of terms is 27?
The law used to say that city politicians like the mayor and council members were limited to two terms.
Voters voted on that – twice.
But they changed they law without bringing it before voters again.
And they did it for themselves. The mayor, who would benefit by the change, proposed it, and the council members, who would also benefit from the law change, voted to change it.
You call that lawful – perhaps it is.
It is also sneaky, manipulative and tyrannical.
If Mayor Moneybags and his bought and sold City Council thought they could get the change approved by voters, they would have brought it up for a vote.
But they knew they couldn’t.
So they did an end around.
It’s corrupt.
But it’s also to be expected in a city where a billionaire bought City Hall for himself, tried to buy the White House (and had he gotten the Clinton-Giuliani race he had hoped for in 2008, we just might be talking about how Moneybags changed the FDR term limit law on the the federal level), buys off the editorial boards, the governor, and as many politicians as he can to get whatever he THINKS is best for the rest of us, regardless of whether we agree or not.
He did the same on the stadium issue and the traffic issue.
Thank God he has pissed off just enough people in Albany off with his arrogance and presumptuousness that some are willing to stand up to him on the above two issues as well as Stalinesque control of the NYC school system.
Can you imagine what a little s#$t Moneybags must have been on the playground when he didn’t get his way?
He’ still acting that way.
At school we call this “acting out” and “unable to work/play well with others.”
http://edintheapple peter
The NYS courts ruled that the actions of the City Council, extending terms limits from two to three does not violate the State constitituion … like it not the rule of law prevails. Schools now operate under the pre-2002 law … with total and complete power in the hands of the chancellor … all the benefits of the Assembly law, recreating Community Superintendents, empowering School Leadership Teams, establishing external reviews thru the IBO and the Comptroller, making all DOE contracts transparent will not take effect … instead current system will be in effect for perpetuity … one reaps what one sows …
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