In fact everywhere in the article that you mention parents you should say administrators and teachers, since those are the only sources you cite. When you can show that “many parents” in the school are concerned about this then you can make those statements.

Just because there are 51 council members, that does not mean that they are at their own whim and devices. There are always factions and regardless of each of them being individuals, if there is are factions that sway for one side or another, there will always be a groups that will remain “neutral” and that neutrality can be used in creative ways and certainly be easily manipulated. KS, if these neutral council members are part of communities whose powerbrokers are beholden to some persuasive argument in the form of “philanthropic” loans, grants, they surely can be swayed to either oppose, join or remain neutral on certain votes. I do not believe that this is a concept of Democracy that our founding fathers had and even Ancient times, the Greeks had their own problems with oligarchs pushing their agenda in their Representative Democracy.

I do not want to be a pessimist but Middle Class America’s notion of the “Democracy” they are living in is quite Hollywoodesque in application and that is shown in people’s unrealistic understanding of how Democratic ideals are applied in real life.

Within the next few weeks the Mayor will be creating a Charter Revision Commission, pursuant to the charter (which is actually the City Consitution) all appointments (not to exceed fifteen) are made by the Mayor, but, in the past the commissions were made up of primarily of scholars or folk w/ long experience in municpal government. The Chairman will probably be Mathew Goldstein, the CUNY head. The current form of government in NYC came out of the 1989 Commission, it abolished the Board of Estimate (as ordered by the federal courts) and created the system now in effect.

There have been a number of commissions since 89 that tweeked the charter. Voters have turned down other recommendations .

Looks like this charter will be preparing recommendation for the November 2011 ballot. It’s a transparent procedure with many public hearings.

Major issues will be 1) should the Public Advocate be abolished or granted real powers, 2) Same with the Boro Presidents, 3) The conflict between a strong Mayor w/ citywide concerns and the parochial interests (“Not in my backyard”) of local electeds, 4) Role of Community Boards, and, maybe, 5) Clarify whether the DOE is a City or State agency with clearly enunciated roles and authority

Don’t like the current system … get involved early and be heard.

I certainly have my problems with our representative democracy, but I’m not seeing oligarchy or tyranny. If my concept is distorted, I would appreciate a lesson from you, perhaps AP-level. What is your understanding of democracy? Pre-emptively, telling me what it is not is not helpful. And I’ll remind you that democracy does not mean, “Michael F and the teachers union always get our way.”

I’m intrigued by your notion that 51 city council members are no longer decision makers in their own right but pawns of the Big Man. I suppose if you want to preserve the idea of an oligarcy, 52 is too many to constitute “the few.”

Is it such a stretch to consider the possibility that the few must make some ritual, symbolic gestures to maintain the illusion of popular participation? Just because Bloomberg, Quinn (who destroyed whatever political future she might have had by going along with the mayor on term limits), Jackson, et. al. had shared interests does not invalidate my analysis. Why shouldn’t the Big Man throw a few bones to his inferiors way down the food chain?

Who initiated the proposal to revoke term limits, contrary to his prior stated positions and two referendums? Who pushed it on the Council? Who strategically uses his “philanthropic” giving as a form of political bribery? In a sense, Bloomberg’s many millions have created a kind of semi-feudal private political machine.

Elections may or may not have anything to do with democracy. If you honestly think that what’s happened here in NYC is democracy, you have a very distorted concept of it.

Only 5% of HSA’s kindergarten enrollment comes from the PS 241 building’s zone, yet the DoE sees fit to displace the zoned community to make room for students who do not come from the community.  This is nepotism at it’s absolute worst.  Klein’s realestate givaway to his buddy Moskowitz.  This is outrageous!  

Please consider calling 311 for PS 241 as well.   

If you think the PEP is anything akin to representative democracy, you know nothing about representative democracy.

Your oligarchy is going to have to expand because most of your local 51 city council members were complicit in overturning the term limits law last year.

Yes, Christine Quinn, Robert Jackson, one and all (except for Weprin, Liu and maybe a couple of others who stepped down; Gerson was voted out). This oligarchy is starting to smell like democracy, messy and smelly as it is. But not a dictatorship.

“… use their immense fortunes to overturn laws that inconvenience them…”
“… stifle opposition and purchase elections…”

Who are we talking about again?  :)

Thank you for the 8th grade civics lesson.

Unfortunately, unlike charter school operators, public school schools, their teachers and students are the targets of oligarchs like the mayor, who use their immense fortunes to overturn laws that inconvenience them, to stifle opposition and purchase elections, to siphon public money to schools controlled by private entities, and to encourage private grabs of public resources.

Where do those realities fit into your fantasy-world polity?