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On day two of the convention he is jointly throwing with Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, the Rev. Al Sharpton ceded his time on a panel to a City Council member who promptly called on Mayor Bloomberg to fire Klein. The panel’s members were a collection of allies of Klein’s, including two mayors who support mayoral control of schools, but Council Member Charles Barron called the system “dictatorial” and “autocratic” and said that in New York City it has actually made the public schools worse.

Barron also criticized Klein, who stood about 50 feet away from him waiting to join the panel, saying that the chancellor lacks any pedagogical expertise. “He definitely should go,” Barron told me after his remarks. “He shouldn’t ever have been hired.”

Sharpton said he asked Barron to speak because he wanted the event, which was sponsored by his National Action Network along with the Education Equality Project he started with Klein, to offer views from both sides of the debate on mayoral control. “If EEP is going to be anything, we’re going to hear all views,” Sharpton said. “The main thing is to change the conversation.” Sharpton yesterday told the New York Times that he supports revising mayoral control. (more…)