The Battle Of The Board:
Independence And The Terri Thomson Story

By STEPHEN McGUIRE

Headlines are crying out for resignations and assigning enemies this week as the Board of Education struggles through the issue of whether its members are free to follow their conscience or are responsible for answering to their benefactors.

And at the center of that struggle is Queens’ Terri Thomson.

On April 18, Borough President Claire Shulman issued a statement calling for the resignation of Thomson, her appointed Board of Ed. representative, citing a "major difference" in policy. The call came as City Hall counted up its Board votes to support the mayor’s choice for board president – Ninfa Segarra – when she is up again for a vote this summer. Thomson had abstained from voting Segarra into the slot on April 4 as a matter of principle, though Shulman supported Segarra.

In 1998, Borough President Claire Shulman (right) asked Terri Thomson (left) to represent the children of Queens at the Board of Education. Last week, Shulman called for Thomson’s resignation. Tribune Photo by Dee Richard

By the week’s end, Mayor Rudy Giuliani was also calling on Thomson to resign. He told reporters she was an "extremely disruptive force."

He added, "I think the board would be much better off if she resigned."

The mayor’s disapproval began last year, when Giuliani was reportedly ticked off over Thomson’s tie breaking vote that made Harold Levy school’s chancellor. The two have also had major differences of opinion on the mayor’s proposed experimental voucher program.

"I care about kids, community and parents and I am committed to the public school system," said Terri Thomson in a 1998 interview with the Tribune.

Thomson, a vice president at Citibank, was appointed by Shulman to the post of Queens representative to the Board of Education. Brooklyn-born, she took up life in Queens’ Pomonok Houses at the age of three and now lives in Elechester where her interest in advocacy began when she spearheaded the fight to install safer playground equipment in a local park.

Thomson became active in several local civic groups and organizations including the Queens Chamber of Commerce and was later hired by then State Senator Gary Ackerman as his district administrator.

According to Thomson, Ackerman had the ability to "move mountains," and it was that same attitude that made it possible for her to move on to Citibank in 1990 as director of community and government relations.

In January of 2000, Thomson stood as the swing vote that swayed against the Mayor’s interim chancellor choice and put Citibank co-worker Harold Levy into the slot.

"I always felt that once Harold and the Mayor began communicating, they
would have a great synergy. They have more in common philosophically and stylistically than they would have thought. They are both strong managers and they both have ‘can do’ attitudes . . . Harold put a priority on building a relationship with the Mayor."

Thomson said that Levy’s selection as the new schools chancellor is a "fabulous thing."

"From the very beginning we said that what the board really needs is a strong manager, a non-traditional person. It is very important that [Levy] thinks like a business person and it shows because of his management skills, his decision making, his personal passion and his will [to make things better]. He has shown that we can, and will, move mountains on behalf of our 1.1. million school children."

Thomson is currently the chair of both the Parent Outreach and Involvement and the Finance and Capital Budget Committees.

As chair of the Task Force on Year-Round Education, Thomson has recommended all newly constructed high schools be offered as schools of choice on a year-round calendar as one strategy to help alleviate school overcrowding, especially in Queens.

As an advocate for school governance reform, Thomson took a leadership role in changing the prohibition against Board of Ed. employees serving as parent representatives on school leadership teams.

Thomson has also been a staunch advocate in the fight for capital dollars in the Board of Ed’s capital plan to relieve the longstanding neglect of Queens schools, a problem that has been cited as a cause of borough-wide overcrowding.

Since the calls for her resignation, Thomson has released no comment about what she will do, but sources have told the Tribune that she plans to stay put, representing the children of Queens and emphasizing the importance of independence for board members.

Schools Chancellor Harold Levy has also refrained from official comment on the call for Thomson’s resignation. According to Board of Ed. Spokesperson Margie Feinberg, the chancellor’s focus right now is on educating the children.

Parents throughout the borough have come together to support Thomson.

"She knows our district like the back of her hand," said Donna Calcabiano, a member of School District 27.

"She is a real people person," Calcabiano said.

Ackerman said he was "disappointed" with the call for Thomson’s resignation. "She’s done a spectacular job," Ackerman said. What she’s doing is in "the best interest of the children," said Ackerman.

"The mayor is being extremely heavy handed. If the mayor had five ‘mini-me’s’ who voted the same then we wouldn’t need a Board. I’m sure there are some places where that would be the case," Ackerman told the Tribune.

Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin of Flushing, shared Ackerman’s sentiment for the calls for Thomson’s resignation.

"As a friend of Terri Thomson for 25 years and as someone who is personally familiar with her dedication to the children of our city, I am extremely disheartened by the borough president’s request for the resignation of Terri Thomson," McLaughlin said.

"It’s apparent that while the mayor has a history of purging chancellors, the borough president has a habit of doing the same with representatives." McLaughlin said.

In November 2001, current Borough President Claire Shulman will leave office, forced out by term limits, and it will fall to one of the current Queens borough president candidates to decided who will represent Queens kids on the Board after Thomson’s term ends in 2002.

Among the candidates vying for the Borough Hall seat, the opinions were mixed about the current state of affairs at the Board of Education.

Councilwoman and Candidate Karen Koslowitz said, "The board has become too political. We have too concentrate on our children that was the purpose of the board."

Former Board of Education member and current Borough President Candidate Carol Gresser said, "The meddling of politicians must stop. Once appointed, board members should be free to vote their consciences. They owe it to the children of New York to be more than just echoes of the elected officials that appoint them."

According to candidate and Councilman Al Stabile, no one person should have total and utmost control of the Board of Ed. "We need input from the mayor, the council and the borough president," said Stabile.

Candidate and Councilwoman Helen Marshall agreed.

"It is crucial and important that one person is not in control of the board," said Marshall.

But according to borough president candidate Councilman Sheldon Leffler, the answer is simple. The Board of Education should be abolished.

"The mayor should appoint the chancellor and there should be no appointees by the borough presidents," said Leffler. "We need to promote responsibility."