....June 22, 5:32 PM
	Some Boro Schools To Gain Self-Rule By ELLEN THOMPSON Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein are waiting on RSVPs to see which city schools will become an Empowerment School by the fall. So far, 38 in Queens may make the plunge. On April 29 the Chancellor sent out an open invitation to principals interested in turning their schools into Empowerment Schools, where in return for authority and the tools principals need to run their schools, principals would be held accountable for their students’ progress. At the 331 schools expected to become Empowerment Schools, principals will receive greater discretion over budgets, educational programming, teacher development, school scheduling and hiring, the Department of Education said. In exchange for greater flexibility and control, principals will sign performance agreements that lay out principals’ new powers, resources, and responsibilities. In addition, the DOE said individual schools will receive about $100,000 in newly unrestricted funds and about $150,000 in new, discretionary funds made possible by streamlining the central and regional DOE bureaucracy and redirecting financial resources back to the schools. Since Klein took control of the schools, principals have had limited discretion regarding curriculum and other day-to-day factors. This program will give autonomy back to the principals – along with personal responsibility. More than 350 schools applied by the May 17 deadline, including 38 schools from Queens. The principals whose schools were selected have until June 19 to consult with their school communities before deciding whether to sign “Performance Agreements,” which lay out principals’ new freedoms and responsibilities, the DOE said. Principal Shango Blake at the Jean Nuzzi Intermediate School in Jamaica is one of many principals across the borough currently consulting with his school community on the flexibility the school could have. “Principals are being given the opportunity to be empowered to make decisions and to do what they think is in the best interest of their school and the school community,” said Blake, whose school instituted the uniform policy and the Parents Empowering Students Today Program. “I know that there is an accountability piece from that and I know that there are those who have concerns about that, but I have no problem being held accountable as long as I have the freedom to make the decisions that I think are in the best interest in the children.”