: 1245342939

The much anticipated bill on mayoral control of the public schools emerged from the State Assembly this week. It offers nods of concession to many different interests, and is likely to pass despite misgivings from the Campaign for Better Schools advocacy group.

The current legislation granting the mayor control of the school system is set to expire on June 30.

CBS believes that the Assembly missed the mark, and did not redistribute power widely enough to include parents and community members. The 13-member Panel for Educational Policy is perceived by many as a rubber stamp for schools Chancellor Joel Klein and that of Mayor Bloomberg, his boss. Under the new bill the board would elect its chairman, Klein would no longer be a voting member, and the panel would have to include two parents of City public school children.

CBS fears the PEP will continue to be a rubber stamp, since the majority of PEP appointees would still be the mayor’s picks, and can be replaced at his will since they have no set terms.

The new bill mandates greater say for the PEP on outsourced contracts. Dmytro Fedkowskyj, the PEP member representing Queens, had testified that the board was only supplied with a budget overview, rather than figures on specific contracts to review.

The Dept. of Education would be required to hold public hearings in each borough throughout the year to present big issues and capital projects for open discussion. The hearings would only allow for community members to render input on an advisory level. The 32 district superintendents would also be required to have local offices to receive complaints. Still, CBS worries that “the legislation does not take the necessary action to meaningfully increase participation by students and parents.”

There will be a creation of an English Language Learners panel, to address the concerns of parents of new immigrants. This may have been in deference to the Asian American Federation, which is concerned that new immigrants are on the lower end of the achievement scale. AAF is a member organization of the Learn NY organization, an advocacy group which supports the preservation of mayoral control.

Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows), who is co-sponsoring the new legislation, has previously said that the DOE is not a city agency, in that it was not beholden to the City Charter. While the new legislation does impose the City Charter on the DOE, it did incorporate the Charter’s mandates on oversight. It extends auditing power over test scores, dropout rates, and other figures to the city’s Independent Budget Office and the comptroller.

“When we started the process, everyone brought to the debate a desire to increase parental input, a desire to increase transparency, and accountability,” said Lancman. He added that finding common ground was important in producing the bill.

UFT President Randi Weingarten praised the plan. The Daily News reported this week that she may be stepping down from her post for an unrelated reason.