New York City Panel for Educational Policy

History

Main article: New York City Department of Education

Mayoral Control (2002–present)

On June 30, 2002, Mayor Bloomberg secured authority over the schools from the New York State legislature, which began the era of "mayoral control" over the city schools. The New York Supreme Court elaborates:

By chapter 91 of the [Laws of New York

Laws of 2002]], the [[Consolidated Laws of New York

Although that legislation itself made no specific reference to a "Department of Education of the City of New York," the bylaws subsequently adopted by the Board provide that this 13-member body "shall be known as the Panel for Educational Policy," which together with the Chancellor and other school employees is designated as the "Department of Education of the City of New York."}}

On June 30, 2009, the [New York State Senate declined to renew the mayor's full authority over the school system. In particular, State Senate Democratic leader John Sampson, of Brooklyn, opposed the extension of mayoral control. The authority reverted for a time to the Board of Education, but mayoral control was restored until 2015 in a vote on August 6, 2009.

On January 29, 2021, two days after the January 27, 2021 panel meeting, Borough President James Oddo pulled Peter Calandrella, the Staten Island Representative to the Panel for Educational Policy, who was appointed to back in 2016, due to the fact that Mr. Calandrella voted against a contract extension for the administration of the controversial City Gifted & Talented exam. The borough president's statement mentioned the removal of Peter Calandrella was "not because of the substance of the vote, but because it went against what he, his staff and Calandrella had agreed on the night before". A letter from the entire panel was sent to Borough President Oddo requesting him to change his decision to remove Peter Calandrella from the PEP, however the removal was scheduled to be conducted on February 9, 2021. On March 9, 2021, it was announced that Borough President Oddo had appointed Jaclyn Tacoronte, a local business owner, to replace Peter Calandrella.

Analysis and criticism

In 2011, Panel for Educational Policy member Patrick Sullivan (who was appointed by then Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer in 2007{{Cite press release |access-date = 2011-09-12 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120213144451/http://www.mbpo.org/release_details.asp?id=56 |archive-date = 2012-02-13 suggested changing the system to have only six mayoral appointees, and that appointees should have fixed terms; additionally, he stated "For us not to have the same role in our kids' education as people who live in the suburbs or Middle America is patronizing."{{Citation | access-date = 2011-09-12}}

References

Notes

References

1. "Bylaws of the Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York". [[New York City Department of Education]].
2. "PEP - Panel for Educational Policy".
3. [[Education Law]] § 2590-b(a); "The board of education of the city school district of the city of New York is hereby continued. Such board of education shall consist of thirteen members: one member to be appointed by each borough president of the city of New York; seven members to be appointed by the mayor of the city of New York; and the chancellor. The chancellor shall serve as the chairperson of the city board. ..."
4. {{cite court. Sup Ct, Bronx County]]. (2008). link
5. Medina, Jennifer. (August 6, 2009). "N.Y. Senate Renews Mayor's Power to Run Schools". [[The New York Times]].
6. (2021-01-30). "Oddo pulls appointee from education panel after vote on gifted program testing".
7. (2021-03-09). "Oddo names new appointee to NYC education panel". silive.