NYC Teachers Want Less Mayoral Control

New York, NY —

City teachers are sending a strong message to Albany: They want the law granting Mayor Bloomberg control over city schools to be weakened when it comes up for renewal this June. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

REPORTER: Delegates to the United Federation of Teachers voted overwhelmingly for a proposal to strengthen community involvement in the schools. The union wants to reduce the number of mayoral appointees to the existing panel on educational policy. Armando Blasse of PS 67 in Brooklyn calls it a good compromise.

BLASSE: It applies accountability. There are checks and balances involved in the whole situation.

REPORTER: But Patricia Pan, who teaches in Queens, says the mayor would still have too much power.

PAN: There isn't any educator going to be on the panel and there isn't going to be any parent representative on the panel either.

REPORTER: The politically powerful union hopes to influence state lawmakers with its proposal. But Mayor Bloomberg has said that strong leadership is essential to reforming the schools, and that weakening his involvement would take the city back to the days of the old board of education. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.