This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated October 11, 2024
Eric Adams’ control on the office of mayor is hanging by a thread. His tenuous position in City Hall began in early September, when several of his top officials, including his first deputy mayor, police commissioner, and schools chancellor, had their homes raided by investigators. It hit a critical level when he, himself, was indicted on multiple corruption charges on September 26.
I wrote last week about how damning the evidence outlined in the indictment is, and how, despite my personal belief that Adams should go because of the illegal activity the evidence indicates he has engaged in, he needs to leave because the proper administration of the city is in dire straits. With so many top staffers being investigated or resigning, it is apparent that there have been a lot of bad apples among Adams’ choices for these important roles.
And of those who seem to have been going about things the right way, it appears that they want to get as far away from this administration as possible. The pressing question is, who in their right mind would want to take on one of these suddenly vacated positions in this administration, which has to leave us all concerned about the quality of the individuals Adams will get to fill the many openings.
There is a lot to worry about in terms of which city departments have been jeopardized by this chaos, like the NYPD, for instance, where the FBI is investigating whether the former commissioner had the department operating like a mafia protection racket. But in this column, I am going to focus on the Department of Education, which has been thrown into disarray, and how it reinforces the fact that governance of the nation’s largest school district needs to change from its current structure, in which the mayor has complete control.
New York City Schools have operated under mayoral control for 22 years.Quite simply, Under this system, the undemocratic structure in which a single political figure has absolute control of the largest public school system in the country, there is essentially no oversight of the mayor. Multiple mayors, over more than two decades, have demonstrated the faults inherent in this system. Being stuck with this structure, headed up by a mayor accused of out-of-control corruption, makes it painfully clear that we need to end mayoral control.
Back in January, I provided testimony at a New York State Education Department hearing on the future of mayoral control. As president of the District 21 Community Education Council, I began my remarks by stating that I was speaking in my personal capacity, opinions I expressed were my own, and they did not necessarily reflect those of the City of New York, DOE or any body I am elected to.
I pointed out that I needed to say all of that because elected parent leaders are periodically advised, as we were one week prior to that hearing, that we must provide that disclaimer any time we speak at a hearing, as well as in a host of other situations, pursuant to Title 53, COIB Rule 1-13(d) for any public servant mentioning their city title.
I added that I often hear elected officials speak publicly, I introduce them to speak at my CEC meetings, and I have never heard one reel off that disclaimer before they speak about positions they take. I even noted that I have never heard the mayor state his opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the City of New York before he opines on legislation that is not yet law, all of which shows that parent volunteers elected to non-paying roles that are strictly advisory are held to stricter oversight.
Mayoral control is devoid of accountability or any checks and balances. The Panel for Education Policy, with its majority of mayoral appointees, is simply a rubber stamp for whatever policy the mayor wants to advance. That is of particular concern when it comes to the panel’s responsibility for approving large contracts, and particularly distressing under this mayor.
In between the raid on the schools chancellor’s home and the indictment of the mayor, news broke that a company had hired the chancellor’s brother and then earned large contracts with the Department of Education. When the chancellor unexpectedly announced on September 25 that he would retire at the end of the year, Adams accepted that timeline, but then reversed course a week later, pushing him out this month.
This instability is not what our schools and students need. The possibility that a culture of corruption from the top has filtered down to the department of education is offensive, especially considering the budget cuts this mayor has hit our schools with the past two years. Mayor Adams has a chance to leave the city with one positive change if, because of him, we finally see an end to mayoral control.
