Mayor Bloomberg's budget cuts are not being welcomed by principals, some of whom face almost a half-million dollars in losses. Though the mayor insists his cuts should be no problem, principals, now responsible for staff salaries, have an entirely different view:
Asked what he would cut, Barry M. Fein, the principal of the Seth Low Intermediate School in Brooklyn, responded, “My throat.”
The principal of Norman Thomas High School took a more pragmatic view:
“That’s six teachers’ salaries for the rest of the term,” he said.It's tough to see how you relieve rampant overcrowding and the highest class sizes in the state with fewer teachers, but that is Mr. Bloomberg's apparent plan.
In other news, Mr. Bloomberg's sweetheart deal to devote Randall's Island to private schools has been halted. Apparently, they may have to share it with the bootless and unhorsed, unpleasant though that prospect may be.
The ruling means that the Bloomberg administration must essentially start from scratch by submitting its deal with the private schools, which include Buckley, Dalton and Chapin, through the Uniform Land Use Review Process. That process requires major projects to be approved by the City Planning Commission and the City Council, and to be reviewed by the local community board and the borough president.
Apparently, being Mayor does not actually mean you own the city, and can lease it to whomever you wish. While we may have done away with checks and balances in the field of education, they are still in place elsewhere.
Let's get rid of mayoral control and give our schools a real chancellor, rather than a rubber stamp.
Thanks to Schoolgal
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