After all, the mayor would have done whatever he felt like anyway. Certainly that goshdarn term limits law, twice affirmed by city voters, had to go when the richest man in New York City decided he needed a third term as mayor. And that awful Board of Education was out of the question, since it contained independent voices that might not tell him to do whatever he wanted to do.
So now, we have the Panel for Educational Policy, 8 of whose 13 members are hand chosen by the mayor. They do whatever he asks, and he fires them before he lets them do otherwise. I watched a politician at Brooklyn Tech tell them they'd sold their souls, and that since the job didn't pay they'd done so for nothing. He said he hated to think what they'd do for ten dollars. Me too.
There we are, at hearings where we know no one listens, listening to decisions we all know were made in advance. Everyone in the room knows none of the 8 people can be swayed by reason or logic, and when people protest or make loud noises the mayor calls it an affront to democracy. So what was lacking?
A teacher group, of course. And when you're the richest man in New York City, with friends like Bill Gates and Rupert Murdoch, you don't even half to buy off the group yourself. You have Rupey buy off you ex-chancellor, the one who couldn't manage his way out of a paper bag, and get him a gig running a front group. Then, have that front group and Bill Gates pay get a couple of people out of the classroom. Finally, have them pretend they're concerned teachers, and hoodwink people into signing pledges of support with the lure of free drinks.
You have to wonder what those people would do for ten dollars. I shudder to think.
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