Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York sees himself as
the “Education Mayor.” But lately New Yorkers seem to wish he weren’t. While a
recent poll (more coverage here)
shows they approve of some of his education policies, for example paying higher
performing teachers more and basing layoffs on teacher performance rather than
on seniority (the poll didn’t define “performing” or “performance”), it shows
that voters don’t approve of his handling of the schools overall or of strict
mayoral control, and that they trust the teachers union more than the mayor to
be advocates for students. Nor are Chancellor Walcott’s numbers so good: only
34% approve of his performance.
Bloomberg’s cynical
reaction: a) I don’t care what the public thinks and b) the
public doesn’t really think that—they were manipulated by advertisements except
for c) when the voters approved of me in which case they were sincerely happy.
I should know because I buy public opinion when I need to. You want a poll in
my favor? Believe me, I can get you a poll in my favor by 3 o’clock tomorrow, with
nail polish.
What’s most concerning about this is Bloomberg’s
utter disdain for democracy. These are the times when I hear Bloomberg talking
in Jon Stewart’s thug voice. Yes, he gave that donation to Planned Parenthood
during the Komen ordeal. Yes, he supports gay rights and gay marriage. Yes, he
gave his own money to a
program in New York City to help unemployed, previously
incarcerated, and uneducated young men look for jobs. But that’s just the
point: he buys policy he approves of but cuts government funding to those he
doesn’t approve of. He bypasses democratic institutions and processes.
He has closed schools at an amazing clip, sending
students off to try their luck at getting into small schools, charter schools,
or, if that fails, other comprehensive schools. Those schools then become dumping
grounds for the kids are hardest to educate, and become vulnerable to being
closed for low performance, beginning the process anew. In 2002, the Panel for
Educational Policy (PEP) was set up to replace the central board of education;
of thirteen members, the Mayor could appoint eight. In 2004, in an incident
known as the “Monday
Night Massacre” Bloomberg had three of his appointed
members removed as they were planning to oppose his proposal regarding social
promotion. His appointees on the PEP haven’t voted against one of Bloomberg’s
proposals since. I’ve heard some New Yorkers call it the Puppets for Education
Policy.
Last night’s PEP
meeting featured intense
protests regarding the
closure or truncation of 33 schools. That brings to over
100 the number of schools Bloomberg has closed with over 400 co-locations of
charters in public school buildings, many of those schools already making full
use of the building. That’s an astonishing assault on an essential public
democratic institution, especially given that it’s occurring without any
meaningful public input.
Immediately after Bloomberg engineered the chance to get a third term and won, Hendrick Hertzberg wrote a column in The New Yorker bemoaning the conditions of Bloomerberg’s reign but ultimately approving it. Hertzberg ended with a shrug of the shoulders and a question:
“If Bloomberg had been satisfied with two terms, he would be leaving office a beloved legend, a municipal god. He’ll get his third, but we’ll give it to him sullenly, knowing that while it probably won’t measure up to his first two—times are hard, huge budget gaps are at hand—it’ll probably be good enough. The Pax Bloombergiana will endure a while longer. But then what? Will we have forgotten how to govern ourselves?”
The question is not
only whether New Yorkers will have forgotten how to govern themselves but
whether after the dismantling of New York’s public democratic infrastructure,
they will be able to, whether there will be institutions and processes in which
to do so. Bloomberg may give money to good causes, he may be in favor of gay
rights, and he may support immigrants, but he’s still a machine politician, and
even worse, he’s a machine politician for the party of Bloomberg.
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