Testimony on to Commission School Governance - Dec 2007
Remarks to CPAC - Oct 2007

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. issued the following statement regarding today’s publication of the Final Report of the Commission on School Governance:

I applaud Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum for convening this Commission and Commission members for their work. The Commission has appropriately emphasized the importance of our current school governance structure while recognizing the need to enact improvements that would better serve our city.

As I have stated in Commission testimony – available at www.comptroller.nyc.gov -, mayoral control of the New York City school system, when exercised wisely, is an important means of bringing efficiency, transparency and accountability to decision-making. But it was never intended to be a green light for unchecked executive power.

Over the last 6½ years, my office has issued a number of audits and financial reviews that highlight the need for stronger oversight and accountability. With greater authority and control also comes greater responsibility – responsibility to parents, to the taxpayers who help to fund our schools, and most importantly, responsibility to our children.

As we move forward to reinstitute mayoral control, we must ensure that parents have a greater voice. Parents across the city have become disillusioned because their input in the direction of our public schools has been severely minimized and devalued.

Finally, the Department of Education should be clearly established as a city agency and not allowed to exist in a gray area that permits it to avoid essential, stringent rules necessary to display the utmost transparency.
 
This report should not gather dust on a shelf, but instead serve as an opportunity to strengthen our schools and improve the lives of countless generations of students.

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