Res. No. 5 Title Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature to abolish the New York City Board of Education, and to enact legislation that would give the Mayor and City Council more control over the system of school governance in New York City. Body By Council Members Comrie, Martinez, Serrano, Gallagher, Lanza and Oddo; also Council Members Addabbo Jr., Nelson and Provenzano Whereas, The current educational system in New York City is failing our children; and Whereas, The four-year high school graduation rate for the class of 2000 was only 49.9%, with a19.3% dropout rate; and Whereas, Furthermore, according to the Mayor's Management Report for Fiscal 2001, the percentage of students reading at or above grade level ranges from 32.5% in grade 8 to 42.2% in grade 4, and the percentage of students meeting and exceeding standards in mathematics ranges from 22.6% in grade 8 to 46.2 % in grade 5; and Whereas, New York City contains 90% of the State's Schools Under Registration Review (SURR schools), which are the schools that are designated as farthest from meeting State standards; and Whereas, Additionally, although State policy requires every teacher to be certified by 2003, 17% of New York City teachers are uncertified; and Whereas, The New York City public school system is currently experiencing a $2.3 billion shortfall in its school construction budget, which at least in part been has blamed on mismanagement and "low-balling" construction cost estimates by Board of Education officials; and Whereas, Furthermore, both the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District and the Governor's Moreland Act Commission issued reports concerning abuses within the Board of Education, including educator misconduct, unsound hiring practices and attendance fraud; and Whereas, The Board of Education is a bloated bureaucracy that has failed in its mission to adequately educate the children of New York City; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the New York State Legislature abolish the New York City Board of Education, and enact legislation that would give the Mayor and City Council more control over the system of school governance in New York City. |10
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