A discussion about who should control the city schools quickly heated up Thursday when a member of the state Board of Regents accused an education official of embodying the "A-word."
"When I say the 'A-word,' I mean there is an arrogance here," Regent Merryl Tisch thundered in a public scolding of Deputy Chancellor Chris Cerf.
The two were panelists in a New School discussion on whether a law authorizing mayoral control of the schools should be renewed after it expires next year.
Cerf, a controversial official who once led the for-profit Edison Schools, had just finished boasting that the city's graduation rate had reached an unprecedented 60%. That statistic is disputed by state officials, who calculate graduation rate differently and say the city's rate is 50%. The city and state had agreed last year to use the lower number.
"I don't want to be rude here," Tisch said after Cerf spoke. "But one of the reasons people start to question the authority of mayoral control is because of the 'A-word.'...There is an arrogance to how you report data, control data and how you report statistics," Tisch said, adding that even 50% is "teetering on telling the truth."
Tisch is a strong supporter of mayoral control. She voted for the initial proposal that gave Mayor Bloomberg control of schools in 2002 and has cheered his reforms.
But mayoral control was sharply criticized at yesterday's discussion and at City Council hearing on Monday. Before Tisch's rebuke, Assemblyman Alan Maisel, another panelist, said Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein had practiced "the Stalinist method of mayoral control."
Tisch lamented that anger over poor communication had overshadowed the mayor and chancellor's many accomplishments.
"I think the city has a great story to tell about where they came from and where they are," she said. "The problem is that the reason people get angry at us ... is because they don't seem to be able to get a straight story from us."
