Written Testimony of David M. Quintana – District 27 Parent
August 12, 2008
New York State Senate
Senate Democratic School Governance Task Force
Brooklyn Borough Hall, NY
“Oversight: Mayoral Control and School Governance”
I'd like to start off by thanking Senator Martin Connor and Senator Martin Malave-Dilan for hosting these hearings and for giving me the opportunity to voice my serious concerns with mayoral control and the present school governance system on behalf of the students and the parents of NYC Public school children...
My name is David M. Quintana, I'm a parent, the former Co-President of the MS210 Parents Association in Ozone Park and former District 27 Representative to the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council (CPAC), the Recording Secretary at the High School for Art, Imagination and Inquiry at the Martin Luther King, Jr campus in Manhattan, presently a member of Community Board 10 Education Committee, a member of the citywide parent group, Class Size Matters and a member of the recently formed NYC Parents Commission...
I am the proud parent of two school-aged daughters and a product of the NYC Public Education system in District 27 – a graduate of PS 60, MS 210 & John Adams High School.
In my humble opinion, the almost seven year experiment of Mayoral control of our public school system has proved to be a dismal failure...Many speak about “tweaking” the system but I think it is in serious need of a massive overhaul...
Parental involvement has been ignored by the present Administration, many major decisions have been made with absolutely no input from parents or the public...I would recommend the dissolution of the DOE Office of Family Engagement and Advocacy and for it to be replaced by an independent Parents Union (or a suitable substitute) to provide NYC Public School Parents a greater voice in the education of their children...
I believe that the development of a whole child requires the reinstitution of the Arts, Music, Physical Education (Gym), Student Governments and the teaching of basic American Civics – so students can learn how a basic democracy works so they can make intelligent political decisions in their own and their families self interest as adults and concerned citizens...In most schools Civics has been replaced by standardized test prep periods...
I call for the Elimination of the NYPD presence in the schools, which I feel creates a prison-like atmosphere in our schools...As the NYCLU has also noted, in its determined effort to bring these official vigilantes under control, that "this massive presence would make the NYPD's school safety division the fifth largest police force in the country—larger than [those of] Washington D.C., Detroit, Boston, or Las Vegas."
I feel that we should put educators back into Tweed Courthouse and not corporate “media spin doctors” who misinform the citizenry about the problems in our schools...I would call for a serious reduction in the staffing of the DOE press/public relations departments...these are the people who have succeeded in convincing most people in NYC that Michael Bloomberg is the “education” Mayor, it's pure propaganda ...
I feel the six year experiment with Mayoral control of the NYC Department of Education has not achieved improved student performance...According to the most recent NAEP for NYC, tests scores are stagnant, there has been no significant gains in scores during this period of Mayoral control...
Mayoral control has eliminated the public election of community oversight bodies which violates the basic rights of our communities and parents to participate in their children’s education and these elected positions have been replaced in many cases by toothless tigers such as the Community Education Councils and the rubber-stamp Panel for Educational Priorities (PEP)...
The PEP membership needs to be reconstituted in a fair manner to eliminate the total control the Mayors Office has on it with 8 of the members of the 13 member Panel being named by the Mayor – The CEC's have virtually no power and are basically ignored by the DOE...
Mayoral control has resulted in educational leaders being replaced by lawyers and corporate consultants as policy makers and decision makers, causing widespread demoralization within the system...
Mayoral control has resulted in costly no-bid contracts to the detriment of the students classroom needs, such as the $80 million ARIS computer system...
Mayoral control has ignored the basic rights of parents and our children and has had a major negative impact on an entire generation of student's elementary school experience; all of which has been driven by...
High stakes testing and constant test preparation...
Limiting the scope and depth of a comprehensive curriculum...
Lack of fulfilling special education mandates... and;
Constant upheaval causing high anxiety...
I believe that City Council members should have authority to monitor schools within their districts...and;
I feel the NYC Public Advocate or the NYC Comptroller should have authority to oversee and assess the Department of Education performance city-wide;
I respectfully implore that NYC's contingency of New York State legislators respond to this educational catastrophe and malfeasance by eliminating Mayoral control and remodeling the school system based on a governance plan which incorporates local autonomy, school based decision making, parent and community involvement with strict oversight by independent bodies, the Public Advocate and/or NYC Comptroller and the City Council...
Thank you again to Senator Connor and Senator Dilan for allowing me to speak...
David M. Quintana
