Statement On Mayoral Control From Senate Majority Leader Flanagan

This morning, I had an opportunity to review the Senate Education Committee’s public hearing on mayoral control for New York City held yesterday in Albany.  As the former Chairman of the Education Committee for the last five years, I have a deep understanding and am acutely aware of the importance of a first-class, quality education for our young people.
    
While I appreciate Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Fariña making time to have a conversation on this important issue, I am no closer to signing off on an extension of mayoral control now than I was 24 hours ago.  Too often, the Mayor showed a disturbing lack of personal knowledge about the City schools.  In addition, he has left too many unanswered questions and failed to provide specifics on many of the issues raised by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.  Until that occurs, I will not entrust this Mayor with the awesome responsibility of operating the New York City school system.

Our Education Committee will hold a second public hearing in New York City on May 19 to further examine this issue, giving Mayor de Blasio and his administration another chance to make their case in a more thorough and more convincing way.