In a recent New York Times poll New Yorkers listed two areas as major concerns: the public school system and affordable housing.  We at the Five Borough Institute asked each of the major candidates for Mayor for their positions on public education.  What follows is a set of quotations and extracts from the replies to our queries and from the campaign materials of the major candidates.

Herman Badillo:

Despite repeated efforts we have to date received no response from Mr. Badillo’s campaign.

Michael Bloomberg:

1) will “strongly lobby Albany to abolish the “Board of Education. It is not accountable to anyone-and protects itself at all cost”;
2) will “re-evaluate and re-qualify teachers every second year (the same as students)”;
3) “teachers, principals and other school professionals must visit in the home every parent or guardian at least once per year and call him or her every term”;
4) will “encourage parents in all school districts to solicit funds in their communities and/or from private companies for “extras” the city cannot afford, such as band instruments”; and
5) “Continue to support the development of parent-initiated charter schools.”

Fernando Ferrer:

1) “wants to keep all of our public middle schools open until 6 pm each day and on Saturdays and Sundays”;
2) “will give any parent who is a city employee leave without penalty to attend parent-teacher conferences, and encourage the private sector to do the same”;
3) proposes “that we use the summer as an opportunity to provide ... professional development” for teachers;
4) “will ask the Chancellor to distribute report cards to parents that will measure their support of their children’s education”; and
5) believes “we must increase teacher salaries to ensure that more and better teachers come into our schools.”

Mark Green:

1) The highest [educational] “priority is class size reduction in early grades.  No child in grades K-3 should be in a class larger than 20 students”;
2) “wants to appoint the Chancellor directly”;
3) “will raise salaries, enhance professional development and improve working conditions through smaller classes”;
4) “will expand the City’s capital commitment to school construction by 10%-...2 billion more ...over the next four years”; and
5) “wants to expand quality after-school programs.”

Alan Hevesi:

1)  “will take what works at the good schools and apply it to the bad,” and will fight to make sure that the poor-performing schools are improved;
2) will “open two hundred storefronts for computer learning for adults and children and [will] strengthen the School Board not abolish it”;
3) As Comptroller, suggested “going to year-round schools in crowded districts …as a pilot project”;
4) As Comptroller, “found that the Board does not know if special education students’ skills are improving as a result of the services they are receiving”; and
5) As Comptroller, “found that the Board of Education could save millions of dollars by hiring non-teacher staff to perform administrative duties, allowing teachers to spend more time educating children.”

Peter Vallone:

1) “will dedicate New York City’s residential property taxes exclusively to instructional support in our schools…[which] will increase the City’s contribution to our schools by $500 million ”;
2) “…created the NYC Teach program, which pays graduate school tuition for teachers who agree to teach for three years in New York City public schools”;
3) supports “abolishing the Board of Education ... In its place, I propose creating a New York City Department of Education that is directly accountable to City Hall”;
4) proposes “by September 2004, ... that no classroom should have more than 24 students”; and
5) does not “believe that putting taxpayer money into private vouchers is the answer to fixing our public schools system.”
We hope the above quotations contribute to your information as to how each of the candidates would seek to improve and preserve our public schools.  We at the Five Borough Institute believe that good public schools are an essential part of a healthy and prosperous city.  We feel that any proposals to improve schools must include a realistic plan to lower class size and increase teacher salaries so they are competitive with suburban salaries.  We have proposed a research project in the area of vocational education and are developing other research projects in this vital area of civic concern.