City Hall Tries Not to Gloat As Mayoral Control Deal Struck

A week that saw Mayor Bloomberg and Democratic state senators comparing each other to Nazi appeasers and plantation owners respectively ended with an announcement that the two sides had finally come to an agreement on Bloomberg keeping control of New York's schools. New Democratic Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr. announced that a deal had been reached with most terms of the original 2002 mayoral control law kept in tact. However the new agreement will work to foster more parental involvement with a $3 million parent training institute run through CUNY and schools being mandated to have safety meetings with parents. The Times says that City Hall officials were careful not to gloat at news of the deal, that will likely be voted on when senators return from vacation before the new school year gets under way. The additional provisions will also require an anotherl vote from the Assembly, but word is that Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver was kept abreast of negotiations. Not all state legislators were forcing a smile though, with Senator Hiram Monserrate saying, “The mayor can really be a mensch when he wants to be.”