Yesterday, the re-formed Board of Education voted unanimously to keep Schools Chancellor Joel Klein in control of the school system. The board's first meeting in years was, the NY Times reports, "not the chaos Mr. Bloomberg had predicted if mayoral control of the schools lapsed." And the Daily News notes, "Predictions of anarchy failed to materialize as the first day of summer school passed without the Soviet-style dysfunction Mayor Bloomberg predicted."
The new board is made up of seven members—two appointed by the mayor, the other five appointed by each of the borough presidents—and three of them are deputy mayors (here's a cribsheet). Still, Bloomberg was pissed that the State Senate didn't vote on legislation to keep control of schools under the mayor, saying during a press conference, "Since the Senate refused to exercise its duties responsibly, we here in the city are moving to protect our children. We’ll do our best to keep them from becoming victims of the Albany train wreck."
The board later voted 6-1 in favor of continuing mayoral control of schools. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.'s representative Dolores Fernandez abstained from the vote; Diaz said, "Though I am a supporter of some form of mayoral control, and am disappointed that the current law was allowed to expire, the business of our children is too important to wait for Albany to act."
