ALBANY BUDGET DEAL EXTENDS MAYORAL CONTROL FOR THREE MORE YEARS

There is a budget deal in Albany. The schools get more money from the state but not enough to satisfy most education advocates and Mayor Bill de Blasio keeps control of New York City schools for three more years without any substantive changes.

From Chalkbeat:

New York lawmakers reached a budget deal Sunday that boosts education funding for school districts across the state by a billion dollars and extends mayoral control of city schools for three years — the longest extension since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office.

The $1 billion increase brings state spending on school aid to $27.9 billion, almost identical to last year’s increase. But, as in previous years, it was still substantially less than what lawmakers and the state’s Board of Regents requested.

The budget deal — often referred to as the “big ugly” — also included a slew of other policies that affect city schools, including mayoral control, tweaks to the city board that votes on school closures and contracts, and changes to local parent councils. Lawmakers were expected to vote on the deal Sunday.

On the tweaks to Mayoral control:

After campaigning aggressively to retain his control of the city’s schools, de Blasio won a three-year extension of mayoral control. It’s the longest renewal since he took office and will extend beyond the end of his final term.

In the past, Senate Republicans were only willing to negotiate one- or two-year extensions in exchange for concessions, such as on charter schools. But with Democrats in charge of the state Senate, attention focused away from charters and moved toward elevating parental input in city schools since some of the state’s newly elected Democrats criticized mayoral control as being too top-down.

In one example, the city’s Panel for Educational Policy, which has the power to approve contracts and sign off on school closures but is generally considered a rubber stamp for the mayor’s preferred policies, will add two members. The panel is being increased in size from 13 to 15, and one member would be elected by the presidents of local parent councils across the city.

The mayor will now appoint nine members instead of eight, so his power over the panel, which rarely breaks with his proposals, will not substantially change. (The deal would also require a new 10-day notice and written explanation for removing any panel members.)

At least the charter cap wasn't lifted but charter schools still received the same funding increase as public schools. It looks like the 2% tax cap limit for municipalities and school districts is in there too so don't expect salaries for teachers in the suburbs to start heading up again anytime soon.

If this is the best public schools can do with significant Democratic majorities in both the Assembly and Senate and a Democratic governor (albeit Democrat in name only I concede), the political process without any leverage from threats of statewide teacher action may not take us very far up in Albany.

You can read more about the overall state budget deal here. They don't call Albany budget bills "The Big Ugly" for nothing.