Published: 1 years 280 days ago
Wall Street Journal: More Mayors Seek Control as Washington Presses for Action on Failing Institutions; Setting an Example in Rochester
Mayoral control—which usually means dissolving elected school boards and replacing them with commissions appointed by the mayor—was pioneered in Boston in 1992.
Since then, several big cities have adopted the practice, notably New York City in 2002, Washington, D.C., in 2007 and Chicago in 1995, where current Education Secretary Arne Duncan ran the school system for seven years as the mayor's appointee. Schools in Cleveland, New Haven, Conn., and Providence, R.I., are also under mayoral control.
Now more cities are considering the idea as Mr. Duncan and the Obama administration push to have teachers and administrators held more accountable for student performance.
Mr. Duncan supported mayoral control in Detroit, although he stressed the approach wasn't a solution for all cities.
"You need to rally entire cities" behind efforts to improve low-performing school systems, said Mr. Duncan, who in Chicago closed failing schools and pushed to open charter schools. "Mayors can play a critical role."
In California, where a state court has ruled mayoral control unconstitutional, Mayor Kevin Johnson has sought to bolster his influence on schools through aligning city services, getting more involved in school-board elections and launching a nonprofit that advocates school reform.
The former NBA star serves as co-chairman of a mayor's advisory council for Mr. Duncan. He also happens to be engaged to Washington, D.C. school superintendent Michelle Rhee, whose sweeping changes have included teacher layoffs and merit pay.
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