"In 2002, when Mayor Mike Bloomberg first convinced the state Legislature to move city schools under mayoral control, the goal was simple: end the chaos of 32 local school boards and give one leader the authority, responsibility and accountability to run the nation's largest school system. It's the same model used by the world's highest-performing school systems, like Singapore's. Mayoral control has made it possible to move reforms quickly, such as the citywide literacy overhaul under Mayor Eric Adams."
"In 2023, he launched NYC Reads, requiring every elementary school to adopt one of three science-of-reading curricula. By this school year, the plan reached nearly all 500,000 elementary-school students, with full implementation in just two years. Compare that to Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest district, which is not under mayoral control. LA began encouraging the same shift to science-based reading in 2022, but after three years, only about half its schools have adopted it."
A proposal for school "co-governance" seeks to replace the mayoral control model that assigns one leader clear authority and accountability for New York City schools. Mayoral control centralized decision-making after 2002 to end fragmented oversight from 32 local boards and to enable rapid reforms. Centralized leadership facilitated initiatives such as a citywide literacy overhaul and the NYC Reads curriculum, which reached nearly all 500,000 elementary students within two years. The centralized model coincided with a rise in graduation rates from 53% in 2003 to 83% in 2024. Comparative districts without mayoral control have shown slower, uneven adoption of similar reforms.
Read at New York Post
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