The mayor of New York City and the governor of New York are at odds over whether the mayor has the authority to close city public schools for the rest of the academic year.
The New York Times reports that Mayor Bill de Blasio announced over the weekend that the city's school system—the nation's largest school district—would not resume in-person classes for the remainder of the school year, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo says that the final decision is his and that it is too soon to make one.
“We won’t open schools one minute sooner than they should be opened,” Cuomo says, “but we won’t open schools one minute later than they should be opened, either.”
Many states across the nation have canceled in-person classes for the entire 2019-20 year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Monday, de Blasio reiterated that he and the city schools chancellor, Richard A. Carranza, have the authority to make the decision to keep schools closed for the city’s 1.1 million schoolchildren.
“We’re not reopening schools,” he says. “It won’t be safe for all the people we’re supposed to protect, and our job, our responsibility is to them.”
Cuomo also is holding to his position. He says the decision to keep schools closed should be coordinated regionally.
“I cant have things happen that are mistakes,” Cuomo says.
