Lawmakers grant New York City mayor an additional 2 years of control over city public schools
The New York State Legislature has granted New York City's mayor an additional two years of control over city public schools.
The New York Times reports that lawmakers acted one day before the mayor's authority over the 1.1-million student district was to expire after 15 years.
The State Assembly gave its approval to the extension early on Thursday and the State Senate following suit later in the day.
The issue of mayoral control carried over from the regularly scheduled legislative session, which ended last week. Republican and Democratic lawmakers deadlocked over whether Mayor Bill de Blasio’s authority over the nation's largest school system should be linked to an increase in the number of charter schools.
In the end, the Democrats in the Assembly, who did not want more charters added, prevailed and secured the two-year extension without approving additional charter schools.
The city's public schools have been under the direct authority of the mayor since 2002, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg persuaded state lawmakers to give him control of the system. It is one of several large U.S. cities in the last two decades where mayors have been handed the reins of authority over public schools.
