Bloomberg's Way

New Yorkers are debating the mayor’s control of schools as it comes up for legislative review.

New York

The nation’s largest school district is engaged in a fierce debate over the merits and drawbacks of mayoral control as a legislative deadline looms for renewing the governance arrangement.

The 2002 law that gave New York City’s mayor authority over the school system will “sunset” on June 30 unless state lawmakers step in, as they are widely expected to do. They will have no shortage of suggestions from parents, politicians, academics, and educators who are arguing over the results of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s seven years of control.

“One of the things we’ve heard over and over and over again is that parents and the community feel left out of the system,” Betsy Gotbaum, New York City’s elected public advocate, said at a recent public hearing on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Her independent agency, charged with helping residents with the city’s bureaucracy, has spearheaded...