Jurisdiction New York City Board executive Vanessa Leung, Chair | Headquarters Tweed Courthouse Key document Bylaws of the Panel | |
 | ||
Preceding board New York City Board of Education Parent department New York City Department of Education | ||
The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of the New York City Department of Education. The members of the board are appointed by the mayor and by the five borough presidents.
Contents
Members
There are 13 members of the panel. Each of the five borough presidents appoints one member, and the remaining eight are appointed by the mayor.
Appointed by borough presidents
Appointed by the mayor
Analysis and criticism
In 2011, Panel for Educational Policy member Patrick Sullivan (who was appointed by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer in 2007) suggested changing the system to have only six mayoral appointees, and that appointees should have fixed terms; additionally, he stated "For us not to have the same role in our kids' education as people who live in the suburbs or Middle America is patronizing."
History
Prior to Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg's securing control of New York City schools, the Board of Education itself ran the schools. On June 30, 2002, Mayor Bloomberg secured authority over the schools from the New York State legislature, which began the era of "mayoral control" over the city schools.
The New York Supreme Court ellaborates:
By chapter 91 of the Laws of 2002, the Education Law was amended so as to radically restructure the governance of the school district of the City of New York. The amendment provided, among other things, that the Mayor of New York was empowered to appoint a Chancellor who would preside over a Board of Education which was to be expanded from 7 to 13 members, the majority of which were also to be appointed by the Mayor of the City of New York. Five Board members are selected by the Borough Presidents.
Although that legislation itself made no specific reference to a "Department of Education of the City of New York," the bylaws subsequently adopted by the Board provide that this 13-member body "shall be known as the Panel for Educational Policy," which together with the Chancellor and other school employees is designated as the "Department of Education of the City of New York."
On June 30, 2009, the New York State Senate declined to renew the mayor's full authority over the school system. In particular, State Senate Democrats leader John Sampson, of Brooklyn, opposed the extension of mayoral control. The authority reverted for a time to the Board of Education, but mayoral control was restored until 2015 in a vote on August 6, 2009. The actual city agency running the schools remains the New York City Department of Education.