Lawmakers: Overcrowding, class size to decide fate of mayoral control

Could the capital plan be a deciding factor for State Assembly members when they cast their votes on mayoral control next year? At the Campaign for A Better Capital Plan kickoff rally last week, local Assembly members said yes.

Catherine Nolan

Catherine Nolan, the Queens lawmaker who chairs the Assembly’s education committee, asked when the DOE would provide answers about its planning process. “Six years into [mayoral control] … we need to ask for answers,” she said.

And about the open questions about the DOE’s approach to capital planning and cutting class sizes down, Jonathan Bing, who represents the East Side of Manhattan in Albany, said, “We need to know the answer … now, before we decide what we’re going to do on this issue.”

Last month, the State Education Department issued new oversight requirements for the DOE after review found little evidence of class size reduction despite state funds earmarked expressly for that purpose. And Assembly member Linda Rosenthal, from Manhattan’s West Side, told parents at last month’s Community Education Council for District 3 meeting about rezoning that she was disappointed that the DOE’s rezoning plans didn’t appear to include smaller classes as a goal. “When mayoral control comes up in Albany, this is [a key] topic we’ll be discussing,” she said.