[I hope this post proves interesting. It was written by Edwize blogger natbell and crossposted from Edwize.]

The UFT has begun gathering input from the community about mayoral control of city schools and what it has meant for the city’s 1.1 million school children. The law that temporarily authorized centralization of the system has been in place for six years, and is scheduled to sunset in 2009.

A union task force is holding hearings in each of the five boroughs, where parents, community members and other stakeholders are evaluating whether the law should be continued, modified in some way, or allowed to expire. The community’s input will help the union develop its own position on the law.

At two of six scheduled public forums held so far, no one has stepped forth to say how great the city’s governance has been for the children of this city, nor has anyone recommended continuing with the present structure, not without some major changes.

Most people who have made formal statements in Staten Island and Manhattan have called for changes that will allow for more checks and balances on principals, superintendents and the chancellor. Teachers, parents, and other community stakeholders need a way to communicate their concerns to people at the top, many have said.

For example some Staten Island parents came to the forum held at the Petrides Complex January 17th ready to boycott DOE over the limited power of school leadership teams, or SLTs.

They said SLTs are supposed to help select administrative staff at their schools under what’s known as the C30 process. But the principal can override decisions made by the SLT, said a frustrated Patty Stucker. “It is administered to appease parents and make them believe they have a voice in decisions, but they really don’t,” she said.

In Manhattan, the leaders of a new student union formed over a year ago to educate students citywide about policy issues affecting them and to lobby on behalf of student concerns offered a formal statement.

The students said mayoral control leaves too much power in the hands of the mayor and chancellor.

Seth Pearce, president of a Representative in the New York City Student Union, offered a solution to the problem: “Just as the (U.S.) secretary of education is appointed by the president and approved by the senate, so should the chancellor be appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council.” Students and teachers should be on the chancellor’s selection board, said the LaGuardia HS senior.

A second Manhattan forum will be held Feb. 13 at MS 104, 330 E. 21st Street between First and Second Avenues. Forums also will be held in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens during February. Here’s the schedule.