Which mayoral candidate will help public schools most?

Voting for New York’s mayor on November 3 may not be as exciting as last year’s historic presidential election, but that doesn’t mean you should slack on your civic duty. The candidates—the incumbent Mike Bloomberg and Democrat (and city comptroller) Bill Thompson—hold divergent views on an issue that’s vital to local parents: education. We looked into their platforms and records to find out which contender will do more for your kids.

Issue: Scores & graduation rates
Bloomberg: Since Bloomberg took office, reading scores have jumped 27.5 percent, math scores are up 42 percent and graduation rates have improved by 15 percent. His next goal: narrowing the achievement gap for black and Latino students.
Thompson: Thompson insists that Bloomberg’s stellar scores are artificial. His vow: to pursue independent audits of test scores and a well-rounded curriculum with a greater focus on geography, civics and the arts.
Our Take: We like Thompson’s push for more time spent on enrichment, but we’re iffy on whether he’ll be able to boost the acquisition of diplomas in NYC. When he headed the Board of Education, dropout rates rose 4 percent.

Issue: School crime
Bloomberg: Bloomberg claims that his safety programs—like Impact Schools, in which schools with a high incidence of crime receive extra policing—have produced a 44 percent decline in school crimes overall.
Thompson: Though he hasn’t proposed his own plan, Thompson is critical of Impact Schools. That’s an odd stance to take considering he inked the original deal giving the city’s police department control back in 1998.
Our Take: Thompson’s failure to formulate a solid plan of attack—coupled with a rise in school violence during his tenure as head of the Board of Education—puts us squarely in Bloomberg’s camp.

Issue: Crowding
Bloomberg: In August, Bloomberg opened 23 new public schools (that’s 13,000 seats) in the five boroughs. By 2012, he hopes to have spearheaded the largest school construction effort in the city’s history: 110,000 new school seats.
Thompson: He wants to fund new schools by introducing rolling five-year capital plans, co-locating residential and commercial developments with schools, and making school construction part of city development deals.
Our Take: The mayor’s 2009 budget called for 14,000+ teachers and classroom employees to be laid off—a cut that clashes with his expansion plans. We like that Thompson’s financing ideas could fund staffing and growth.

Issue: Parental involvement
Bloomberg: He conducted the largest survey of parents that any city has ever undertaken, and launched the Achievement Reporting and Innovation System (ARIS) to help families follow their kids’ academic progress online.
Thompson: Thompson wants to replace the current educational advisory board with a group selected by a committee made up of members appointed by the mayor, the borough presidents, the City Council and other interests.
Our Take: We appreciate Thompson’s general push for transparency in the schools, but it’s possible his plan would just add another level of confounding bureaucracy to an already bloated, complicated system.

• Free things to do on Election Day with your kids
• Features
• Articles from this issue