Mayoral control ‘debate’ doubles as grandstanding opportunity

There are few political acts in New York more absurdly obsequious than the mayor of the nation’s largest city traveling three hours north to beg a bunch of legislators from small upstate locales for permission to run his school system.

But there was Bill de Blasio on Wednesday in the state Capitol, straining to be polite in making the case to the state Senate Education Committee for why mayoral control of public schools should be extended another seven years.

Of course, in the wake of the corruption investigations swirling around de Blasio, the highly public setting of this hearing doubled as a perfect opportunity for political grandstanding. Cue Terrence Murphy, a Republican representing parts of Westchester County, who drew the extraordinary conclusion that because the mayor allegedly violated state campaign finance laws, he was somehow ill-equipped to run a school system.

“Convince me. Convince me why I should vote for mayoral control with all the allegations that are going on in your office,” Murphy said.

Murphy has an obvious axe to grind with de Blasio. After all, Murphy’s 2014 opponent, Justin Wagner, was one of the Democratic Senate candidates who benefited from the contributions that de Blasio’s team funneled through the Putnam, Monroe and Ulster County Democratic committees. Sen. Murphy was also a steadfast ally of the recently convicted ex-Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, calling him a “true gentleman” after Skelos was indicted on corruption charges.

If Senate Republicans were really concerned with the pay-for-play allegations that seem to permeate City Hall, they certainly didn’t voice the same concerns when Michael Bloomberg was mayor and allowed charter schools to proliferate throughout New York City, largely unregulated.

If Senate Republicans want to have an honest debate about mayoral control, they should ask de Blasio about instituting checks and balances into the oversight of public schools, or the Department of Education’s contract procurement process (especially as it relates to parochial schools and Yeshivas getting universal pre-K contracts), or examine the approval power over co-location.

De Blasio is an easy, convenient target, and the legal process may indeed find his campaign finance actions to be illegal. But using a hearing with important implications for millions of students as a vehicle to score cheap political points is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Convinced?