FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, New York
March 20, 2006

PDF 138K

Partnership for New York City Meets with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to Discuss New York City’s Experience with Mayoral Control of Public Schools

from Left to Right: Henry Schacht, Managing Director & Senior Advisor, Warburg Pincus; Kathryn Wylde, President & CEO of the Partnership for New York City; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Robert B. Catell, Chairman & CEO, KeySpan

Earlier today, representatives of the Partnership for New York City, including Co-Chair Martin Lipton and President & CEO Kathryn Wylde, met with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the Partnership’s offices in Lower Manhattan. Discussion focused on the role of the Partnership in the restructuring of the New York City public school system that began in 2002 with State legislation that eliminated the Board of Education and established Mayoral control over the schools. Mayor Villaraigosa is considering a similar effort in Los Angeles, although he does not contemplate elimination of an elected school board.

Mayor Villaraigosa was particularly interested in how New York’s business community had increased its support of the schools once they felt a system of real accountability was in place. The Partnership described the significant new levels of corporate involvement and funding for the school reform efforts that have been launched during the past four years, including the creation of the NYC Leadership Academy, the public-private partnership established by the Bloomberg-Klein Administration to recruit and train great school principals.

"The preparation of school leaders through a privately funded Leadership Academy has been one of the most important advances from the business community's point of view," according to Lipton. "New York established an academy for training principals that applies the accountability we have put in place at the top of the system all the way through to the school level. Early trends are demonstrating that these reforms are leading to improved performance by students across the board."

“Mayoral authority over the appointment of a chancellor, the budget and labor contracts has consolidated power in the office of the city's elected CEO and given confidence to corporate donors and philanthropic foundations that someone is in charge of the system and responsible for the use of these resources," said Wylde. "While it is still a work in progress, we are delighted that New York City’s efforts to restructure and reform public education are already a model for public school innovation in other urban centers. ”

The Partnership has a long history of mobilizing the business community to improve student performance in New York’s public schools. It was one of the first organizations to support mayoral control of the school system. In 2005, the Partnership released the first Progress Report on New York City School Reform, which identified emerging positive trends in city schools. Wylde is also on the Board of Directors of the NYC Leadership Academy.

The Partnership for New York City (www.pfnyc.org) is a network of business leaders dedicated to enhancing the economy of the five boroughs of New York City and maintaining the city’s position as the global center of commerce, culture and innovation.