"A citywide education panel is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to allow the DOE to shut down some city schools based on their performance rates. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report.
With 20 schools on the chopping block, and people energized by a new process that encourages public comment, Department of Education officials expect to face a large and unfriendly crowd at Tuesday night's public meeting.
Last summer, the state Legislature continued mayoral control of the schools but stripped the DOE of its power to close them. That's now the responsibility of the Panel for Educational Policy, whose members are picked by the mayor and the five borough presidents.
Since school closure decisions are no longer made behind closed doors, the PEP is required to vote in front of the public while also allowing them an opportunity to be heard.
'The participation that I've seen in this school closure issue this year has really been extraordinary and something that we really haven't seen a lot before,' said Kim Sweet of Advocates for Children of New York."
With 20 schools on the chopping block, and people energized by a new process that encourages public comment, Department of Education officials expect to face a large and unfriendly crowd at Tuesday night's public meeting.
Last summer, the state Legislature continued mayoral control of the schools but stripped the DOE of its power to close them. That's now the responsibility of the Panel for Educational Policy, whose members are picked by the mayor and the five borough presidents.
Since school closure decisions are no longer made behind closed doors, the PEP is required to vote in front of the public while also allowing them an opportunity to be heard.
'The participation that I've seen in this school closure issue this year has really been extraordinary and something that we really haven't seen a lot before,' said Kim Sweet of Advocates for Children of New York."
