As the city Panel for Educational Policy met for the first time under the new mayoral administration last Wednesday, the group had not yet fully formed, with Mayor de Blasio just that evening announcing five of his eight appointees.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer also made a last-minute announcement about her choice for the PEP, and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz still has not named who will replace former Borough President Helen Marshall’s representative, Dmytro Fedkowskyj.
A spokesman for Katz said she will tap someone prior to the February meeting of the PEP – a 13-member decision making group dominated by mayoral appointees that votes on education plans for the city’s public schools, including school closures and co-locations. Under the state’s mayoral control legislation that went into effect in 2002, giving then-Mayor Bloomberg control over the city’s public school system, the PEP was formed – and while it holds public meetings at which outraged parents often scream into the early morning hours, the group was known as a rubber stamp for Bloomberg because the mayor appoints the majority of the panel.
The mayor selects eight of the 13 members, and each of the five borough presidents chooses one member. Katz is the only borough president who has yet to do so.
De Blasio’s appointees announced last week are: Lori Podvesker, a mother of a student with special needs; Elzora Cleveland, the former president of the parent council for Manhattan District 2; Norm Fruchter, an education researcher who served on a Brooklyn school board; Vanessa Leung, whose work paved the way for the City Council’s Dignity in Schools Act; and Robert Reffkin, who previously served on the PEP under Bloomberg and is the head of a real estate technology company.
“I know a lot of parents feel this panel hasn’t always been on our side,” de Blasio said in a prepared statement. “Today we change that. We want real debate. We want a panel that really listens. The people we’ve brought together believe in the power of school communities to improve outcomes for our children.”
De Blasio is expected to name his final three members in the near future. Upon announcing his choices, the mayor also emphasized his commitment to invest in universal pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds in the city and after-school programs for middle school students.
“I am thrilled to work with a panel of such a dynamic, diverse set of individuals who have dedicated themselves to improving education,” City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said. “When leaders listen, policy improves and our students benefit. I plan on working closely with these new members to not only make sure our approach going forward is done right, but to ensure we are getting the feedback we need to get better.”
Brewer announced not long before last week’s PEP meeting that her appointee would be Laura Zingmond, an Upper East Side parent and contributor to the website Insideschools. Diane Peruggia is the Staten Island representative, Robert Powell is the Bronx’s, and Fred Baptiste is the Brooklyn borough president’s appointee.
Katz has not hinted at who she plans on naming, though she has said it will be someone in the field of education.
By Anna Gustafson
