Wednesday night’s Town Hall meeting in Brooklyn was the first of many that will address issues raised by mayoral control of the city’s schools — a state law that’s slated to end in 2009.

My friend, who is a Parent Coordinator at a local school, said there were many frustrated parents present, who wanted to express their grievances about the way that Mayor Bloomberg has not addressed issues of concern to parents  of special needs children and others

Inside Schools had this report on their website. Here’s an excerpt.

Most speakers described the erosion of public influence on public education
due to mayoral control: Community Education Councils as weak
substitutes for elected school boards; policy decisions (and PR
disasters) enacted by remote DOE leadership; and the
mayorally-appointed (and thus beholden) Panel for Educational Policy in
lieu of the former Board of Education, whose antagonism to the Mayor —
any mayor — was legion.

Parents brought specific and legitimate
complaints about the high-school admissions process and the exclusion
of special-education parents and students from many policy-level
conversations. Martine Guerrier, head of the Office of Family Engagement, as
present; more than a few charged her office with "Orwellian" practices
and a dismissive, "we’ll get back to you" philosophy. Notably, veteran
school leaders said that parents are reluctant to step into leadership
roles because of fears that their questions will lead to repercussions
for their children.