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Lapse of mayoral control could threaten tech initiative—and more

The state Senate's alternative would inject a host of political considerations into management of city schools

The future of New York City's technology sector rests squarely on the city's capacity to educate the 1.1 million students in its schools and produce a skilled, diverse workforce. This vital challenge for our education system requires clear lines of accountability, room for bold initiatives, and guardrails that keep bureaucratic turf wars at a distance.

But with just a handful of days remaining in this year's legislative session, lawmakers in Albany are dangerously close to allowing mayoral control of New York City schools—the nonpartisan structure of governance that makes a brighter future for our schools possible—to lapse.

This would be a disruptive shock to New York City's school system, one that could imperil path-breaking initiatives and reprise the corruption and inaction that plagued the board that presided over city schools nearly two decades ago.

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