Turnover at Council, Assembly Education Committees
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
In her four years at the helm of the City Council’s Committee on Education, Eva Moskowitz ruled with an iron gavel in one hand – and the occasional baby bottle in the other.
Tackling everything from test scores to toilet paper shortages, she hosted more than 100 hearings, including at least one with her gurgling baby on her lap. Along the way, she sometimes angered the teachers’ union and the Bloomberg administration while transforming the once sleepy committee into a high-profile watchdog for parents and children.
With Ms. Moskowitz term-limited out of office at the end of 2005, the education policy community is wondering who will replace her. At the same time, the longest-serving chairman of the Assembly’s education committee, Steven Sanders, is stepping down after 28 years on the job, 11 of which he spent as committee head.
At a time when the state spends upwards of $25 billion on education, or about a quarter of the total budget, the successor for Mr. Sanders has become a hot topic in Albany.
“That’s the million dollar question,” an Assembly member from the Bronx, who sits on the education committee, Rueben Diaz Jr., said. He called the education post “the most important” in the Assembly because of the dollars spent and jobs created.
Committee chairmanships are doled out by the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, and typically reserved for senior members.
The names of a few local members being whispered about for the post include Peter Rivera of the Bronx, Kathy Nolan of Queens, and Deborah Glick of Manhattan. They have all served in Albany for at least a decade.
Some political insiders said the speaker is likely to appoint a member of the Black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caucus. Mr. Rivera is the only one of the three to fit that criterion. A spokesman for Mr. Silver said that he has not decided who will receive the coveted position and that no announcement is expected before Mr. Sanders steps down on December 31.
Mr. Sanders said he ranks at the top of his accomplishments increasing annual education funding by $5 billion,including $2.2 million to New York City; pushing for pre-kindergarten programs, and helping Mayor Bloomberg gain control of the city schools. Mr. Sanders, who underwent heart surgery early this year, announced last month that he would be leaving Albany to spend more time with his family. He’ll also work for Crane and Vacco, a lobbying firm.
In the city, the race to replace Ms. Moskowitz is also being played out behind closed doors.The outcome will depend on who pulls out ahead in the packed race for the speaker of the City Council, which will be decided on January 4. So far, seven members are vying for the top position.
In the run-up to that election, council members are jockeying behind the scenes, trading votes in exchange for promises of powerful committee posts, which come with a stipend.The head of the education committee receives an additional $15,000, which Ms. Moskowitz turned down.
According to City Council insiders, a council member from Upper Manhattan, Robert Jackson, is gunning for the spot.At a recent hearing on science education, he was the only committee member who showed up and stayed aside from Ms. Moskowitz.
Mr. Jackson, a former community school board president, is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the state by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity that could funnel billions of more education dollars into city schools.
“It is safe to say that I am somebody that may or should be considered for the education chair. Where that ends, your guess is as good as mine,”Mr.Jackson said.
In the upcoming months, the unions and education advocates are keeping careful watch. “Hopefully, it will be a new era for education,” the president of the United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, said.
Ms. Moskowitz said she plans to continue probing the failures of city schools until she walks out of City Hall. “I could hold 100 more hearings, and there would still be unfinished business,” she said.