Bloomberg Skewered In Times Mayoral Control Article

Mike Bloomberg's bizarre comments on public schools finally caught up with him. Javier Hernandez of the Times strung together a few of the mayor's more outlandish talking points in his article on the expiration of mayoral control in today's paper.

The law granting the mayor complete and unprecedented control over the public schools expires Tuesday. Due to the deadlock in the State Senate, it is increasingly likely the temporary governance structure will revert to the old one in place before 2002. But according to the Times, rather than plan for the transition, the mayor has focused on trying to stoke fears:

Mr. Bloomberg has not announced any contingency plans, perhaps trying to hasten action upstate. But he has portrayed the possibility of losing control of the schools as nothing short of a catastrophe.

“If the Senate passes something that differs by one word or more,” he warned on Thursday, “it is saying to the city: ‘We want to resurrect the Soviet Union. We want to bring back chaos.’ ” In February, he said, “I think that there’d be riots in the streets.”

The Daily News reported the mayor's comments about the looming specter of communism as well. Both papers then quoted a series of experts including former Assembly Education Committee chair Steve Sanders, Board of Ed attorney David Bloomfield and former Chancellor Harold Levy to counter the administration arguments for impending chaos. Here's Bloomfield:

"There isn't a doomsday scenario unless the mayor brings it upon the city himself," said former top Board of Education lawyer David Bloomfield"

"He would cause the chaos."

The Times, true to its mission as the paper of record, even called the NYPD to check if the riot police were poised to deploy.

New York Times: Questions About Schools if Mayoral Control Ends
Daily News: 'Soviet Schools' if mayor control is lost says Mayor Bloomberg