Thompson takes the parent vote!

NYC Kids PAC congratulates Bill Thompson on his strong performance this Tuesday in the mayoral elections. As the New York Times exit poll shows, parents of public school children voted overwhelmingly for change—favoring Thompson 55% to 43%.

Mayor Bloomberg assumed complete control of the schools in 2002 and declared that New Yorkers should hold him accountable with their vote. The election reveals that public school parents have done just that. Despite $80 million dollars in flyers and saturation advertising hawking the mayor’s false statistics and bogus claims of improvements in our schools, public school parents called for change.

NYC Kids PAC also congratulates John Liu, the comptroller-elect, an NYC Kids PAC endorsee. Liu was the city’s largest vote-getter with 693,330 votes—roughly 150,000 more than Bloomberg.

We celebrate the six victorious City Councilmember who also received our endorsement: Charles Barron, Robert Jackson, Ken Mitchell, Diane Reyna, Al Vann, and Councilmember-elect Mark Weprin. We supported these candidates on the basis of their education records, specifically their votes to expand the school capital plan and revise mayoral control.
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NYC Kids PAC looks forward to working with the Mayor, Speaker Quinn, the City Council, Comptroller-elect Liu, and Public Advocate-elect de Blasio to enact the policies we need for real improvements in our schools. The election results demonstrate that New Yorkers are not happy with the one-man rule that has come to dominate our schools and our city.

We call on all of New York City’s officials to recognize the mandate for change expressed by Tuesday’s vote by

—immediately replacing Joel Klein with an educator as chancellor;
—reducing class size and eliminating overcrowding;
—limiting high-stakes testing and its distorting consequences for curriculum and instruction;
—curtailing the privatization of public education;
—strengthening neighborhood schools;
—institutionalizing the parent voice in decision-making; and
—insuring transparency and accountability in finances and data analysis.

NYC Kids PAC only formed in September, and yet it helped raise over $8,000 for Bill Thompson, marshaled parents as volunteers from throughout the five boroughs, and distributed thousands of flyers educating the electorate on the issues of concern to parents. NYC Kids PAC will continue to support leaders who stand up for what we know our kids really need. For more information about our mission and our goals see www.nyckidspac.org.