by pilgrimboy

Created on: July 17, 2008   Last Updated: July 19, 2008

When a change of the bureaucratic management system is the avenue pursued to bring about change in public schools, the new bureaucrats must remain focused on what needs to change to improve the student's education rather than just get caught up in changing the structure. A highly publicized bureaucratic change over public education is continuing to unravel in New York City. The Board of Education was considered inept: "The New York City Board of Education has failed to prevent the local decentralized school districts from mismanaging their budgets, ignoring ethical standards and often placing politics ahead of educational concerns, education officials, union leaders and representatives of community watchdog groups say" (Buder). It is this great mismanagement that led to only 50% of New York City students graduating from high school within four years (Greene). The main source of the problem might very well be the bureaucracy, yet changing forms of governmental management and style has done little to change the performance of the students. Mayoral control over education, although gaining popularity, is not the answer to the problems facing the public educational system in New York City nor in other cities around the nation.

Different approaches to improving education have been tried throughout the United States. Some cities have tried to bring about positive change by placing successful professionals (businessmen, lawyers, government officials, politicians, etc.) into authority to bring about positive change in failing public education systems (Ravitch, The Brookings Insitution). It is thought that a different perspective will bring about positive change. Another alternative that is being implemented throughout the United States is to free school systems from the government bureaucracy through charter schools, freeing the principal to experiment, or offering school vouchers. Lastly, the approach that is currently in vogue among many cities is to shift control of public education to the mayor.

During his campaign in 2001, the future Mayor Bloomberg ran on a platform to reorganize and streamline the educational bureaucracy, install back to basics in math and reading, eliminate bilingual education, increase parental choice, institute merit pay for teachers, demand greater accountability for teachers, principals, and the heads of education, give teachers greater control over how they teach, and reduce the educational system red tape. Although the ideas for change were

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