Mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer criticized the education plan of Republican hopeful Michael Bloomberg yesterday, calling the businessman’s proposal to fix city public schools “amateur.”
“Public education is not ‘amateur night,’ it’s an important piece of business,” said Ferrer, the Democratic Bronx borough president, while speaking with voters in Brooklyn.
Ferrer said Bloomberg’s call for school uniforms demonstrated his lack of knowledge about current school policies.
“I was joking with him, I said, ‘Mike, uniforms are already the rule,’ ” Ferrer said.
Some public schools already require them.
Bloomberg has called for greater accountability, two-year testing of students, abolishing the Board of Education, and mandatory school uniforms.
But Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler dismissed Ferrer’s assessment yesterday.
“Mike is more interested in getting feedback from teachers, students and parents than career politicians,” Skyler said, adding that Board of Education President Ninfa Segarra has praised Bloomberg’s plan.
Ferrer made his comments yesterday at the home of a local supporter in Coney Island for an informal coffee klatch with local parents and teachers about the city’s troubled school system.