Public Advocate Tish James got it half right: She blasted Mayor de Blasio’s woeful Renewal Schools program — but then called for more of the same.
In remarks at a City Council hearing Tuesday, she claimed that more money and time would do the trick — and that the one thing not to do is to close failed schools so you can reorganize and reopen them.
Sorry: The best thing for the kids is to shut down schools that aren’t teaching in order to open the way for something better.
Yes, that upsets teachers and other staff who may have to find work elsewhere. But the system already does far too much to protect every “stakeholder” except the children it’s supposed to serve.
Still, give James credit for calling out the absurdity of the program so far.
Of the 94 failure factories designated in 2014 as Renewal schools, 47 will remain by next year. Some have closed and others merged; another dozen-plus made minor progress and were allowed to “graduate” out.
Meanwhile, costs ballooned: The mayor originally funded Renewal at $150 million over three years for 94 schools, but the program’s eaten $582 million out of a new multiyear budget of at least $750 million.
Much of the cash went for connected ex-administrators serving as consultants. Does James want to shower even more money on them — simply to avoid closing disasters like JHS 145 in The Bronx, where less than 10 percent of students are doing math or reading at grade level?
If James is serious about her mayoral ambitions, she’s going to have to come up with something better than “de Blasio, but more.”