Dean visits Mayor Bloomberg, others, in NYC

Mayor Karl Dean met Tuesday with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as Dean learns more about mayor-run public schools. File photo illustration

Call it a meeting of the mayors. Mayor Karl Dean met with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday, as part of a two-day visit with New Yorkers leading the city’s mayor-run public school district. Bloomberg successfully took control of NYC schools in 2002.

According to information from the Mayor’s Office, Dean’s agenda while in NYC included meetings with three officials of the New York City Department of Education, principals of John F. Kennedy High School, and the president of educational reform organization New Visions for Public Schools.

The mayor met, as well, with the chief executive officer of the New Teacher Project, a teacher recruitment organization Dean recently pushed to help establish at Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Dean spokesperson Janel Lacy had few details as to the content of the meetings, other than to state that a variety of education-related topics were to be discussed. But several school board members say they were notified by the Mayor’s Office last week of Dean’s plans.

“He’s clearly trying to educate himself on how mayoral control works,” said Board of Education Chair David Fox. “I just assume he’s doing due diligence on that, since he has made it clear that he is preparing himself to govern the system if he has the opportunity.”

Dean’s visit occurs in the midst of a pivotal time in the search for Nashville’s next director of schools. School board members were recently given applications of those who have asked to be considered for the job.

While Dean is paying the bill for the search firm through privately raised funds, he has publicly stated that is preparing to fill the role of trustee in charge of the school system, in the event that he is asked to do so by the Tennessee Department of Education. The state could be able to appoint a trustee if MNPS continues this school year to fail benchmarks required by federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) laws.