More Than the Mantra of "Mayoral Control"
by Frederick M. Hess • Dec 2, 2011 at 8:34 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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ShareYesterday, at the Fordham Institute's big conference on "Rethinking Education Governance in the 21st Century," I had the chance to chat about a new paper "More than the Mantra of 'Mayoral Control'" that I penned with Olivia Meeks. When it comes to district governance, Olivia and I argue that the back-and-forth about mayoral control has too often distracted us from the need to tackle entrenched routines.
We walk through the case for mayoral control (which I find fairly convincing when it comes to large urban districts) and the reasons for caution, then point out that the relative merits of elected v. appointed officials is hardly as exotic as the edu-debates might lead one to believe. When it comes to public utilities, extensive research suggests that elected officials are more responsive to community preferences but also less inclined to fiscal discipline. In short, there is no optimal model; both election and appointment have strengths and
