Professor Ken Wong presented this powerpoint to the Bridgeport public and the Charter Revision Committee on March 12, 2012

1. MAYORAL ACCOUNTABILITY AS A STRATEGY
TO RAISE PERFORMANCE IN URBAN
DISTRICTS
Dr. Kenneth W ong
Annenberg Professor and
Chair of the Education Department
Brown University
Presentation in Bridgeport, CT, March 13, 2012

2. Mayoral appointment of school board is gaining
national prominence
 Currently, almost two-thirds of the states have
passed legislation authorizing either the city or
the state to govern and manage school
districts that are underperforming.
 An appointed school board now runs the
district in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia,
Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Providence,
among others.

3. UNIQUE CHALLENGES FOR
BIG CITY SCHOOL BOARDS
SCALE: 26.6% of the nation’s K-12 students are
served by the largest 129 districts, and nearly
41% are taught in the 375 largest
FRAGMENTATION: Local politics and
decentralization make system-wide reform and
accountability more difficult
COMPETITION: Pressure to keep middle-class
tax base, retain jobs, and stabilize city
population

4. Design Rationale
 Enables the mayor to rely on system-wide
standards to hold schools and student
accountable for their performance. Failing
schools and students are subject to sanctions
while being given additional support.
 Designs to reduce institutional fragmentation that
often impedes strategic improvement.
 A single office is ultimately accountable.
Integrate electoral accountability and school
performance at the system wide level.

5. Three Enabling Processes
 State legislation that authorizes the mayor to
replace an elected board with an appointed
board (such as Chicago and New York)
 State legislation that calls for a citywide
referendum on whether to grant the mayor the
authority to appoint the school board (such as
Boston and Cleveland).
 Voter approval of changes in a charter that
allow the mayor to appoint school board
members (such as Oakland in 2000).

6. VARIATIONS OF MAYORAL ACCOUNTABILITY
District New / Mayor appoints Mayor appoints Mayor has full
Old Style majority of board? all of board? appt. power?
Boston New Yes Yes No ^^
Chicago New Yes Yes Yes
New Haven New Yes Yes Yes
Baltimore New No: Joint appt. with governor
Providence New Yes Yes No ^
Detroit a New Yes No * Yes
Cleveland New Yes Yes No ^^
Wash. DC New Full Governance Authority
Oakland New No No Yes
Philadelphia New No: Joint appt. with governor
New York New Yes No Yes
Hartford New Yes Yes Yes
NOTES: a) In 2004, Detroit reverted to an elected school board. ^^ Nominating committee pre-screens candidates and
then gives a slate to the mayor. ^^^ Council confirmation was required when this policy was in place (2000-2004). * State
places 1 of 7 on board for first five years.

7. Chicago as an Example
 As a result of the 1995 State Reform Act, the
Mayor of Chicago appoints all members of the
school board
 The mayor also appoints the Chief Executive
Officer, who in turns oversees the Chief
Education Officer and other top administrative
chiefs
 The district has improved capital funding,
balanced the budget, and secured labor stability
through a four-year contract with the teachers’
union
 Media and public confidence remains strong

8. Does Mayoral Accountability Raise Student
Performance?
Consider Findings in The Ed uc a tio n M y o r:
a
 Mayoral Accountability has a statistically significant,
positive effect on student achievement in reading and
math at both elementary and high school grades.
 When socio-economic factors and other governance
conditions are taken into full consideration, mayoral
control shows positive student improvement in reading
and math at elementary grades. Two years after the
introduction of a mayor appointed school board, we
expect to see student achievement improves 0.15 to
0.19 standard deviation in reading and math at
elementary grades.
 The lowest performing schools show persistent
improvement in student achievement in districts that are
under mayoral control.
 Academic progress is also correlated to institutional
checks and balances in the mayoral control system.

9. Grade 4 Math Achievement, NYC & NY State, 1999-2008
Mayoral
Control

10. Does Mayoral Control Improve Management?
Consider Findings in The Ed uc a tio n M y o r:
a
 “The Education Mayor” is strategic in
prioritizing resource allocation and
management. Mayoral accountability lowers
spending on general administration, while
targeting resources on instructional purposes.
 Mayoral accountability improves the district’s
fiscal discipline and management
performance.

11. Strategic Management
 Within the first couple of years, mayoral appointed
boards seem able to show financial solvency, often
turning a deficit into a balanced budget.
 Mayoral control systems are also able to raise the
bond rating, maintain labor peace, improve client
satisfaction, and improve efficiency at the central
office.
 In Chicago the Standard & Poor’s raised the
district’s bond rating from BBB- to A- during the first
two reform years.
 In Philadelphia, the board identified $44 million of
waste and launched a $1.5 billion capital plan to
build new schools and modernize facilities.

12. Management Reform
 Mayoral control systems tend to reprioritize the
role of the central office
 New York example on decentralizing support services
 Mayoral selected CEOs often broaden the pool
of expertise in operation, finance, and
management.
 Chicago example
 New efforts to broaden the teacher pool
 Need incentive structure on performance-based
accountability
 Philadelphia and other districts move toward
diverse providers

13. Public Opinion Matters – Electoral
Democracy Works
 In 2004, Detroit voters chose to end the mayoral
appointed school board after poor district
performance under mayor’s leadership
 In 2002, Cleveland voters chose to continue
mayoral control after strong performance
 More recently, D.C. Mayor was voted out of
office for not sufficiently engaging the public on
reform
 School improvement contributed to re-election
of mayors in Boston, Chicago, and New York
 Lesson: voters can discern school performance,

14. Voters asked: Do you think Mayor
Bloomberg's take-over of the public schools
has been a success or failure? Percent who
said it was a success …

15. Factors for Success
 Establish clear and attainable strategic goals
 Mayor’s willingness to put financial and political
resources to leveling up failing schools
 Work together with the existing administration
for a smooth transition
 Recruit managers who bring diverse expertise
 Take a portfolio approach in school
management
 Diverse human capital pipeline
 Focus on performance-based accountability

16. Options for governance change in Urban
Districts:
Option One: Complete Mayoral Accountability
 Mayor appoints majority or all board members
 Mayor has full appointive power of the CEO or
Superintendent
 Examples: Boston, Chicago, New York,
Washington DC
Option Two: Shared Governance between Mayor
and Governor
 Jointly appoints board members
 Examples: Baltimore, Philadelphia

17. Issues on Governance Change:
 Is timing appropriate for governance reform?
 What design features work for the District?
 Is public opinion supportive of governance
reform?
 Who will oppose the reform?
 Who will support the reform?
 Is the Mayor ready to lead the district?
 What is the opportunity cost in not
implementing the reform?
 How to sustain support for the reform?

18. Benefits of Mayoral
Accountability
 Internal accountability:
 Clear standards of accountability at different
levels of the policy system
 Strategic deployment of resources
 Institutional checks and balances
 Portfolio approach to school improvement
 External accountability:
 Institutional checks and balances
 Including a nominating process for school board
appointment
 Budgetary approval by the City Council
 External and independent evaluation

19. EDUCATION MAYOR :
S
IM R
P OVING AM R
E ICA’SS OOL
CH S
For More Information
Please Contact:
Dr. Kenneth K. Wong
Brown University
Kenneth_Wong@brown.edu