Mayoral Control of Schools and Equity-Centered Policies: Favorable Conditions, Disappointing Results in NYC

Using critical policy analysis, we examined equity-oriented reforms in New York City public schools under Mayor Bill de Blasio. Though his time as Mayor offered a uniquely advantageous context for enacting equity, de Blasio’s efforts led only to familiarly disappointing results. In the end, our study illustrates how, in leading urban schools and communities toward educational equity, we must first confront the pervasive sense of White innocence that undergirds the educational status quo.