Honorable Billde Blasio, City Hall New York, NY 10007 Dear Mayor de Blasio: SHESENATE STATE OF NEW YORK ALBANY 12267 May 22, 2017 ‘The mayor of New York City is chiefly responsible for over one million public school children who deserve not only a sound, basic education, but an excellent one. Akey component of the mayoral control governance structure is that there isa single person accountable for the ‘maintenance and operation of all public schools within New York City In order to fac te the proper consideration of an extension of that mayoral contol, | would request that Chancellor Fara publish the information required by Education Law §2590- 1, The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) must adhere to the form developed by Director of Budget per the statute, which was received by NYCDOE on March 8, 2017, | would {raw your specific attention to a careful reading of Education Law §2590--1 which stat Such statement shall be in a form developed by the director ofthe budget”. The law i clear, Division lof Budget sets the form and your administration must use that exact form: there is no discretion within the statute for NYCOOE for an alternative form to be used. The Department's current submission, which was received on May 11, 2017, offers alternative reports rather than the reports required, and does not satisfy the law. The form requires NYCDOE to provide the detailed expenditure reports essential to meaningfully evaluating any extension of mayoral control. The statute was specifically adopted to expand ‘oversight and transparency, not to simply codify current NYCDOE practices. The Department has not produced the required reports and the alternatives provided, while voluminous, do not include the information outlined in the Director of Budget’s prescribed form, and do not lend ‘themselves to meaningful analysis.‘A fundamental shortcoming of this administration has been a lack of transparency and response to requests for information. The lack of detalon how New York City spends the almost $9 blion provided toi by the State has been one of the key determining factors in a short term extension of mayoral control tis for these reasons, | ask the New York City Department of Education to publish reports prepared in an Excel format which adheres tothe form prescribed by the Director of Budget in accordance with Education Law §2590--1. Only once we have received this information wil it allow a transparent and careful consideration of the equitable or inequitable distribution of funding, which is key to ensuring that over one milion children receive the education they deserve. Page 2