Breaking: Mayoral Appointee Elzora Cleveland, Rockaway Schools Savior, Resigns from PEP

This news was just breaking on FB and has been confirmed by reliable sources.

I talked about the pressures on Elzora Cleveland to resign from the de Blasio people even before last week's PEP votes to close renewal schools in this post: Analysis: The Story Behind the PEP Rockaway Vote -. I also touched on it here: School Scope - Norm in The WAVE -- Drilling down o...

Since Cleveland voted with the 5 borough reps on some of the closing schools, leading to 7-6 votes to close, there was always the chance that if one more mayoral appointee joined her or abstained, the DOE plans for some schools would be upset. And so it happened when mayoral appointee Isaac Carmegnani did abstain on the Rockaway schools leading to a 6-6-1 vote. But there are rumors that he actually touched base with the de Blasio people, perhaps making the point that his political career might be endangered in Queens if he voted to close the schools. I urged that she force de Blasio to fire her. But maybe she has reasons of her own to leave.

de Blasio had promised not to fire PEP members if they didn't go along with him. And he hasn't had to. But I assume that people who go on the PEP have  interests that might be helped by being on the PEP.

But pressuring people to resign is not off bounds to him. PEP member Robert Powell was forced to resign after he was the only PEP member to vote NO on a corrupt $1 billion contract that was later rescinded.

It is clear that the PEP is mostly a rubber stamp - or puppet - not looking out for the public interest. Here we see examples of how their allegiance to one person hurts public education. The only solution is to end mayoral control and go to elected school boards. Not nearly a perfect solution, but more perfect than mayoral control.