City principals union endorses Bill Thompson

Just in from the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators:

The Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, Local 1: AFSA, AFL-CIO, Endorses William C. Thompson, Jr. for Mayor NEW YORK, June 18, 2013 – The members of the Executive Board and the Advisory Committee for the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA), the union representing nearly 16,000 NYC public school principals, assistant principals, educational administrators, directors and assistant directors of city-funded day care, and members of the union’s Retiree Chapter have voted to endorse William C. Thompson, Jr. for mayor of NYC. CSA President Ernest A. Logan said, “As we contemplate the sizable and strong field of candidates vying to become NYC mayor, one of the most powerful positions in the U.S., CSA must decide which of several fine individuals will restore the power and influence of NYC’s middle class, its very bedrock.  When it comes to quality of life and upward mobility, our solidly middle class members have been losing ground.  Worse, most of the children they serve have been slipping further below the poverty line.  After six months of intensive deliberation, beginning with our January Mayoral Forum, CSA enthusiastically endorses former NYC Comptroller and Board of Education President Bill Thompson to do that job.” In addition to answering questions before more than 600 unionists at CSA’s Mayoral Forum,  four of the Democratic candidates addressed the CSA Executive Board at length at scheduled meetings, where each spoke on a wide range of topics. Education:    “In evaluating Bill’s answers, we were impressed by his determination to appoint a K-12 educator with a distinct vision as chancellor of schools and to maintain but reform mayoral control in part by returning community superintendents to a position of authority and eliminating the mayoral majority on the PEP,” said Mr. Logan.  “We were also encouraged by his promise to call a moratorium on the co-location of new schools within older ones and to curtail the number of schools being closed.” As an example of genuine reform, he pointed to the former Chancellor’s District under Dr. Rudy Crew, in which low-performing schools were provided with intensive instructional rigor, professional development and supervision.  In addition, he called for the creation of “a new initiative that will deliver comprehensive services to students ages five and under.”  Housing:  “Bill’s commitment to affordable housing for the middle class through a Mitchell-Lama-type program was appealing,” Mr. Logan said, “particularly as he pointed out that the land exists but is currently designated for luxury housing that erodes the ability of middle class workers to continue as New Yorkers.”  Jobs:  “When Bill says, ‘Poverty has slammed the door of opportunity shut for millions of New Yorkers – and we have a responsibility to pry it open,’ I think of thousands of our students’ parents who work multiple jobs and still can’t provide enough to eat.  At CSA, we strongly support Bill’s plan to focus on expanding quality job training for vulnerable groups and also to keep quality office jobs in the city, a pre- and post-recession problem.” “With our members standing squarely behind him,” Ernest Logan promised, “we pledge to do all that we can to help elect Bill Thompson the next mayor of New York City.”