NYCivic

Four Editorials Support Mayor's
Plan to Limit Social Promotion.
Dull Primaries Feature Dynasties,
and Transgender Race in Bronx.

By Henry J. Stern
September 14, 2004

By comparing coverage in the five dailies, we concluded Friday that Newsday was the least sympathetic to the mayor's plan for educational retention (ending social promotion from grade 5 to grade 6). Monday morning, we were surprised to see a Newsday editorial supporting the proposal. This shows there is separation between the news and editorial sides of the paper, which is commendable, but not the norm in some publications. The Post endorsed the plan in its lead editorial today, and the News had supported it Friday. The Sun took the same position on August 25.

On the other hand, the Times has been distinctly trepid on the issue, concerned with the possible consequences on those children who are left back (i.e. retained), a concern echoed by Randi Weingarten in her allusion to "bearded fifth graders." But, she still supports the plan. The Times expressed its skepticism about the mayor's plan, and his methods, on March 17. The Times was right; the mayor's removal of the dissidents (which he had the power to do) was not his finest hour. The problem was that he should never have put them on the panel in the first place without his Committee on Appointments discerning their educational philosophy. He acted boldly to remedy that oversight.

The Times' news account Friday appeared — almost painfully — fair and balanced, but the naysayers took their bite Saturday in a follow-up story by Elissa Gootman, poignantly titled "Parents Suffer the Stress of the Mayor's Test Plan," on page B3. The story was oriented toward criticism of the plan, including the quote, "If there isn't the amount of vociferous uproar this time, it's not that people aren't sufficiently outraged," by one woman who runs a 'parent advocacy group.' Again, the story depends on whom you consult, and Saturday belonged to the nattering nabobs of negativism. The Times article did report the city's response to the critics, and described efforts made by the school system to help students prepare for the test. The intent to preserve balance is noted.

Secondary Elections

Today is Primary Day in New York State. There are relatively few contests since incumbents are generally assured of re-election. Even the ethically challenged Roger Green, who resigned from the Assembly in February after his conviction for taking state funds to reimburse himself for travel already paid for by a contractor seeking state business. Green is now seeking re-election, and is unopposed in his Brooklyn district. There are a handful of contests for open seats, and some judicial races in Brooklyn where the county organization has endorsed no one, to avoid embarrassment to the candidates they do favor, and enmity from those they do not.

Three Rivers is in Pittsburgh

The most interesting race is in the Bronx, where Democratic Assemblyman Stephen Kaufman is morphing into a Republican Senator. He is being challenged in the Republican primary by Peter Fleming, who complains that Senate Leader Joseph Bruno (who is supporting Kaufman) has become too liberal.

Kaufman is being opposed in the Democratic primary by Assemblyman Jeff Klein. On the major issue where they cast opposite votes, Klein voted with Speaker Silver to repeal the commuter tax, and Kaufman voted against the measure, which was opposed by Mayors Koch and Giuliani. The Democratic machine is kicking Klein upstairs to minority status in the Senate (if he wins) to make his assembly seat available to one Naomi Rivera.

A political appointee at the Bronx office of the Board of Elections, Ms. Rivera is the daughter of Bronx County Leader Jose Rivera, who is also an assemblyman. Her younger brother is Jose Rivera, majority leader of the City Council at the age of 23, who occupies his father's old seat in that body of lawmakers. Tomorrow will determine whether the Rivera trifecta succeeds in making the Bronx a set for television's "Family Ties."

In fairness, nobody complained when the Kennedys had one brother in the White House and two in the United States Senate simultaneously. It took two states to elect the Kennedy senators, but New York has always welcomed fresh talent, as we should. Forty years later, Ted Kennedy has become the senior senator from Massachusetts, the junior member being John Kerry, who is in his twentieth year of distinguished Senate service.

Dynasty Redux

The principal contest in Brooklyn is between Major Owens, first elected in 1982, and two political princesses vying for his seat. Owens says that this will be his last term — he will retire in 2006 at the age of 70 — but his opponents say he plans to resign early to turn the seat over to his son, Christopher, who is in the family business, politics.

The challengers are Councilmember Yvette Clarke, who was elected in 2001 to succeed her term-limited mother, Una, and Tracy Boyland, daughter of the former longtime Assemblyman William Boyland, Sr. and brother of current Democratic District Leader William Boyland, Jr. Her late uncle, Thomas F. Boyland, in whose honor Hopkinson Avenue in Brooklyn was renamed by the City Council, was a state assemblyman for six years.

These races may seem more monarchic than democratic, but remember that important positions in business, publishing and baseball management are also filled by dynastic succession. The principle of merit selection applies most strongly to athletes, who must prove themselves by their own achievements.