Summary: Yesterday at Riverside Church, Mayor Bill de Blasio gave a speech on education where he admitted that he “didn’t measure up” in explaining his stance or charter schools. On the Brian Lehrer Show, de Blasio clarified that he "didn't explain the criteria" for his co-location decisions clearly enough. The mayor stood firm on the decisions, however, saying that "the Bloomberg administration was rushing...and they were willing to cut some corners" in making decisions about co-location at the end of 2013, and that there will be "a moratorium" on co-locations until a new set of criteria is implemented. When asked about Eva Moskowitz's Success Academy network -- which lost some facilities -- de Blasio insisted that "we are accommodating" those students. On the nature of the charter school debate in general, de Blasio insisted that charters continue to be part of the larger school network, and that "some of the innovations...will work" in the larger system, though not those funded by resources not available to the DOE. "Charters are supposed to be uplifting [to] the entire system," said the mayor. "Once we get the co-location process right, there's going to be a process for charters to have new chances to grow." On @BrianLehrer now, @BillDeBlasio highlights two major accomplishments so far: stop & frisk reform & paid sick leave bill for 500k+ NYers. — David Moore (@ppolitics) March 24, 2014 "I'm going to make this a personal crusade," @BilldeBlasio tells @BrianLehrer of teacher recruitment/retention — Celeste Katz (@CelesteKatzNYC) March 24, 2014
