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Kenneth ClarkKenneth Clark
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Session:         Page of 763

Q:

What about the interrelationship between the Regents and the New York City Board of Education? How did that work?

Clark:

It's almost like apples and oranges. I just don't think that the-- well, the New York City Board of Education is to me, particularly now, rampant politically. I mean it's a political operation. The Mayor appoints three members and each borough president appoints a member, and they get stipends. And my problem with the New York City Board of Education is that they don't make any distinction between policy and administration. I mean, they are seven or eight, whatever their number is, superintendents of schools.

The Regents maintain a distance sort of, unless they are nfronted with specifics. For example, the election of Bobby Wagner, Jr. to chancellorship. Well, the Regents-- to be quite accurate, it wasn't the Regents who rejected that, it was the Commissioner, because according to the law, the Commissioner has the full authority to make those kinds of decisions, and he made it independent of the Regent thing. But I think the majority of the Board of Regents were behind him on it.

Q:

And the Regents get blamed a little more for it though, publicly and in the media?

Clark:

Right. But that was not our authority. That was clearly aneducational judgment decision.





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