In the Mayoral-Control Fight, Bloomberg Tries Acting Like a Politician

On the afternoon of May 12, Deputy Mayor for Education Dennis Walcott visited State Senator Kevin Parker in his Albany office to try to get him to support Michael Bloomberg’s agenda for mayoral control of city schools. This—the visit, the dialogue—was something new. “They are trying to make the case, and they are listening to concerns,” said Mr. Parker in an interview. “Had he done this with everything he’s had in the past, he’d already have had mayoral control just the way he wanted it, and we’d be celebrating it in a West Side stadium where the Jets would be playing, after looking at the gold medals that were won in the Olympics that would have been held in New York City.