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Council members, in particular, say the Amicone administration has done more to lose the trust of parents than to gain it, and they are loath to give the mayor's office more power.
As an example, they point to the hiring of a 24-year-old accountant with almost no professional experience for a senior-level job that paid $90,100 a year. A report by the city comptroller released in February concluded that the accountant, Pietro Barberi, appeared to have gotten the job because of his personal connections to the schools superintendent, Angelo Petrone.
Four of the seven council members called for Mr. Petrone's resignation, but the school board gave him a vote of confidence.
Amid Disagreement in Yonkers, All Agree Schools Must Change
By JENNIFER MEDINA
Published: May 2, 2005
YONKERS, April 28 - For those who have been around long enough, the disputes over the public schools here can feel like a low-grade migraine - a dull pain that never seems to go away. It is possible to work through it, but it inevitably flares up again.
Now, just about everyone seems to be searching for a cure.
After decades of budget conflicts, bitter struggles over desegregation and lagging test scores and graduation rates, most people agree that there needs to be radical change in how the district is run. But there is profound disagreement over what form that change should take.
Mayor Philip A. Amicone, a Republican, continues to push an idea he campaigned on two years ago, to abolish the Board of Education and move school management into City Hall, which is similar to what New York City did three years ago. He says that consolidating administrative duties at City Hall will save the city money.
Some council members would prefer instead to change how school board members are appointed. They say the current system, in which the mayor appoints the entire nine-member board to five-year terms, contributes to cronyism and results in virtually no checks and balances. Some support changing the appointment process, while others want school board members to be elected.
