UPDATED: Sept. 5, 2017 at 5:48 p.m.

The Syracuse City School District has been suffering for decades. Low graduation rates and test scores rank it among the lowest performing districts in New York.

Luckily, mayoral candidate Laura Lavine has a solution: a mayoral takeover of the school system. Mayoral control would secure a future of success with school choice and more charter schools.

Although Syracuse graduation rates have increased in recent years due to successful career and technical education initiatives, there’s still room for improvement. Lavine promises to make it happen. With a combination of mayoral control and education experience, Lavine bodes for a brighter future for the district.

Mayoral control is typically evident of an elected education board failure and is often proposed in inner cities that, like Syracuse, have low graduation rates and test scores. Over the past decade, mayors in cities such as Detroit, Boston, Milwaukee and Chicago have expressed interest in mayoral takeovers.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is a successful case of mayoral control, considering mayoral control increased graduation rates in New York City schools. When de Blasio lost his hold on education policy in June, he warned that corruption and chaos would return if the school system reverted back to the control of its educational board. He pointed out that a dispersion of power among the community board, education board and mayor makes it more difficult to blame the specific individuals behind the failure of schools.

Considering the circumstances, Syracuse has nothing to lose in regard to mayoral takeover, especially if someone with an extensive background in education is willing to take a fresh approach and appoint an education board with aligned agendas.

As a former superintendent of LaFayette Central School District in Onondaga County, Lavine could easily transition into the role of mayoral control.

While appointing an education board with an aligned agenda, Lavine could, as mayor, leverage her authority over the budget to implement an expansion of charter schools. Since they’re publicly funded but independently operated, charter schools would have more freedom to innovate and integrate career and technical education programs in their curriculums, building off the system that is working in Syracuse.

Mayoral control isn’t proven to be the ideal solution for failing school districts. But among the six mayoral candidates, Lavine has prioritized improving education across the board more than her competitors.

In Syracuse, families of means have choice as to where to send their kids to school, whereas low-income families are limited to the failing schools in the city’s district. As an ardent supporter of charter schools and education as a means to create upward mobility, Lavine is prepared to make a meaningful change in Syracuse.

Syracuse voters, elect someone who is not only dedicated to improving the inner city, but who is also looking out for the best interest of your children. Elect Laura Lavine.

Joshua Nelson is a senior political science major. He can be reached at jqnelson@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @joshqnelson.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Michah Rothbart was misquoted. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on September 4, 2017 at 10:40 pm