De Blasio Irked By Mayor's Comments On School Parents
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in hot water with the public advocate over comments he made about public school parents.
On his radio show Friday, the mayor was asked about a lawsuit aimed at stopping the city from closing some poor performing schools.
In response, Bloomberg said, "Unfortunately there are some parents that just come from, you know...they never had a formal education and they don't understand the value of education. And many of our kids come from families. You know...the old Noman Rockwell family is gone."
In a statement, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio called on the mayor to apologize, saying, "Our Mayor should treat public school parents like partners, not problems. Telling parents that they do not understand the value of education is profoundly disrespectful."
A Bloomberg spokesman also issued a statement saying the mayor "believes passionately that if schools are persistently failing our students, they should be replaced with schools that work.''