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With 20 schools on the chopping block, and people energized by a new process that encourages public comment, Department of Education officials expect to face a large and unfriendly crowd at Tuesday night's public meeting.

Last summer, the state Legislature continued mayoral control of the schools but stripped the DOE of its power to close them. That's now the responsibility of the Panel for Educational Policy, whose members are picked by the mayor and the five borough presidents.

Since school closure decisions are no longer made behind closed doors, the PEP is required to vote in front of the public while also allowing them an opportunity to be heard.

"The participation that I've seen in this school closure issue this year has really been extraordinary and something that we really haven't seen a lot before," said Kim Sweet of Advocates for Children of New York.

For the past two months, there have been dozens of meetings, protests, and rallies across the city. And they have already had some small effects.

Tuesday's meeting was initially scheduled to take place on Staten Island, the one borough with no schools on the closure list. But after public pressure, it was moved to Brooklyn Tech High School whose auditorium can hold 3,000 people -- second in the city only to Radio City Music Hall.

Teachers, students and parents plan to show up by the bus load, and they say they hope Chancellor Joel Klein, who is a non-voting member of the policy board, will be listening.

"I think he needs to demonstrate that he's hearing some of the communities and that he's not just allowing the Department of Education to come in willynilly and do whatever they want to," said New York City teacher Jed Grobstein.

The mayor-controlled panel has still never voted against anything the DOE has requested, which means despite all the community input this year, the outcome may not be any different.

"It's important that people not only the chance to speak but are feel that they are heard. And I think that if people come through this process and feel they were talking to the air and nobody heard them, there is going to be a lot of anger," Sweet said.

Officials say they expect a capacity level crowd, and that the meeting may last into the early morning hours Wednesday.