Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg insisted that the city would not reconsider the ban on cellphones in the public schools despite a widening outcry from students, parents and public officials.
The mayor's comments, on his weekly radio program, came a day after Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein seemed to suggest to the Daily News editorial board that he would consider a compromise that would allow students to take phones to school, set them aside and get them back at the end of the day. The mayor said: "We are not going to allow iPods and BlackBerrys and cellphones and things that are disruptive in the classroom. Classrooms are for learning. Teachers cannot be expected to look under every kid's desk at what they're doing." The school system has long prohibited students from taking cellphones into schools. But if they did not make or take calls in class, the rule was largely ignored until last month, when the mayor began a program of surprise security sweeps and metal detector scanning to guard against students carrying weapons. Principals sent memos home warning that school safety agents would confiscate cellphones. Angry parents called the phones a vital link to their children. In the past few days the protests escalated. The teachers' union urged that students be allowed to carry phones in school, but not use them. And members of the City Council and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum opposed the ban. The mayor was dismissive of the teachers' union. "You wonder sometimes whether they're stopping to think," he said. "I think most teachers would argue that there should not be any of these devices." In his meeting with The Daily News, Mr. Klein was quoted as saying that cellphones are "an enormous enforcement issue."
The mayor's comments, on his weekly radio program, came a day after Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein seemed to suggest to the Daily News editorial board that he would consider a compromise that would allow students to take phones to school, set them aside and get them back at the end of the day. The mayor said: "We are not going to allow iPods and BlackBerrys and cellphones and things that are disruptive in the classroom. Classrooms are for learning. Teachers cannot be expected to look under every kid's desk at what they're doing." The school system has long prohibited students from taking cellphones into schools. But if they did not make or take calls in class, the rule was largely ignored until last month, when the mayor began a program of surprise security sweeps and metal detector scanning to guard against students carrying weapons. Principals sent memos home warning that school safety agents would confiscate cellphones. Angry parents called the phones a vital link to their children. In the past few days the protests escalated. The teachers' union urged that students be allowed to carry phones in school, but not use them. And members of the City Council and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum opposed the ban. The mayor was dismissive of the teachers' union. "You wonder sometimes whether they're stopping to think," he said. "I think most teachers would argue that there should not be any of these devices." In his meeting with The Daily News, Mr. Klein was quoted as saying that cellphones are "an enormous enforcement issue."
