Research


Scope and Content Note

The series consists of the office files of Dr. Norman D. Kurland, director of NYSED's Center for Innovation in Education. The records reflect his role in planning, evaluating, and monitoring the efforts to decentralize New York City school governance. Included are three subseries. The first contains records relating to the development of policy and legislation relating to decentralization. These include files on competing plans for decentralization, containing reports, correspondence, clippings, timelines and other materials. Among these are the original plan developed by Mayor's Advisory Panel on Decentralization of the New York City Schools, known as the "Bundy plan, as well as responses and commentary from various educational interest groups. Also included are modifications made in Bundy plan recommendations made by Mayor John Lindsay's office, and responding proposals from other education-related organizations. Also included are files documenting the progress of decentralization. These include correspondence and reports from organizations evaluating and advocating for or against decentralization, including Metropolitan Applied Research Center, Inc., New York State Teachers Association, NYS School Boards Association, Confederation of Local School Boards of New York City, Institute for Educational Development, Citizens Committee for Public Schools. Furthermore, there are records documenting the demonstration school districts in Harlem, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, and Two Bridges, including correspondence, bulletins from districts, and clippings detailing controversies within districts.

The second subseries consists of four sequential binders maintained by Dr. Kurland that document the decentralization process in New York City. The binders mostly contain copies of proposed plans for decentralization, as well as state legislation governing the decentralization process. Also included are copies of selected memoranda and reports. The third subseries contains miscellaneous unfiled records, as well as post-1969 records relating to decentralization, including reports on the relationship between NYSED and NYC school system going into 1970's, and proposals for further school decentralization and streamlining of central bureaucracy.