At long last, we can read legislation that could give the mayor control of the Rochester school district.

The Democrat and Chronicle's Joe Spector got his hands on the bill that Assembly Democrats have sent to Governor David Paterson. While it hasn't been made public, officially, the D&C put it online, and earlier today, we also managed to get a copy, which you can read at the right.

The governor could make changes to it - or, I suppose, sit on it, or lose it - but he's expected to present it, or something similar to it, sometime before the end of this session of the legislature in June.

Here's what the bill calls for:

The superintendent would be hired by and would report to the mayor, serving with no contract. City Council would have to approve the appointment, but the mayor could fire the superintendent for any reason, at any time, without Council's permission. The superintendent would appoint and have ultimate supervision of all district employees.

Rochester would still have a school board, known as an "Education Commission," but there would be nine members rather than the current seven, and voters wouldn't elect them. Instead, the mayor would appoint five members and City Council would appoint four, one from each Council district.

All nine would have to be city residents, but there's no requirement that any of them be parents of school-district students.

The legislation requires that each member "possess extensive business or education experience." It doesn't define "extensive" or "experience." And that word "or" is significant. It's possible that all nine could be from the business community, and some mayoral-control opponents are already worried that the business community could exert too much influence.

Board members would serve as advisors to the superintendent, and while they wouldn't appoint the superintendent or vote on the hiring of any employees (as the school board does now), they would have some power. They would approve the superintendent's "standards, policies, and objectives," the process the superintendent uses to recruit and choose principals, and equipment and instructional material purchases.

They would approve the creation of new schools and would approve the "protocol" the superintendent uses in closing schools. They apparently would not approve the closings themselves.

Board members would serve three-year terms, and they couldn't be removed without "good cause." New York's initial mayoral-control legislation did not include that safeguard, and the mayor fired two board members who were planning to vote against a measure he wanted.

Another major complaint about New York City's mayoral-control system has been lack of parent access. The Assembly's bill addresses that - providing, in fact, more avenues for parents than they currently have.

In addition to the school board, the bill creates four "community schools advisory councils," one in each City Council district. Each council would have five members, all of whom have to live in that district and be parents of city school students.

Officers of school parent groups in each district will appoint the members, and they'll serve for two years.

The councils will review and assess the district's educational programs, conduct public hearings on the superintendent's budget, evaluate the superintendent, and conduct public hearings on any proposed school closings in their district.

There would also be two additional, citywide councils: one to advise the superintendent on policies related to special education and one to give advice on the education of English-language learners.

The bill says a good bit about protecting the school district's money. It requires that state money and other funds intended for the school district be kept separate from other city funds. And it establishes an independent budget office that would provide information to the mayor, City Council, and the public on the budget, revenue, and proposed laws that would have fiscal implications.

The bill does not, however, establish an independent group that would track student achievement. If we get mayoral control, that kind of group ought to be created. The public will need to know whether this major change has led to better education for Rochester's children. And we'll need to trust that the evidence we're given hasn't been manipulated to make the mayor look good.