In a hearing that began promptly at 10 a.m. and continued well into the afternoon -- with testimony scheduled from more than 65 witnesses, including heavy hitters like Learn NY/Harlem Children's ZoneGeoffrey Canada and New Visionspresident Robert Hughes -- the State Assembly Education Committee, headed by Catherine Nolan, convened a hearing on mayoral control in their offices at 250 Broadway.

Notably, Chancellor Joel Klein appeared at the hearing to testify in favor of mayoral control, accompanied by Deputy Mayor Derek Walcott and other officials from the DOE. His support for mayoral control was no surprise; what was notable was that Klein appeared at all, a fact Assembly Member Nolan pointedly remarked on. This hearing, she said, "was the first opportunity the Chancellor has given us to question him" in the years that Nolan has headed the state education committee. (Years, plural, without a hearing with the Chancellor. No typo.)

Committee members posed questions to the Chancellor -- some barbed, some thoughtful, some both -- who responded, often with the catch-phrase "we need to do a better job on that," to criticisms of the law and its consequences: The reduction of parent voices, the virtual eradication of district superintendencies, the political evisceration of both the Board of Ed and Community School Boards, which predated the current network of Community Education Councils. The net effect, to an observer's eye, was skillful, gracious deflection of direct criticism, framed by the insta-acknowledgment that the work was ongoing. "What we have created is not perfect," said the Chancellor as the hearing opened. "Our work has not been without mistakes." And of the mayoral control statute itself: "This is not a sacred text -- these are not tablets."

After more than two hours of back and forth, the Chancellor and his entourage were spirited out a side doorway, leaving the hearing. Subsequent witnesses, including City Council Member and Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson and Comptroller (and former Board of Education president) William Thompson addressed the panel. UFT President Randi Weingarten and Principal's union head Andy Logan spoke, as well, later followed by former lawmakers, historians, and scores of advocates, school leaders, parent activists, and students.

While no individual (at least before 3 p.m.) stated outright the wish to abolish mayoral control, many, at the witness table and in the audience, strongly voiced the desire for greater transparency in DOE decision-making. They asked for an independent agency to oversee both budgets and school data, including test scores and grad rates, and for stronger, deeper, and more robust parent involvement. It's hard to know what the folks left on the street might have said. After Chairwoman Nolan announced that the Fire Marshal would close the hearing down if the aisles and other spaces weren't cleared, scores of people were left waiting outside 250 Broadway in the bitter cold and tons more sat in an overflow room with just the audio the proceedings piped in.

Additional hearings take place later this month and next in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. It is not known whether the Chancellor will return to this forum to field and respond to questions. It is certain, however, that hundreds of people have plenty to say -- and that the debate, in the sunset season of this law, is long overdue.