#De Blasio spokesman praises NYC school reopening as critics chafe

A spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio said his boss has been “ahead of the curve” on the school reopening issue Friday — but some critics ripped that claim.

After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued reopening guidelines Friday, spokesman Bill Neidhardt took to Twitter to praise his boss.

“Truly remarkable how ahead of the curve @NYCSchools and @NYCMayor were here,” he wrote. “New York City’s reopening plan remains the gold standard, with many of our protections now included as federal guidance. That’s what happens when you put the safety of students and teachers first.”

But with schools opening and closing haphazardly throughout the year, City Hall’s stewardship of the nation’s largest system has come under fire from parents, teachers, and administrators at various points.

The city principals’ union went so far as to issue a vote of no confidence in de Blasio and schools Chancellor Richard Carranza in September.

Others have questioned the wisdom of partially reopening schools in December only to temporarily shutter hundreds of them due to COVID-19 cases.

“At best, the mayor and Department of Education stumbled into the right path after multiple miscues,” said David Bloomfield, education professor at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. “It’s great that some students are in school some of the time. But we still have to do a lot better.”

Roughly 70 percent of city kids are signed up for remote-only classes this year.

Middle schools are set to begin opening their doors later this month but high schools still do not have an in-person resumption schedule.

Others have praised de Blasio for pushing to at partially reopen schools in the face of pressure from some union factions to keep them fully remote for the entire year.