Mayor Bill De Blasio’s Frank And Nuanced Exchange On Charters, Pre-K, On MSNBC This Morning

Mayor Bill De Blasio appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning, where he was given the time to address media attacks regarding his handling of the controversy over his administration’s “attitude” towards charter schools.  Hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough hit the Mayor hard on “the appearance” of the public “fight”, but the Mayor pushed the pundits to see the substance of actual city policy and realities of collocation up close and wanted to focus on that, rather than “appearance”.  All agreed that issues such as teacher retention were being overlooked as the “war” has sold papers over the past week. The trio were also joined by Jeffrey Sachs, noted economist and Special Adviser to current Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who favored the Mayor’s arguments, as well as Willie Geist, an MSNBC and NBC host with strong ties to the charter movement.  y All agreed that Universal Pre-K is a fundamental reform to enable a playing field for students entering the primary grades, but the Mayor pushed that it was the most important reform right now.  Watch the segment by clicking below.