New York school system

It was astounding (but simultaneously not unexpected) to read about the New York school system.  It seems that all of the decisions that have been made in the school system have been made only with political interests in mind.  Mayor Bloomberg argued that he wanted compete control so that decisions could be made quickly, but his decision were often illogical and quickly reversed.  Why have three badly thought out sweeping structural reforms to the school system made in four years, when you could have a slower process that is more thoroughly debated and actually pass a logical reform?  It seems that the only reason for the mayor to want to do this is so that it appears to his constituents that he is actually doing something.  He picked people to help run the school system who had no knowledge prior knowledge about education.  I'm sure that there were plenty of people with background experience in education who would be willing to take over, rather than one of his lawyer buddies.
Maybe these complaints wouldn't be valid if they were actually positively effecting the students but the school system didn't seem to make significant gains.  The state tests indicated that they did, but that so starkly contrasted with the national tests that it seems apparent to me that the state tests are not a reliable measure.  The people in charge of the NYC school system do not seem to understand the fundamental things that a school system should be trying to accomplish-to educate students and attempt to close educational gaps in the city.  They seem to be solely concerned with their reelection campaigns and other thinly concealed political interests.