At last, one of the most contentious, yet painfully unentertaining, issues left dangling by the New York State Senate chaos earlier this summer has been put to rest. Governor Paterson signed into law a measure granting Mayor Bloomberg control of the New York City school system. The bill, which was approved by the State Assembly during a regular session and then finally by the State Senate in an extraordinary session last week, gives the office of the mayor control of the schools until 2015. Earlier in the summer, City Hall had to hastily reconstitute a Board of Education after their mandate lapsed owing to Senate squabbling, but the panel swiftly handed power back to Bloomberg. Now Hizzoner has basically everything he wanted, with a bit more transparency and parental participation thrown in — and all the little children will go back to school as normal in a few weeks, with backpacks slung over one shoulder and Farley's Fruit Snacks for the lucky kids. Oh, wait, they have those wheeled, carry-on-style backpacks, now, don't they? And 100 Calorie Packs? God, we're old.

GOVERNOR SIGNS MAYORAL CONTROL OF NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS INTO LAW [NYP]