Mamie Till Mobley

"There was an important mission for me, to shape so many...young minds as a teacher. God took away one child but...(gave) me thousands. And I have been grateful for the blessing." Mamie Till Mobley

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Chancellor in waiting Cathie Black to "prove them wrong"

Cathie Black when Bloomberg first appointed her 11/9
"I'll prove them wrong," Black told the New York Post and the NY1 cable television channel. "This has happened to the predecessors before me, and we'll get through it. ... I will be the next chancellor."


 Media mogul Cathie Black, Wednesday, voiced her opposition to those skeptical about her appointment as the NYC Schools Chancellor. This was quite a presumptuous remark Mrs. Black made while aides in the education department and Bloomberg's staff  brief and train her on education issues to prepare her better for what to say in public and to make her appear  knowledgeable about a field she lacks former credentials and experience.


Yet the first former nontraditional chancellor of the NYC schools Levy, a lawyer like Klein who preceded him commented, "walking into that system with no experience in managing an organized work force and no experience in education would be a pretty tall order for anyone."  He added, "Black will face a steep learning curve if the waiver is granted."


Though more supportive of the mayor's choice than the nominee in an earlier statement, Levy said, "The statute seems to require somebody with some education credentials. It was written before the contemporary wisdom that a good manager can overcome a lot of domain knowledge," Levy said. "It's not obvious to me how the commission of education gets around those conditions."


Nevertheless, the list of critics of Cathie Black to become the next NYC Schools Chancellor is insurmountable growing daily from parents, unions, the NYC City Council, NYS Assembly and Senate, civil rights lawyers and advocates, including two on-line petitions to State Education Commissioner David Steiner to deny the waiver. The two petitions so far garnered 13,000 signatures objecting to Mrs. Black's appointment. 


And the NYTimes,  City Room Blog comments  criticized the selection of the members on the panel seen as too laden with Mayor Bloomberg appointees. The selection process viewed as too secretive more of an  indictment of  Mayoral control of schools in the nation.
Photo Credit: Associated Press.








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Whitney Tilson (3rd background)

Whitney Tilson (3rd background)
"Let’s be honest: we need a lot more well-off, well-educated white folks with a personal stake in both charter schools and education reform in general if we’re going to take reform to the next level, both politically and operationally.Whitney Tilson, hedge fund manager and major funding angel for the school privatizing Democrats for Education Reform, thinks there’s not enough rich, educated white folks.( Preaprez) click photo to his blog.

Arne Duncan

Arne Duncan
U.S. Secretary of Education, click photo