This morning, now-former Schools Chancellor Joel Klein appeared on Good Day New York to speak about moving to News Corp., Fox's parent company, and about what he did for schools in the past eight years. Klein said his legacy "was a shift from a system that was based on power, politics and paralysis to one that's based on performance and progress." It's no secret that Klein butted heads with teachers unions and fought for things like charter schools, but was he a successful Chancellor? There are some mixed feelings about this.

In Klein's corner is the New York Post, who list his achievements such as closing schools that consistently received bad grades, fighting to eradicate teachers union protections, and raising test scores. They also mention graduation rates jumped 15% during his tenure, though you might have to take that statistic with a grain of salt. "He really was and is a transformative leader," said Sy Fliegel, a former educator and current director of the Center for Educational Innovation-Public Education Association. "His reorganization and what he's doing now is a major innovative change, because I always thought schools were the center of change—and that's where he's putting the power."

However, more vocal are the naysayers like Juan Gonzalez of the Daily News, who says Klein "won't be missed." At the heart of the criticism is that Klein, like successor Cathie Black, is a businessman who ran the school system like a corporation. Klein oversaw the closure of 19 public schools that consistently performed poorly, yet seemed ill prepared to deal with the onslaught of parents and principals who accused him of favoring charter schools that would attract wealthier students over neighborhood public schools. And according to a poll, just 30% of New Yorkers thought the public schools had improved. The claim that test scores improved also turned out to be bogus as well, as teachers were caught teaching to the tests because their jobs were on the line, and some students were coasting through with partial credit.

It's unclear if Black will align herself with Bloomberg the way Klein did, though all signs are pointing to "likely." Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters at least looked on the bright side. She told NBC, “I am thrilled that he is leaving. He had no respect for parents and little respect for teachers—and little regard for the law. That’s why there are still lawsuits pending against his arbitrary decisions."