Last week, State Supreme Court Justice Alice Schlesinger ordered the city to release email correspondence between Mayor Bloomberg's office and former Schools Chancellor Cathie Black shortly before she took office, because Black and her staff were "de facto agents of the city." The city had argued that the documents weren't subject to New York's FOIL, and would be an invasion of privacy if released. Schlesinger called this logic "particularly specious," and gave the city 15 days to turn the documents over. The city has decided to appeal the ruling. Connie Pankratz, the Law Department's deputy communications director, tells us, "We believe the emails are exempt from FOIL and are filing an appeal tomorrow." more ›

Cathie Black was "not incapacitated" on Sunday night, her personal publicist tells the Post. And she says "she was not inebriated." And yet still the former Schools Chancellor reportedly "practically hit every tree in the driveway" while leaving a Bastille Day party in the Hamptons. Her publicist explains that she was simply "not familiar with the driveway." more ›

Reading this Times piece on Bloomberg pondering his legacy in the midst of slagging poll numbers and malaise towards his tenure, we almost feel pangs of pity for the mayor. A Columbia professor and former adviser describes him as a martyr who's "willing to sacrifice short-term standing in the polls for what he believes to be in the best interest of the city." And Bloomberg himself told an interviewer, "Every time you make a decision, you lost half the people. After five decision, there's only you and your mother, and I'm not sure about her." Damn those laws that force mayors to run for third terms! more ›

Did you think that just because former Schools Chancellor Cathie Black had been unceremoniously canned (and replaced with the anti-Black Dennis Walcott), the story was over? Ha! New York City parents aren't going to let their rare victory over Mayor Bloomberg slide away that easy. In fact, a group of parents calling themselves the New York City Parents Union have filed a Notice of Claim to sue Michael Bloomberg (not the city) for $100 million dollars over the screwup. That's nearly $1 million for each day Cathie Black worked! more ›

Though he hasn't officially taken over the spot of Schools Chancellor (and might need a waiver from the state Education Department before he does) soon-to-be Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott continues to speak to parents and politicians about his plans. Though all he really has to do for approval is not be Cathie Black. Walcott said at Downtown Brooklyn's Church of the Open Door. "My style is different from Cathie's, just like Cathie's style was different from Joel's... What I want to dedicate the next 2½ years to is making sure that parents are fully engaged in the lives of their children." But he's gotta get through this lawsuit first! more ›

Now that the city has shaken off the stink surrounding Cathie Black's appointment as Schools Chancellor, new Chancellor Dennis Walcott is in the spotlight. And though he has the necessary experience, some aren't getting their hopes up. "I haven't seen a sign that there would be any changes," Kim Sweet of Advocates for Children told the Daily News. "Although it seems he will be making more of an effort to reach out to parents and communities, I hope that he'll actually listen." more ›

In an adorable photo opportunity yesterday morning, new Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott walked his grandson Justin to school, PS 36 in St. Albans, Queens. Walcott, who also attended PS 36 when he was a boy, told reporters, "I don't want him to be late on my first day." Of course, parents and teachers said they couldn't recall seeing Grandpa Dennis there before, but that's okay, with one dad telling City Room, "It makes me feel good because we’ll probably get some more money for the school." The good times ended because then Walcott had a four-hour meeting with an irritated City Council! more ›

Cathie Black, the ex-Schools Chancellor, has given her first interview since getting canned (besides the quotes she gave last night about shoe shopping) and its about what you might expect. She "feels fine" but maybe none of this would have been a problem if she had balls? Specifically she wonders if "I were a guy, would I have had the pounding that I did?" more ›

Mayor Bloomberg discussed yesterday's surprising departure of unpopular Schools Chancellor-for-95 days Cathie Black on his radio show this morning, calling her a "phenomenally competent woman" (though he, according to Black's friend, "threw her under the bus"), adding, "I think that anybody who is willing to put themselves in the public arena and tries to help deserves a lot of credit." He also couldn't say exactly what tripped up Black's short tenure, "The real answer here is to say ‘O.K., water over the dam, under the bridge, what are we going to do next?'" Yeah, like, what about the impression that his third term is a damn mess? more ›

[Update below] Cathie Black, fresh off her dismal 17 percent popularity numbers, is reportedly stepping down as Schools Chancellor. Mayor Bloomberg is going to be giving a press conference announcing the change at 11:30 a.m.. For the time being she will be replaced by Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, NY1 is reporting. To quote Maggie Haberman's Twitter: "Cathie Black is Bloomberg's Harriet Miers." more ›

After Cathie Black's tumultuous (and ongoing) appointment process for the job of Schools Chancellor and her gaffe-filled first few weeks you'd think the public might be willing to give her a break. But nope. A new NY1-Marist poll shows that there is about as much public love for Black as there reportedly is in her eyes. Just 17 percent of voters think Black is doing an excellent or a good job, down from 21 percent in January. At least there isn't much further down she can go! more ›

Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Education have been talking constantly about the department's budget of late, insisting that they must end the "Last In, First Out" rule (perhaps you've noticed the ads occasionally running on Gothamist?) and putting out scary budget projection after scary budget projection in which they say that unless they get more aid they will have to do things like fire six percent of the city's teachers. So isn't it a little odd that the department is planning to spend more than half-a-billion dollars on technology improvements next year while simultaneously cutting $1.3 billion from its construction budget for the next three years? more ›

Schools Chancellor Cathie Black hit another milestone yesterday when she made her first appearance in front of the Legislature in Albany. And, despite some disruption from the audience, the general sense is that she actually handled herself fine as she toed the Bloomberg education line. Good thing too, she apparently spent several weeks preparing for her nearly two-hour stint at the microphone. more ›

You almost have to feel sorry for Cathie Black. Almost. All she wanted to do was run the New York Department of Education in peace and instead all she gets are boos, angry parents and, now, threats her new job might not be hers for long. Remember how she had to get a waiver to take the job because she wasn't qualified? And how parents swore they'd appeal when she got it? Well, it looks like they're living up to their threat. more ›

Why was there no love for Cathie Black at a town hall meeting at P.S. 165 in Kew Gardens Hills last night? According to attendees, it was mutual! One parent told NY1, "The chancellor did a horrible job. She didn't answer one question. She doesn't care about the children at all. She just cares about numbers and statistics. There's no love in her eyes, there's no love in her heart." Now Joel Klein, there was a man with a compassionate face. more ›

Sorry, commenters, but all the "Bloomturd" and "Bloomtard" nicknames are getting a bit played out. Thankfully, UFT President Michael Mulgrew has suggested a new nickname for the Hizzoner: "Mayor Hosni Murbarak." Here's how that one came about. more ›

Things just are not going well for Schools Chancellor Cathie Black. Not well at all. On top of her disastrous Wednesday night appearance (in which she mocked jeering parents at a vote over 10 school closures) last night things got so tense that more than a thousand angry parents, union members and teachers stormed out of a meeting regarding another 12 school closures. ""Ms. Black, what in the world is wrong with you? You show utter contempt and scorn for the parents you should be serving. If you don't want to be here, then leave—because many of us don't want you here anyway," City Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) told the Chancellor. more ›

This morning Schools Chancellor Cathie Black, along with the Mayor's office, decided to close the city's schools—the ninth time the schools have been closed for snow since 1978. The news made many a school kid happy, and not just for the obvious reason. See, today nearly 100,000 students were meant to take state-wide Regents exams in history, geometry, science, chemistry and physics. more ›

Tired of booing at Cathie Black's gaffes? Her predecessor Joel Klein has a few more tricks up his sleeve. Though he recently wrote against teacher pensions in the Journal, and is rumored to be pulling in upwards of $4.5 million at his new gig at News Corp. (which owns the Journal), the Daily News brings word that Klein is set to pull in a $34,000-a-year pension from the city (Klein made $250k-a-year as Chancellor). It would take a teacher with a master's degree 20 years of service to earn a similar pension. How's that for "hollowing out public education?" more ›

Schools Commissioner Cathie Black went out last night for her public debut at a Panel for Educational Policy meeting in Brooklyn Tech. And, like Bloomberg on MLK Day, she was met with some serious heckling. From the get go the audience of 200 parents, there to speak out against school closures, were in fighting spirit and had to be reminded by the panel's chairman that they should “try to do this with some civility and decorum.” And that was before Black even took to the microphone. more ›

Because tougher state exams meant fewer city students were found proficient in math and English, Mayor Bloomberg has pledged $10 million to state test tutoring (video below). The money will be distributed to 532 schools where over two-thirds of students failed the tests last year, with schools getting between $6,000 and $65,000. But why give the money in the middle of the school year? According to Bloomberg, "New chancellor!" more ›

Cathie Black and many others have already apologized for her Community Board meeting gaffe in which she suggested the city solve overcrowding in schools with birth control. At this point everyone gets it was a joke, however tasteless, but Bloomberg has decided to shoehorn his opinion in and most likely make it worse. After speaking at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration, he told reporters, "Cathie Black made a joke. Some people took it the wrong way. She apologized...I picked the right person. She'll try to fulfill the dream that Martin Luther King had for everybody." Which had something to do with "Sophie's Choice," right? more ›

Cathie Black is so sorry about those pesky birth control comments! Really! Beyond the statement the DoE released Friday ("Black takes the issue of overcrowding very seriously..."), the embattled Schools Chancellor upped the ante last night and called Julie Menin, chair of Community Board 1 (during halftime, natch), to express just how truly regretful she was. The "remorseful" Black "gave a very sincere apology, and was very clear it didn't reflect her belief," Menin said. Still, we agree with Menin's theory that City Hall, which wants this dealt with posthaste, had something to do with that call. more ›

One parent who was present for Cathie Black's latest screw-up is defending the new Chancellor's bad jokes (video below) about Sophie's Choice and using birth control to solve school crowding...sort of. Tricia Joyce said the quotes are "out of context. You know if she was nervous it’s not an unusual thing to have said." However, she continued, "Was it in good taste? In my opinion, no." The Department of Education agrees, and has now released a statement: “Chancellor Black takes the issue of overcrowding very seriously. She regrets if she left a different impression by making an off-handed joke in the course of that conversation." more ›

Cathie Black is not having the most auspicious start as Schools Chancellor. Ignoring the whole waiver-fiasco and her fumbled first non-snow day last night she managed to let fly two tacky cracks that left some lower Manhattan parents unamused. more ›

The last snowstorm was not too hard on all-smiles Bloomberg but new Schools Chancellor Cathie Black has not been so lucky. It isn't so much that everyone ignored her decision to open schools Wednesday but that instead of going to visit a SI school as scheduled she stayed in Manhattan for a press conference. One SI kid who shoveled his parents' driveway at 5:30 a.m. to get to school did not like the double standard, fuming: "She doesn't have to go to school, and we do?" But to be fair to Black, all school trips were canceled on Wednesday. more ›

At 5 a.m. this morning new chancellor Cathie Black made the call that public schools would in fact be open. But it appears that students weren't answering their phones. Only 47 percent of middle schoolers and 37 percent of high schoolers came to school today. Systemwide the average was 46%. We hope all those cutters had a nice midweek vacation, it's back to school with you tomorrow (but don't worry, you've got Monday off in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.). more ›