Two months ago, it was revealed that the NY State Department of Education had awarded a $27 million, no-bid contract to a company owned by News Corp., which seemed especially convenient because former NYC School Chancellor Joel Klein had joined News Corp. to head its growing student technology division. Alas, the lurid phone hacking scandal at a News Corp. tabloid has made the Empire State powers that be rethink things, as State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced last week the state was dropping the deal. more ›

When Joel "Numbnuts" Klein left his position as New York City's school chancellor last fall to become a senior VP at News Corp's reeducation eduction division, he "seemed happier than ever before." According to the Times, Klein received $4.5 million in compensation this year, gets a monthly car allowance of $1,200, and Rupert Murdoch promised to spend up to $1 billion on the newly formed educational wing of News Corp to fund Klein's visions. But thanks to the phone-hacking scandal that is tearing through Murdoch's media empire, Klein is charged with conducting an internal investigation of News Corp. "I am trying to get as far away from this as I can," he reportedly told a friend. more ›

It isn't just the New York City Department of Education that has some suspicious and very expensive contracts, the New York State Department of Education has some curious deals of its own. Like the $27 million no-bid contract the Daily News reports on which was recently given to a News Corp. company that just happens to be overseen by former city Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. Nothing fishy about that at all! more ›

Former Schools Chancellor Joel Klein may be making millions at News Corp. now, but he's still annoyed by NYC's byzantine process to fire teachers. He told the Sunday Times of London, "Five to 10 percent [of educators] are not remotely capable. It's easier to prosecute a capital-punishment case in the US than terminate an incompetent teacher." And of the United Federation of Teachers, he said, "The union is going to protect incompetent workers -- that is their job." 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 ›

Now that Cathie Black has taken her controversial place as head of the city's schools, former Chancellor Joel Klein is getting ready to start his new job at News Corp. And it's becoming clearer why he left. Though he claims he had vowed to leave after two terms, and the media claims there were growing tensions with Bloomberg, Reuters is reporting that Klein could make upwards of $4.5 million at his new job, as opposed to $250,000 a year as Chancellor. However, most of that is bonuses; he'll have to scrape by on just $2 million/year in base salary. more ›

And our long Schools Chancellor nightmare is over. Current Chancellor Joel Klein said he would be stepping down in January and, thanks to a court decision yesterday, he will. His replacement? Just as Mike Bloomberg sort-of wanted all along, former Hearst-exec Cathie Black will be wearing the crown. more ›

We're not sure that many people questioned Joel Klein's vow to leave his post as Schools Chancellor to take a job at News Corp., but he apparently needed to clear things up at his final Panel for Educational Policy meeting last night. He said he would be leaving on January 3rd, even if lawsuits block Cathie Black's appointment. He left with the advice, "We need to find better ways to work together, because if in the end we don't succeed in dramatically changing the outcome of our children, I believe we will lose the most important thing that makes America America, which is that education provides the key to the American Dream." Which is probably the Chinese Dream now. more ›

In the wake of a state panel recommending against granting a waiver to allow Cathie Black to become NYC Schools Chancellor, the NY Times reports that Mayor Bloomberg's administration tried—in secret— to seek a compromise with the state: "State officials proposed that City Hall consider the second appointment to settle concerns about Ms. Black’s lack of experience in education, these people said Wednesday. But talks fell apart by Tuesday, and that afternoon David M. Steiner, the education commissioner, hardened the state’s position by saying publicly that he was disinclined to approve Ms. Black unless she had an official with education experience to help her run the system." more ›

Amidst the drama over Mayor Bloomberg's appointment of Hearst Magazines head Cathie Black as the new Schools Chancellor, former (or, still current) Chancellor Joel Klein has remained pretty quiet. Other than thanking Bloomberg for giving him the "best job of my life," and that he decided two terms was enough, he hasn't given much of a statement about just how sudden his resignation was. And now sources tell the Daily News that it may be because Bloomberg had grown "disenchanted" with Klein. "Joel is very astute when it comes to relationships. He saw what was happening," said one source. "He wants to make some money and take on a new challenge. It made sense for him to go when he did." more ›

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, who is stepping down to take on a job at News Corp. (essentially switching billionaire bosses, going from reporting to Mayor Bloomberg to reporting to Rupert Murodch), defended his record and also insisted that he was leaving on his own terms, telling New York, "I had decided when I signed up for this thing that I would do it for two terms. At the end of those terms, I'd be in my mid-60s and would want another challenge.... [It was] Totally my decision. I talked to the mayor about it before the reelection. I went to him about three or four months ago and said I thought we were ready." more ›

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. more ›

Yesterday, longstanding Schools Chancellor Joel Klein abruptly resigned to join the team at News Corp. as a senior adviser. “I want to thank Mayor Bloomberg for giving me the best job of my life and for being there every step of the way in the effort to improve education for our students," he said during a press conference yesterday. "I am thrilled that the Mayor has selected Cathie Black, a distinguished leader, to move this work forward." But as Manhattan BP Scott Stringer put it, "Google's going to be kept very busy today. Who is she? And why was she picked to be New York City schools chancellor?" more ›

New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has announced his resignation after eight years to become a senior advisor to News Corp. The company, parent company to the Wall Street Journal (who surprisingly had the scoop), said in a statement that Klein will be working on "business strategies for the emerging educational marketplace." Mayor Bloomberg is expected to announce Cathie Black, current chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, as his replacement. She would be the first woman ever appointed to the job. more ›

Reacting to a drop in test scores this school year, angry parents decided that bullhorns were a necessity at an education panel last night. “Where is the accountability?," asked one parent whose son's scores had dropped. “Do your work for our children" said another. The ruckus was enough to make Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and the members Panel for Educational Policy walk out of their own meeting. DOE spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz told the Times, "Their shouting and screaming proved too disruptive for the panel to continue meeting, and rather than be heard, these individuals sabotaged their chance to speak and derailed important public business." more ›

For a while, it seemed like things were improving in the city's public school system. Test scores were up and the disparity in performance between white kids and minorities was small. But the 2010 test scores smashed that dream, showing a 25% drop in passing rates from last year, and a gaping divide in performance between the city's white and Asian students and black and Hispanic students. Michael J. Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, told the Times, "On achievement, the story in New York City is of some modest progress, but not the miracle that the mayor and the chancellor would like to claim." more ›

City Council education chairman Robert Jackson was enraged over news that students were getting partial credit for wrong answers on the state math exams. The exams determine which students may advance to the next grade level, and many are worried students receiving partial credit would advance without the proper math skills to succeed. Jackson summed it up to the Post: "Two plus two equals four, not five. You have to get it right. If you are an engineer and you understand the process for determining the size of a building but you get it wrong, that building's going to be in trouble." more ›

Perhaps Albany was just taking their bizarre spending cues from the state's charter schools. Amid the debates over raising the cap on charter schools in order to be eligible for federal education funding, the NY Times reports that some of the state's charters haven't been using their public funding too well. Niagara Charter School reportedly spent $100,000 on consulting contracts, but had to hold a fundraiser to buy new playground equipment. more ›

The United Federation of Teachers head Mike Mulgrew has a cute nickname for Chancellor Joel Klein: "Chancellor Numbnuts." He earned the nickname after allegedly saying "nutty" things while addressing delegates in D.C. on Wednesday. Mulgrew "tore the house down" when he used the nickname at the UFT annual convention, where he announced that Assemblyman Jonathan Bing is "dead to the union" because of his support of the "last hired, last fired" provision. Mulgrew has also allegedly called Gov. Chris Christie a "butterball" who would "explode or implode." So how can we get "Picklepuss" to catch on? more ›

Recently parents and kids gathered at City Hall to protest the DOE's ban on homemade treats at school bake sales and a New Yorker reporter bore witness to "the noise made by wooden spoons being banged against saucepans." Doing away with brownies from scratch, the regulations limit sales to packaged foods like whole grain Pop-Tarts and reduced fat Doritos, so at the rally kids in foot-tall paper chef's hats chanted “N.Y.C. D.O.E. Read our lips. No more chips,” and “Yay, apple! Boo, Snapple!” Their hand-lettered picket signs read “Joel Klein Get Out of the Pantry” and “Our Schools Are Not Supermarkets.” But the opposition was present too—not the schools chancellor and his cronies but a row of pre-teen boys shouting “We want junk food! We want Doritos!” more ›

Nearly 80,000 of the city's eighth graders are left wondering what to do after not receiving their high school assignments due to a lawsuit from United Federation of Teachers and the N.A.A.C.P. Both parents and students are upset about the delay, prompting DOE Chancellor Joel Klein to post an apology on the DOE website. One parent told the Post, "Not to let them know is horrible. We are all waiting to move on with our lives and we need to know what the plan is." Last year, less than half of the applicants got into their top choice school. more ›

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein says state budget cuts might force the city layoff 8,500 teachers. "These cuts would bring tremendous instability to our schools and students," Klein told NY1. The city would fire 15 percent of math, English, science and social studies teachers, starting with educators who have the least experience. All school districts would face cuts, but the Upper East Side and South Bronx would have the largest staff reductions, losing about 20 percent of teachers. According to the Daily News, some of the cuts could be averted under an Assembly spending plan that would restore about $600 million of the $1.4 billion of school aid that Gov. Paterson wants to cut—giving the city an extra $193 million. more ›

A new poll rated Mayor Bloomberg's job approval at 60 percent, down from 70 percent last year and the lowest it's been since 2005. After eight years, has the tender love affair between New Yorkers and their mayor turned to tepid mutual appreciation? Even if it has, "a lot of politicians would kill for that kind of number," observed pollster Maurice Carroll. more ›

After hundreds protested last week as a Department of Education board moved to close 19 under-performing schools, the teachers union and NAACP are filing a lawsuit to reverse the decision. The union will argue that shuttering the schools violates state law because the decision fails to consider impact on the community. The NY NAACP signed on because the closures will hurt minority students, reported AP. But Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein are fighting back—they say the closings are warranted because the schools just aren't performing. more ›

Early this morning the city's Panel for Education policy voted to close 19 under-performing schools, despite eight hours of protest by thousands of teachers, parents and staffers. The hearing—which was scheduled to take place in Staten Island, but was moved to Brooklyn Tech's high school to accommodate the mob of onlookers—began Tuesday night and ran until 3 a.m. "The sad reality is that the schools we must close tonight are not meeting the standards," said Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. According to the NY Times, he quieted down after the crowd began booing him, chanting "Racist Joel Klein" and "Where's Joel Klein?" whenever he left to go to the bathroom or make a phone call. more ›

New York City public schools are performing so well according to the DOE's assessment that the performance bonuses earned by teachers is bursting the budget. With 97% of elementary and middle schools earning A's or B's in their annual grades from the Department of Education, yesterday it was revealed that such high marks meant the city would have to shell out $33 million in bonuses, almost twice last year's total despite a slimmer budget and two million over the program's budget before high schools are even accounted for. One education consultant told the News, "It's clear the bonuses are a complete waste, with the reading and math exams becoming easier and easier." more ›

It's official—Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Bloomberg have fixed the public schools! Why, how else could 84% of the city's 1,058 elementary and middle schools receive A's on the DOE's annual performance report card, with only 3% winding up with marks of C or below. In fact, all of the schools that received F’s last year and remained open received A’s or B’s this year. Sounding like a teacher who had "accidentally" left the answer key during the final exam and now had to justify the stark improvement from the 61% of schools that got A's and B's when the system began only two years ago, Klein said yesterday, “We want to make clear that that means that they met their progress targets. Not by any stretch of the imagination that those schools don’t have a lot of improvement ahead of them...You can be assured we will raise the bar next year.” The grades schools receive are determined on how much student test results improve in a given year and have been criticized for their heavy reliance on standardized test scores. more ›

Since the State Senate has been deadlocked for weeks, legislation giving Mayor Bloomberg control of the school system expired—forcing an emergency meeting of the re-formed Board of Education today. According to CityRoom, the Board's seven members are "three deputy mayors, three sympathetic allies of the mayor, and one wild card from the Bronx." The Daily News adds the Board "is expected to give [Schools Chancellor Joel] Klein authority over the school system -- essentially keeping Mayor Bloomberg in charge." more ›

Yesterday was the biggest day of thousands of NYU students' lives as they graduated from their respective colleges and schools, but guess what—even that isn't enough to let them sit in the seats near the field at Yankee Stadium! With Washington Square Park's renovation forcing the school to relocate its school-wide graduation ceremonies to the Bronx for a spell, the Yankees prohibited NYU from filling the premium seats with students. more ›