After a week of silence on her end and mounting criticism from around the city, Bloomberg's pick for next Schools Chancellor finally spoke out. And it was kind of creepy. Cathie Black still needs state Department of Education Commissioner David Steiner to green light her appointment, since she has no education experience. But after meeting with Department of Education Cabinet members, she told reporters, "I will be the next chancellor." No word on if she accompanied that statement with the Jedi mind trick hand wave.
Black continued to defend her credentials (she is currently the head of Hearst Magazines) to reporters, saying, "The mayor's been very clear that he really wanted a strong, effective manager, and I have almost 40 years of experience at that. Leadership and management really matter, and I think the idea that people would look at this and not realize that you’re managing a huge complex organization, something that she brings a lot of talent to." The state commissioner said he will accept Bloomberg's waiver request, but has not yet said whether he will grant it.
Meanwhile, at the Panel for Education Policy's monthly meeting last night, many parents continued to be angered at Bloomberg's choice. "I like to join the thousands of people who have expressed outrage at the appointment of someone with no apparent interest in education to run our schools," one parent told NY1. PEP member Patrick Sullivan also criticized Bloomberg for what he called "cronyism." "How do we go to a child, a student in the system and urge them to study and work hard and then say when the big jobs come up, if you don't go to the right cocktail party, you're not going to be considered." But now she can teach the children how to schmooze properly! That sort of education is priceless.
