When Cathie Black was first introduced to the city, one of the most obvious signs of her lack of city school knowledge was that her own children attended a private boarding school in Connecticut. But when asked whether she would put her kids in a public school today, she favored honesty instead of the obligatory pro-public schools soundbite, saying, "I don't know what we would be doing. I would love to look at all of the schools. It's about choice for parents." How lovely it would be if everyone had the option to spend $30,000 a year on high school.
Though she's been spending a lot of time meeting with first graders around the city, Black has yet to meet with the United Federation of Teachers, who had a notoriously rocky relationship with Chancellor Joel Klein. She told the Post she's been "busy," but said of a future meeting, "There will be things we differ on, I'm sure...but I would hope that we can have as positive a relationship as we possibly can." UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, "If she wants to meet with me, we'll meet. If she doesn't want to, we won't."
Slowly but surely Black is learning the geography of the greater city. Earlier this week she admitted that asking Hearst employees for opinions on public schools would just get her responses about Park Slope, but she got a bit confused while on a school trip with Brooklyn BP Marty Markowitz. She said they visited a school in Bayside, Queens, but Markotiz's office confirmed they were actually in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Baby steps.
