Am I the Only One Sad to See Him Go (Other than Eva?), My Advice - Sell Your Newscorps Stock ASAP

Yes, run don't walk to sell your Newscorp stocks. Joel Klein is one of the most incompetent people on earth - don't you think he wasn't kicked out of Bertlesman and jumped into the Chancellorship to save face - and as a tech guru in the 90's I didn't think all that much of him at the Justice Dept - remember he had to hire David Boies to prosecute Microsoft and Bill Gates and though spin made it look like they won, they really didn't - the over decade ago version of phony reading scores and phony grad rates.

I hope none of the people at Newscorp ever give Joel the job of getting buses there on time to pick up their kids.

I'm not singing, "Ding, Dong"

NOT the new chancellor

Teacher and education activist cell phones were practically exploding with joy this afternoon as Joel Klein announced his resignation. I was practically in tears over the organizing potential we lost with his departure. The only thing we have to be thankful for is that Mayor Mike didn't appoint a PhD phony educator with credentials so he could say we have an educator in charge. And even worse would be if it was someone Black or Latino/a which might have just turned away some of the growing opposition to BloomKlein ----ooops! Crap, can't use that anymore.

But wait. Bloomie did appoint someone Black. Catherine Black. I just can't wait to go to those PEP meetings and flash my red Real Reformer cape at her.

Just a minute - phone's ringing.

What!!? What did you say? Oh!

Never mind.

Well, the real Cathie Black is my age and yet seems 20 years younger than me. Ahhh, the good life. Maybe it was putting her kids in boarding school. As one parent told a principal at Open School Night tonight:

"You know I was thinking about what you said about us having another Chancellor now who is not an educator.  I heard she  has never even  worked in our schools and that her own kids went to boarding school.  So I figure, not only doesn't she not know OUR kids-she doesn't even know her own kids!"

Well, clearly the appointment of Cathleen Black bodes no good for the NYC schools but watch all the calls to give her a chance to blah, blah, blah. And that is not good for building the anti ed deform movement.

Hey, someone just suggested at ICE Mail that we oppose granting Black a waiver since she is unqualified. How about the UFT showing some balls? We may just put that up as a reso at the DA next week.

And then there is this from some mag:

Ms. Black, who was demoted this summer at Hearst, said that she was “very excited about this incredible opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our young people.”

Wait a minute. Demoted? Like Joel Klein was chased out of Bertelsman and into our lives? Oy!

Here is some stuff from the NYCEd Listserve. Lots more floating around.

First, the good news. The NY Times is now reporting that Joel Klein has resigned as Chancellor of NYC schools in order to take a position at (drum roll please)........

Rupert Murdoch's NEWS CORPORATION!!!!

That's right, Joel Klein is going exactly where he belongs, to work for Rupert Murdoch where he can lie and dissemble and spin to his heart's content along with all the other liars and spinners. Joel will fit right in with O'Reilly, Hannity, Beck, and the rest of that disreputable crew. I can hardly imagine a better, more fitting place for him. If you can believe this, he stated that his EVP position responsibility would be to develop "strategy to put them [i.e., News Corporation] in the education marketplace." Heaven help us.

Now for the potentially bad news (only time will tell). Joel's replacement has apparently already been named, without any public input, of course. Her name is Cathleen Black. She's the former publisher of USA Today and chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, 66 years old and with zero experience in education. She is, however, according to Mike Bloomberg, a "superstar manager." Sounds great. I'm sure she just loves children and wants them all to have the best of all possible futures in this best of all possible worlds (my apologies to Voltaire). I'm sure we'll be hearing and learning more about Ms. Black in the near future.

Amazing that the lives of over one million children and their families are directly affected by these individuals, yet they have no say whatsoever, even through their elected representatives, as to who is given this job.

Steve Koss

------------------------

Assemblyman Perry Reacts to Mayor’s Chancellor Appointment

 “A quick review of what is known about the background of Mayor Bloomberg’s announced choice, raises a lot of questions as to the direction, and the real agenda for our public education system.  It is of concern that the newly appointed chancellor appears to have no significant educational background, as required by NYS Education Law.  Furthermore, she was raised in a private school system, and subsequently raised her children in a private school system, it is very difficult to believe that a person who has such a strong history steeped in private education, will be able to appreciate the diverse and difficult challenge of running the NYC Public School System.  Under NYS Education Law, Ms. Black, will not be able to officially assume the position without a waiver by the NYS Board of Regents and just a quick glimpse at her profile raises significant questions as to how such a waiver might be justified.”

------------------

Well my bet is she already has the waiver. Tisch and Steiner should be embarrassed by this. How elite can the elite be?
Did she publish at Scholastic? maybe that's the credential that got her the waiver?

This is the time for a revolt folks. This is the time to be talking to every legislator and every member of the Board of Regents. This is the time for members of school communities to band together and reject this blatant power grab by the leading elite.

has anyone heard from Scott Stringer? Anthony Weiner? Bill De Blasio? I am not asking about Quinn as she was probably part of the deal.

 

__._,_.___

 NOTE: LISTEN TO SOUTH BRONX RADIO TONIGHT AT 9 WITH MAGNIFICENT MONA AS GUEST. (Scroll sidebar for link.)

Paul Moore from Miami just sent in this joyous message:

The Business Roundtable's unholy scheme to destroy the public schools hatched in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1989 is now in full-scale collapse along with the global capitalist economy. The oligarchs and their henchmen and hatchet women are defeated. But the fight is only beginning because Gates, Broad, Bloomberg and the Waltons are replaced by a more powerful and vicious enemy of working people--the banks.

By way of a victory lap, this was written a month ago today.

One chancellor down, one to go.

New York City Chancellor Joel Klink*, I sincerely want you to enjoy your warm fuzzy delusions about "Waiting For Superman" because they may not last very long. I mean, did you hear what happened to Michelle Rhee? She's plays a "chancellor" just like you right? And she was one of the stars of your movie right?

Excuse my French, but damn Joel, she didn't even make to the big premier yesterday in NYC and LA, before she was turned into a quivering bowl of jello standing next to the man who will fire her soon in DC. If you haven't heard about Sept. 14th in Washington, that mayor that Bill Gates put in charge of the public school system, Adrian Fenty, got stomped in a re-election bid. I mean he got beat like a hedge fund manager trying to steal something from Sen. Perkins there in the Big Apple! Go figure. Rhee, the "warrior woman", campaigned for him and everything.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't she like to mouth the same hypocritical blather you do about education being "the Civil Rights struggle of our generation" while overseeing a thoroughly racist public school system. You may want to retool that Newt Gingrich-ish slogan, paragon of the Civil Rights Movement that he is. It looks like people may be on to you folks. Rhee kind of made it easy. Just before the election she entertained her new teachers with a story about taping the mouths of Black children shut to keep them quiet. According to her, there was blood when the tape came off, but for some reason she wasn't arrested. Would have been off to the rubber room under your leadership right? And I know you are slicker than Michelle, all that CEO training, and you don't have any classroom stories to tell, because you've never set foot in a classroom, except to visit one of your precious charter schools and say hello to Eva (Moskowitz) or Geoff (Canada).

But I digress, because I just have to tell you the most startling thing of all. As a civil rights crusader, you need to really put your ear up close to this essay now. D.C. is broken up into eight or nine wards for purposes of voting. In the wards where white voters are concentrated, four out of five supported Adrian Fenty. I mean Joel, those people love themselves some Bill Gates, some quisling mayor, and a chancellor who will tape those Black kids mouths shut and take a broom to the teachers. But listen, in the African-American wards, where parents actually have their children in the DC public schools, and where the Black teachers replaced by white Teach For America missionaries live, they voted four out of five to run Michelle Rhee out of town!

Joel, you do know that Superman is fictional character? Ironically, he was a D.C. Comics creation. Seems like an omen maybe. You might want to check and see if there's a seat for you on Bloomberg's plane to Bermuda when Superman doesn't show up.

* The misspelling of CEO of Bertelsmann Inc. Joel Klein's name was an intentional act of ridicule and an homage to the long running TV series Hogan's Heroes. My apologies to the family of the late actor Werner Klemperer and his memory for associating him with an unaccomplished bureaucrat like Klein.

Paul A. Moore