It's not about Cathleen P Black

As we watch the current furor over the appointment of a new NYC Schools Chancellor, we are seeing a pure example of the problem. The big hitters like former mayors and major business people are coming out in support of the current mayor's power play. The mayor has sidestepped the procedures of law and is being supported by his cronies.

On the other hand, the very people about who these leaders speak about, the clients, the customers, are asking for proper procedure to be followed and for their voice to be heard about the next chancellor.

We are seeing the gulf between the haves and the have not's or those in power ignoring the very voices they depend on for votes and for their support. We are seeing another example of the Janus aspect of politics. These mayors did very little for education and in some cases caused more chaos than order. Who cares what Koch thinks. He was a blowhard then and is one now and is so far from reality. As for the other two former mayors, please. One was a one term mayor for good reason and the other was voted a terribe mayor the day before the great tragedy. Former mayors should be just that, former mayors and shut up. It is embarrassing to hear your feeble voices again. That's why you are former mayors.

As for this mayor, who has blatantly abused his power, we have seen how he runs rough shod over the city and over procedure once again.

Why do people think Klein was a good Chancellor? He wasn't. He ran an organization that was in constant turmoil, constant change, too many bad choices, and education did not improve in this city because of his leadership. He ignored parents, he insulted the employees, he had no idea about organization except how to reorganize. If we use Klein as a reason to appoint Black, then quite obviously we should not have Black as the next chancellor. We should learn from our mistakes.

It's not about Cathleen P Black, it is about power, absolute power and the absence of following the rule of law. No one is above the law, Mr Mayor.

Are we being told that we can't find someone who has both pedagogy and managerial skills? How do the universities do it? How do prep schools do it? Don't we have schools of education that train administrators to run school organizations? Education is a much different kind of institution that is not like business. It is the interaction of people. It requires certain skills because we are dealing with little humans and not products. We shouldn't be cutting corners, we should be exploring our practice to be better. Under managerial leaders in education we are not seeing a better educational system, but we are seeing a leaner one. I know a lean educational system is not successful because it is cutting necessary resources that make the educational institution successful.

OPRAH, TOO?? OH SHUT UP OPRAH.