Bloomberg's Lousy Cathie Black Solution
by Frederick M. Hess • Dec 1, 2010 at 8:28 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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Well, official word came Monday that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has stumbled into a truly ludicrous solution to the "who will succeed Joel Klein" question. He put forward publishing executive Cathie Black--without ever really explaining why her skills or experience equip her to run NYC's hyper-political $20 billion-a-year school system--only to get slammed by community backlash and doubts about her suitability.
State law required that Black, given her lack of credentials, get a waiver from New York State Commissioner David Steiner if she was to head the school system. Steiner used the opportunity to convene an advisory panel, which said Black wasn't up to snuff. Steiner offered Bloomberg a way out by suggesting Black could pass muster if paired with a number two with academic chops. So, Bloomberg created a position, Chief Academic Officer (CAO), to oversee curriculum and testing in the NYC Department of Ed (NYCDOE). He promptly named 38-year-old Shael Polakow-Suransky, a former principal of a Bronx high school and a top official at NYCDOE, as CAO. Just on Monday this was all formally approved.
We've seen this kind of dubious solution before, in public and private organizations. They hardly ever work, and I'm real curious to see how this plays out. When it comes to deciding how much to spend on curriculum or
