Four reasons it would be shocking if Kaya Henderson becomes NYC schools chief
Articles about the possibility that Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio will pick D.C. Schools Superintendent Kaya Henderson as New York City’s new schools chancellor are popping up in the New York press, apparently fueled by a recent phone conversation that de Blasio initiated with Henderson. Nobody’s reported definitely what the discussion was about, but that hasn’t stopped speculation. If, however, de Blasio meant the things he has said about education reform, there are key areas in which the two profoundly conflict — and it is likely that selecting Henderson would be seen as a betrayal by those who supported de Blasio because of his criticism of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s school reform policies.
Henderson was deputy to Michelle Rhee, the most prominent practitioner of corporate-influenced school reform, when Rhee was D.C. Schools chancellor, and she has stayed the reform course since succeeding her former boss after Rhee quit in 2010. Views on education reform espoused by de Blasio when he was New York City’s public advocate and when he was running for mayor this year made clear that Rhee and Henderson’s