Walcott’s goodbye
DECEMBER 20, 2013 PM31 3:11 PM
Today every teacher in NYC received a goodbye message from Dennis Walcott (at the bottom of this post). That this is his last school day as Chancellor is something most of us would instinctively celebrate.
But was Walcott a bad chancellor? That question should be asked in context, and in comparison. Was he as bad as Joel Klein? How will he compare to whoever comes next?
There is no question that Joel Klein was reviled by parents and teachers across New York City. If the question was “who was more hated?” then Klein wins walking away. Walcott was not personally offensive the way Klein had been. He wasn’t provocative, mocking. He wasn’t hated. But that’s not the question here. Was Walcott a bad chancellor?
Klein really was bad. His disruptive reorganizations took a mediocre system and made it a disaster. He vilified teachers. He engineered the ATR crisis (through budgeting legerdemain, combined with hoodwinking the UFT’s leadership). He screwed up special education. He closed and reopened schools, improving nothing, but damaging communities. He appointed anti-public education reformers to high posts, including many who had barely taught. He helped make teaching a far less attractive job.
As Joel Klein’s damage peaked, he was replaced, first by Cathy Black (tell me again why the UFT