Cathie Black, the new chancellor of New York City schools calls herself a born saleswoman

Cathie Black, the new chancellor of New York City schools calls herself a born saleswoman

BY HELEN KENNEDY AND CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Wednesday, November 10th 2010, 7:53 AM

Seth Wenig

Cathie Black describes herself as a born saleswoman who started off selling lemonade and later subscriptions to a Catholic magazine.

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Just don't call her Cathy.

Cathie Black, the future chancellor of the New York City public school system, was just 12 and a "skinny, awkward preteen with big dreams" on the south side of Chicago when she decided she "wanted to be different."

"So one day I changed the spelling of my name from 'Cathy' to 'Cathie,'" Black recounted in her secret-to-success book, "Basic Black" - adding that misspelling her new moniker was the "quickest way" for someone to lose ground in her eyes.

It's a telling insight into the hard-charging, 66-year-old business woman who's been dubbed "The First Lady of Magazines."

Black grew up in the shadow of steel mills in an insular neighborhood

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/11/10/2010-11-10_cathie_black_the_new_chancellor_of_new_york_city_schools_calls_herself_a_born_sa.html?r=ny_local/education#ixzz14sxZsGjw

Cathleen P. Black Is New Schools Chancellor in New York - NYTimes.com

Cathleen P. Black Is New Schools Chancellor in New York - NYTimes.com

City’s New Schools Chief Has Much in Common With Boss

By JEREMY W. PETERS

Published: November 9, 2010

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Cathleen P. Black earned a reputation in publishing as a tough-minded chief executive who never left her employees guessing what she wanted. A student of management, she wrote a book about strategies for success in the corporate world. She thrived as head of a large media company, showing little interest in politics or a public-service job — until, it seems, a big one suddenly opened up.

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Michael Appleton for The New York Times

Cathleen P. Black was introduced on Tuesday by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York as the successor to Joel I. Klein, left, who resigned as chancellor of the city's schools.

Cathleen Black Timeline

Related

• New York Schools Chancellor Ends 8-Year Run (November 10, 2010)

• Times Topics: Cathleen P. Black |Joel I. Klein

In other words, she is a lot like MayorMichael R. Bloomberg, who on Tuesday tapped Ms. Black, 66, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, to be the next chancellor of the New York City school system.

Mr. Bloomberg, of course, also built his fortune in media and wrote a book about how he did it. And no one would ever accuse the mayor of being ambiguous when it comes to conveying his expectations of his staff. Ms. Black, at

Test score makes the teacher? Maybe, at LAUSD - LA Daily News

Test score makes the teacher? Maybe, at LAUSD - LA Daily News

Test score makes the teacher? Maybe, at LAUSD

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer

Posted: 11/09/2010 08:33:00 PM PST

Updated: 11/09/2010 08:44:54 PM PST

Los Angeles Unified officials took a big step forward Tuesday toward launching a new controversial method to evaluate teachers based on the performance of their students. | "LAUSD votes to wait on consultants' contracts"

The school board approved two consultant contracts to study and develop the new teacher evaluation method, with a combined cost of up to $4.5 million.

One consultant will develop ways to evaluate teachers based on the test performance of their students over time, called the "value-added" method. The other will help develop new guidelines and "best practices" for teachers.

The value-added method compares student performance from one year to the next to evaluate a teacher's abilities. It has been sharply criticized by some union leaders and experts as flawed and unfair, but applauded by others, including President Barack Obama.

"For me, this is historic. This begins to make it real that we are going to establish a process to have a good, fair and robust evaluation for teachers, principals and other key school personnel," said LAUSD board member Yolie Flores.

"We are putting our stake in the ground that quality teaching matters. ... We are done with mediocrity and we

LAUSD votes to wait on consultants' contracts

by By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer

Los Angeles Unified officials Tuesday voted to hold off on a series of new facilities consultant contracts, after a new inspector general report this week found irregularities in the handling of certain building contracts. | "Test score makes the teacher? Maybe, at LAUSD"

Aurora school board rejects view it violated teachers' contract - The Denver Post

Aurora school board rejects view it violated teachers' contract - The Denver Post

Aurora school board rejects view it violated teachers' contract11/09/2010The Aurora school board rejected an arbitrator's decision that the district violated its contract with high school teachers when it added an extra period of instruction this year.

Montbello schools reform plan draws comments at hearing 211/09/2010 - Parents, teachers, students and other community members gave a mixed reaction Monday to a plan designed to turn around troubled schools in the Montbello neighborhood.

Downsized schools raise bar, but not all reach it11/07/2010 - In her high school career at Global Leadership Academy, Gabriella Hernandez transcended the B's and C's of her lost-in-the-shuffle middle school years to achieve straight A's and the honor society.

Douglas County schools may explore school-choice options11/06/2010 - The concept of a public school district offering vouchers for private or religious schools is sparking an outpouring of emotion in Douglas County, long considered among the most innovative school districts in Colorado.

Brown wants to ax secretary of education position | California Watch

Brown wants to ax secretary of education position | California Watch

Brown wants to ax secretary of education position

November 10, 2010 | Louis Freedberg

Brown campaign photo

As part of his campaign pledge to "make government more efficient and effective," Gov.-elect Jerry Brown has promised to do away with the secretary of education position, a fixture in governors' cabinets since the early 1990s.

He plans to rely more on the state Board of Education (which the governor appoints) and the existing California Department of Education staff. He also plans to "play a major role in education policy" himself, drawing on his experience as the founder of two Oakland charter schools and having to deal with a public school system as Oakland mayor.

At the rate he is going, Brown appears to be angling for a slimmed down cabinet compared to his predecessors. In addition to this little-noticed campaign pledge, Brown is also

Schools chancellor Joel Klein won't be missed - he lost the respect of teachers and parents alike

Schools chancellor Joel Klein won't be missed - he lost the respect of teachers and parents alike

JUAN GONZALEZ - NEWS

Wednesday, November 10th 2010, 4:00 AM

Monaster/News

Though his departure was announced on Tuesday, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein's influence has been waning for some time.

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You could tell the Joel Klein era was ending long before Mayor Bloomberg made it official on Tuesday.

It became clear one cold January night in the cavernous auditorium of Brooklyn Technical High School, during an extraordinary all-night meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy.

The panel, Bloomberg's rubber-stamp replacement for the old Board of Education, was about to approve Klein's proposal to close down 19 low-performing public schools and install several new charter schools in their place.

State law required the panel to go through the motions of a democratic process by holding a public hearing.

More than 1,000 angry parents and teachers filled the auditorium that night. The list of speakers seemed endless. Many gave eloquent defenses of their programs. Several begged for assistance from school district headquarters.

I was dumbstruck to see teachers and even assistant principals take their turns at the microphone and publicly berate their boss, Klein, for refusing to support neighborhood schools.

The chancellor, who spent long stretches of the meeting on his BlackBerry, walked out of the room at one point.

Suddenly, the entire auditorium rose in unison. Everyone began chanting: "

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/11/10/2010-11-10_schools_chancellor_joel_klein_wont_be_missed__he_lost_the_respect_of_teachers_an.html?r=ny_local/education#ixzz14stFN1t4

Who is new schools chancellor Cathie Black?

by MEREDITH KOLODNER, RACHEL MONAHAN and ADAM LISBERG, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Cathie Black, chairman of Hearst Magazines, is Mayor Bloomberg's surprise pick to succeed Klein and continue his sweeping reforms, despite having little educational experience.

Archdiocese puts 31 Catholic schools on notice

by KERRY BURKE and BILL HUTCHINSON, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

The Archdiocese of New York put 31 schools on notice Tuesday that they are on the chopping block.

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES VALUE-ADDED CONTRACT

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES VALUE-ADDED CONTRACT

SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES VALUE-ADDED CONTRACT

by smf

-- Jason Song – LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/aqgFbE November 9, 2010 | 6:53 pm - The Los Angeles Board of Education unanimously approved a contract Tuesday with a company that will analyze teachers' effectiveness in raising students' standardized test scores. The agreement with the University of Wisconsin Value Added Research Center, which does similar work for New York City public

CSU TO RAISE ‘FEES’… ER… ‘TUITION’ (Doesn’t Prop 26 require a two-thirds vote to raise ‘fees"’?

by smf

Cal State trustees committee approves fee hike; full board votes Wednesday -- Carla Rivera – LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/aEHi3E November 9, 2010 | 5:33 pm - A California State University proposal to raise undergraduate tuition 15% by next fall was approved Tuesday by a key committee of the Board of Trustees. If approved by the full board Wednesday, the two-step increase would boost

New revocation regs for low-scoring charters | Thoughts on Public Education

New revocation regs for low-scoring charters | Thoughts on Public Education

New revocation regs for low-scoring charters - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess After months of public comments and revisions, the State Board of Education on Tuesday passed new regulations for closing down low-achieving charter schools that one charter leader praised and another charter leader condemned. Each year, the State ...

Paths to school finance reform - by John Fensterwald - Educated Guess The state’s system of funding K-12 schools is inadequate, inequitable and opaque. Only taxes, time (the next two decades of passively watching the economy improve) or a settlement of the Robles-Wong v California lawsuit can fully address the issue of ...

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Charters and the new version of two-tier education

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Charters and the new version of two-tier education

Charters and the new version of two-tier education

by Mike Klonsky

Those who have followed the work of our Small Schools Workshop over the past 19 years, know that we are not "anti-charter." Many charters emerged from the early small schools movement that we helped create. Small schools and charters were first seen as a way to drive changes and offer innovative alternatives within large, bureaucratic and undemocratic school systems. Early charters and small schools were usually created by teachers and often democratically run with an eye on personalization, teacher autonomy and power to create learning environments where students could grow and develop physically and intellectually.

But today that early charter "movement" has been derailed, captured by the worst, anti-public school politicians and profiteers. Helped by a decade of No Child Left Behind (now called Race To The Top) politics and policies

Queens Teacher: Commissioner Steiner: Do the Right Thing

Queens Teacher: Commissioner Steiner: Do the Right Thing

Commissioner Steiner: Do the Right Thing

by Queens Teacher

I am still trying to recover from the utter shock of the news that Joel Klein has resigned as NYC schools chancellor. I am also still scratching my head as to WHAT THE HELL Bloombucks was thinking when he named magazine executive Cathie Black to replace Klein.

Does this woman know what she's getting into? Is getting rid of Klein part of some scheme for a presidential run in 2012 for our favorite tyrant, ahem, mayor?

Why is the public not allowed in the selction process? Why does this mayor continue to select people that serve

The Less Experience, The Better — The Jose Vilson

The Less Experience, The Better — The Jose Vilson

The Less Experience, The Better

by Jose

I get it. The less experience and qualifications you have as an educational policy leader, the better. If you can play good defense and set nice picks, you’re qualified for the US Secretary of Education. If you’re part anti-Microsoft lawyer and part CEO of a random arm of a corporation, you can be chancellor of the biggest school system in the nation. Then, if you acquire too much experience from this position, you need to find someone who’s even less qualified than that.

Enter Cathie Black.

Scene 1:

Klein: “So Mike.”
Bloomberg: “Yes, Joel.”
Klein: “I’m done.”
B: “What do you mean you’re done?!”
K: “Yeah, that’s it, it’s over. I’m bored. I can only close so many schools, and the union can’t beat us so long as you keep pumping money into people like me. It’s not a challenge. Can’t I go beat up on Google or something?”