Cathie Black Was Not the Problem

 Cathie Black, a formerly respected publisher who was transformed as if by wizardry into the Chancellor of the New York City school system by a Mayor who grows ever stranger, has been released from her spell.

Who can forget the crowds of booing parents, the all-night scream-fests masquerading as meetings of the Panel for Educational Policy, the constant upheavals of closing schools and the cramming of charter schools into regular public schools?

Don't worry, these haven't gone away.

Educators Walk

At least five top educators -- three of them deputy school chancellors -- have left the DOE in the three months since Black was appointed, and yesterday the state education commissioner announced he would step down as well. The Mayor has threatened to fire four to five thousand experienced teachers.

City Councilwoman Letitia James has called for all co-locations and school closures to be suspended until this mess can be straightened out.

Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott appears to be a creditable choice. He has years of experience in areas related to education, including serving on the old Board of Education.

Walcott will not be the problem. Cathie Black was not the problem. Neither was Black's predecessor Joel Klein, or Diana Lam, or Michele Cahill. The four or five thousand experienced teachers are not the problem, nor are the crowds of screaming, sign-waving parents.

It's not the kids' fault either.

- After Three Months, Mayor Replaces Schools Leader  New York Times
- Brooklyn Parents Relieved at City Schools ‘Black-Out  Brooklyn Eagle
- Mayor Makes a U-Turn  WSJ

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