Mr. Klein Goes Back to School

September 24, 2010 (GBN News): A number of NY City high school students, who were told this week that they had to return to middle school, can take solace in the fact that they were not the only victims of a bureaucratic foul-up. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein was informed today by his putative alma mater, William Cullen Bryant High School, that his 1959 admission to the school was in error. Due to a recently discovered poor test score performance in eighth grade, Mr. Klein will now have to return to middle school to repeat that year. Presumably, the Chancellor’s high school diploma and any credentials earned afterwards will be null and void.

Mr. Klein, speaking to reporters outside Tweed Courthouse, struck a defiant tone. “It’s certainly not my fault,” he insisted. “If I scored low on a test, you’ve got to put the blame where it belongs – on the teacher.”

Asked if Mr. Klein’s standing as Chancellor would be jeopardized by the new revelations, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said not to worry. “The State Education Department gave us a waiver to hire him,” the Mayor told GBN News. “They agreed that he didn’t need any qualifications. Obviously, nothing’s changed.”

But DOE bureaucrats may have the last word after all. A department spokesperson, repeating a statement he had made about the students who were returned to middle school, said, “If we promote students who aren't ready, we are setting them up for failure”. It seems that his own department intends to hold up the Chancellor’s failure as an example.