Creative destruction and the new school grades: Carmen Farina responds!

In a 2003 article published in Business Week about the reinvention of our schools Carmen Fariña, then a regional superintendent, commented:

"Jack Welch said one thing that really struck me…You can't allow an organization to grow complacent. When you find those kinds of organizations, you have to tear them apart and create chaos. That chaos creates a sense of urgency, and that sense of urgency will ultimately bring [about] improvement."

This quotation was included in testimony I delivered in the fall of 2004, during hearings held by then-Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields on the first phase of the Children’s First reforms. I was describing the free-wheeling attitude of the administration and the theory of “creative destruction” that was supposed to revolutionize education in this city, popularized by Jack Welch, former president of GE and the McKinsey consultants who were brought to DOE by Klein to bring change. They decided to dissolve the districts, and create the regions that would take their place, an decision which in turn, led to thousands of special education students being deprived of services and referrals for more than a year.

The regions are now gone, replaced by an even more inchoate management and organizational structure. Carmen Farina was subsequently promoted to Deputy Chancellor for Teaching and Learning after Diana Lam left in disgrace; she lasted two years, until retiring in April 2006, to be replaced by Andres Alonso, who has since departed for Baltimore.

Klein may have endured longer than most modern Chancellors in the city’s history; but the top educator post in the Department has been a revolving door, reflecting the rapidly changing fads and fashions in the methods and theories of reform attempted by this administration.

After Marge Kelley, a parent and subscriber to the NYC education list serv, sent the above quotation to her, Carmen responded this morning:

“complacency is not the same as complicity in how to evaluate schools. The problem with the report cards is that they leave out the human touch from evaluation and evaluating the caliber of teaching. I am not for any report that focuses only on grades since most of us know a complete education for our children includes critical thinking, problem solving, humane education and writing skills. None of these are possible with this evaluation. Hopefully parents can see beyond the reports and evaluate for themselves how their own schools are serving their children. the people who are giving greatest credence to these reports are those who do not have children in our schools. My favorite choice for Charlie right now is not an A school but one that strikes the balance of all important issues and respect the development stage of his growth. It is also does not stress test prep. Don't know who is quoting me out of context but feel free to put this quote on blog.”

Mayor Blitzes Iraq Schools

May 17, 2007 (GBN News): In what is widely viewed as an attempt to bolster his foreign policy credentials in advance of a possible Presidential bid, N.Y. City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today wrapped up a surprise whirlwind tour of Iraq. With Schools Chancellor Joel Klein in tow, the Mayor spent much of the time visiting the country’s schools.

Mr. Bloomberg praised the war effort, saying that it has clearly led to a massive reorganization of the Iraqi school system. Many of the schools visited by the Mayor and Chancellor were heavily damaged or uninhabitable. Mr. Klein was impressed, calling this a “perfect example of creative destruction”, an approach championed by business guru Jack Welch, and said “sometimes you have to destroy the schools in order to save them”.

The Mayor was distressed at the large number of children who carry cell phones to school, saying that the country needs a stricter policy like the total ban in the New York City schools. He dismissed the concerns voiced by Iraqi parents who feel that their children need them for safety reasons in the face of pervasive sectarian violence. The Mayor insisted that parents only want the phones to coordinate dinner plans, and said that if the children don’t make it home for dinner safely, “there will just be more leftovers”. The Chancellor added that this could also bring down class size.

Mr. Bloomberg also dismissed criticism that Iraqi schools only have one choice of a School Support Organization. The Mayor said that the organization, Halliburton, is the best at what they do, and they already have “boots on the ground”. He did note, however, that the reconstruction contract will soon be taken over by the corporate “turnaround” firm Alvarez and Marsal, which he said has experience “taking destruction to a whole new level” in New Orleans.