Bloomberg Aides Critical of Poor Process - NY Times

The Times continues its exhaustive coverage of what they've called the "spectacle" of Cathie Black's candidacy for the chancellor's position. Thursday's story includes reports of dissatisfaction from within the administration itself:

Even within the Bloomberg administration, some aides are continuing to express dismay over a highly secretive search and hurried vetting process that was conducted without advice from top aides to the mayor, many of whom met Ms. Black for the first time minutes before she was introduced as the next chancellor.

A former top aide to Mr. Bloomberg said the mayor’s decision to circumvent his own advisers on such a major decision left some of them wondering whether he valued their work and counsel.

Black has yet to emerge from hiding to face the public although she has had a series of "brief" and "vague" conversations with electeds. It is unclear when and if she will speak to parents.

More news coverage of Cathie Black controversy, in Spanish

See channel 41's coverage of last night's PEP meeting and the Cathie Black controversy.

Cathie Black's deadly Coca Cola connection

More questions arise as to the suitability of Cathie Black as the next schools Chancellor of NYC. As a member of Coca Cola's board, she had direct knowledge of the aggressive role of Coke company in contributing to childhood obesity in the US and abroad, and to death squads who targeted labor organizers in central and South America.

See today's articles from the NY Times and the indefatigable Juan Gonzalez of the Daily News.

Video of Patrick Sullivan and tonight's PEP meeting

Times says Cathie Black "Spectacle" Out of Control

Javier Hernandez of the NY Times has some devastating coverage of the candidacy of Cathie Black for the position of chancellor:

Ms. Black has repeatedly declined interviews, allowing other voices to fill the void. Some have called her a second coming of Mr. Klein, often criticized as stubborn. Her harshest detractors have compared her to Sarah Palin for her lack of experience.

The uproar has frustrated City Hall aides, who feel as if they have lost control of the story line and who are looking for ways to beat back accusations that Ms. Black is unqualified, said an individual close to the process who requested anonymity for fear of upsetting the mayor.

He ends with this most alarming note:

She is also spending time reaching out to elected officials, labor leaders, scholars and education leaders, including Michelle A. Rhee, a former Washington schools chancellor, in hopes of building a broader base of support.

Ouch! The divisive Rhee was widely credited with costing the Washington mayor his job.

Black should talk to some parents and teachers instead.

Full article here.

Troubling Comments on Cathie Black's Book from Amazon Reader Reviews

So much was made in the 2008 Presidential election cycle about Barack Obama’s two memoirs, how they spoke for who he was, where he came from (philosophically speaking), and what he believed. Many Americans used those books in part to assess Mr. Obama’s character and suitability for the nation’s highest office.

Cathleen Black has left a memoir-style book by which her character and intellectual heft might be judged as well: Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life). It was first published in 2007 and blurbed on Amazon by (among others) Donna Karan, Meg Whitman, and Gayle King (friend of Oprah). Perhaps it can stand as a measure of her fitness for the NYC schools chancellorship.

I haven’t read the book -- nor do I plan to -- but here are some telling excerpts (one block paragraph for each) from reader reviews posted on Amazon that suggest some rather troubling themes. Judge for yourself whether Ms. Black sounds like the person we want leading NYC's public schools.

As far as it being a "guide to getting ahead at work and in life"...what a joke!! The whole book talks about how Cathie basically "stuck it to the man" and then she has the audacity to right a 3 page "about the author" at the back of the book. When I got to this section I thought...what more is there to know about you...you rambled on about your life for nearly 300 pages! Good for Cathie that she worked hard to get where she was, but only about 10 pages of this book were valuable to help anyone else do the same. The basis of the book goes like this: "here's a rule i live by...now let me tell you a story about me...now let me remind you how this story relates to this rule" I've been wanting to read this book for a few years now, and I should have just kept waiting.”

I didn't think any part of this book was essential at all. The advice she gives like 'take risks' and 'don't give up' - that's all common sense stuff. I found this book bragged more about herself than anything. In fact, she seems very self-absorb and even shallow at times, her stories are all about her brilliance and not about helping others get ahead as the title suggests. She doesn't relate to the reader.

To the average career person, hearing about how tough she had it trying to decide which high profile job to take over another high profile job, made it difficult to really identify with her. The story was not rags to riches, but rather riches to riches.

Unfortunately, she listened to her agent and "PR guru" -- the two women credited as having convinced her to write Basic Black -- and played her cards way too soon, cashing in with a fluffy collection of skin-deep anecdotes and common sense career advice ostensibly targeted to female, twenty-something "recently minted MBAs" but more appropriate for a Freshman college course on business management. Oddly, the book's most disappointing shortcoming is Black's surprising (perhaps self-serving?) acceptance and repetition of stereotypes about women as the weaker sex.

Ms. Black's "words of wisdom" are nothing more than basic common sense tidbits for the work world….I read page after page of mediocre advice. I was also turned off by Ms. Black's tendency to name drop and pat herself on the back over and over again. I agree that with some other readers that this is really a memoir masquerading as how-to advice. There's nothing special about Ms. Black's advice. In fact, I was shocked that someone who has climbed to the top of an extremely competitive industry had so little to say.

Some of Black's anecdotes about her rise to the top were memorable -- most notably the one in which she very publicly gives one of her superiors a giant tomato from her garden, in order to make an impression on him. But Black doesn't succeed in turning the anecdote into a lesson. It's just a story about a stunt she pulled to publicize herself -- and in the telling, it comes off as a lame stunt at that. (She also kept referring to the tomato as a "vegetable," which drove me nuts.) Oddly enough, a few chapters later, she talks about a hopeful interviewee who sent her a four-foot-tall potted plant as a thank-you gift. Black makes fun of the gift and advises against readers doing something similar. I don't get it. Why is it clever for Black to go to a big meeting and give somebody a giant tomato, but it's stupid for a potential new hire to send Black a large plant? Basic Black is full of muddles like this….But there is very little actual "advice" in this book, so don't be fooled by the subtitle, or by a quick flip-through -- those little red-boxed bits of "advice" peppered through the text were more like lame fortune-cookie fortunes, empty aphorisms.

Cathie Black's book is black and white: an over-drive of ego. Her stories center around her brilliance. She comes off as self-obsorbed and shallow….Don't tell me to be driven and take risks. I do that every day. Don't bore me with your love story with yourself. Surely she could do more for women than canned testimonials and naming a book afer herself.

…[Halfway through, I'm tired of her bragging about her success and trying to find lessons in her anecdotes. All her "tips" are basically common sense. I agree with the review that says it's a "memoir masquerading as a guide to career and life....which mainly consists of anecdotes from her working life and fawning praise for Al Neuharth."

As a mid-30s professional expecting my first child in spring, I had high hopes this book might offer some valuable insights into the realistic management of expectations when it comes to juggling career and family life. The book had interesting stories through about the first 1/2, but then became redundant and the theme began to grate on me (basically: workaholism at any cost, all else be darned)….Turns out she hired a full-time nanny after FOUR weeks maternity leave and subsequently delegated (by her own admission) the majority of the child-rearing responsibility to her much adored mother-in-law. She makes no apologies for putting her professional aspirations above all else, so at least she is honest about it. Where was the 360 degree balance? Is the REAL answer she was proposing to hire a nanny and have your mother-in-law on 24-hour call?? Surely there had to be more? Unfortunately, there was not.

I finished the book disappointed that the time invested in what could have been an opportunity to learn from a successful professional/ wife/ mother turned out to be nothing more than a the story of a woman who made it big.... simply by behaving LIKE A MAN.

Schools Job Was Cathie’s Second Choice

November 14, 2010 (GBN News): New York Philharmonic listeners will never know what they missed. Cathie Black, named this week as NY City Schools Chancellor, had actually preferred to become became the orchestra’s conductor.

In an interview with GBN News gossip columnist Cindy Runson, Ms. Black revealed that she had recently applied for the job, only to find that current conductor Alan Gilbert’s contract does not run out for a number of years. “It was a big disappointment,” she said. “I mean, Gilbert knows music and all, but it takes an experienced manager to get productivity out of a bunch of musicians.”

Mayor Bloomberg bristled at critics who charged that the Chancellor’s position will now be seen as merely a consolation prize to a crony. “She’s just as qualified to run a school system as to conduct the Philharmonic,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters at City Hall. “It’s the same skill set. You just have to deal with interest groups instead of instruments.”

Say No! to the waiver for Cathie Black

Norman Siegel and Michael Meyers, civil rights leaders, teacher Julie Cavanagh, Council Member Robert Jackson, chair of the NYC Council Education Committee, and parent leaders William McDonald, Philip DePaolo and Tina Schiller speak out against the mayor's nomination of Cathie Black as NYC schools chancellor. More newsclips at AM NY, AP/WSJ, and NY1 .

Today's press conference re Black nomination; and other events this week

We had a great press conference this afternoon to oppose Cathie Black’s nomination as NYC school chancellor, with a turnout of about 50 parents and teachers, and reporters from nearly all the major news stations and papers.

Civil rights leaders Norman Siegel and Michael Meyers spoke about how the selection by the mayor of such an unqualified individual made in secret violated principles of diversity and transparency and reeked of cronyism.

NYC Council Education chair Robert Jackson, parent leaders Tina Schiller from Manhattan, William McDonald of Queens, Philip DePaolo of Brooklyn, and teachers Julie Cavanagh and Justin Wedes spoke eloquently how the mayor’s choice of someone without any educational experience or credentials is a betrayal of our children.

The Siegel/Meyers letter, signed by more than 100 teachers and parents is posted here; news stories are already up at NY1 and AP/Wall St. Journal, AP photo above. Thanks to all who came!

If you didn’t make it to our event, you have two more chances this week to attend rallies opposing Black’s nomination:

Monday, November 15 at 10:00 AM at Brooklyn Borough Hall Sponsored by Chris Owens, Democratic district leader. For more info, call 718-514-4874/ /chris@owensforchange.com.

Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 4:45 PM in front of Tweed, 52 Chambers Street. For more info, contact William McDonald at whm6363@gmail.com

Please be sure to sign onto our online petition, if you haven’t already, which has already generated more than ten thousand emails to Commissioner Steiner, the Regents, and state legislators. And then follow up with a phone call to Steiner at (518) 474-5844.

Finally, come to the PEP meeting and make your voice heard! Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 5:30 PM at Brooklyn Tech HS; map here. Just think, it’s one of the last chances you'll have to let Joel Klein know how you feel.

WHY FIGHT?

Stunned by the appointment of a friend-of-Mike with no qualifications for the job and resigned to the possibility of her getting it in spite of protests from all corners, some parents have suggested finding ways to work with Ms. Black. They reason that, given Bloomberg's penchant for appointing business people to run things in any event, someone who is tabula rasa on education may be a better bet than someone with a bit of experience since the latter would have instant legitimacy to finish the wrecking job begun by Chancellor Klein.

BUT.....Accepting a pig in a poke because the alternative might be worse is not responsible citizenship. Why is the fight worth fighting no matter what the outcome? Because the issue goes beyond Cathie Black herself—she could be good, she could be bad, who knows? (though from all that’s been made public about her, the odds of her making a good chancellor are pretty long).

It’s about our petty despot simply calling one of his friends for a job on which the future of the city’s children depends.

It’s about the stunning arrogance of presenting someone with no apparent interest in education as the best qualified person to run our schools.

It’s about not even bothering to prep her before the press conference, so that she might at least pretend to have a vision beyond “100 more charter schools” and “technology” in the classroom.

It’s about peddling as self-evident the proposition that a business person supported by educators will make a great chancellor although the converse—an educator supported by business people—is at least equally plausible.

It's about passing off the appointment of a non-educator as necessary to alter the status quo when our schools have been"managed" by non-educators for the past ten years--in reality, that is the "status quo" that needs to be "shaken up."

It’s about reducing education to a business dedicated to the production of a workforce instead of educated citizens who value curiosity, knowledge for its own sake, artistic expression and all that makes life worth living in addition to the technical competence required to hold down a job.

To all this we must say “no.”

If thousands speak up, they can’t be labeled “the disgruntled few.”

PLEASE SIGN BOTH PETITIONS to make your voice heard:

The quick-and-easy KidsPAC petition , which will automatically send letters on your behalf to Commissioner Steiner, the Board of Regents and the entire NYS legislature without you lifting a finger. Of course, you may follow up with a call to Commissioner Steiner's office (518) 474-5844.

The Online Petition that's been getting all the attention in the press because it's growing like wildfire (closing in on 8,000 signatures as of this post).

Like Sarah Palin, Cathie Black Apparently Never Blinked

Of all the mind-boggling events surrounding Sarah Palin in the 2008 Presidential election, few surpassed her early-on assertion that she never hesitated in her belief that she was the right candidate for the Republican Vice Presidential nomination. A college student who attended six different schools before finally graduating, a hockey mom and small-town mayor, a governor for just a year or two in a small-population state whose oil royalties made its economics look more like Saudi Arabia’s than a part of America, Ms. Palin quickly demonstrated just how extraordinarily inflated her self-assessment and sense of self-esteem actually were for someone who was agreeing to put herself a heartbeat away from the Presidency of the United States, and a potentially weak heartbeat at that.

Here’s an excerpt from Palin’s September 11, 2008 interview with ABC’s Charles Gibson:

GIBSON: And you didn't say to yourself, "Am I experienced enough? Am I ready? Do I know enough about international affairs? Do I -- will I feel comfortable enough on the national stage to do this?"

PALIN: I didn't hesitate, no.

GIBSON: Didn't that take some hubris?

PALIN: I -- I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can't blink.

So I didn't blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

In Ms. Palin’s case, was it hubris, a wildly inflated sense of her own abilities, or simply a case of being a deer in the headlights, too stunned to think through the full implications of what was (incredibly) being offered?

Now, here in NYC, we have a similar situation with Mayor Bloomberg’s selection of Cathie Black (don't write "Cathy" or she'll reportedly think much less of you) as the prospective Chancellor of NYC public schools. Not to say, by any stretch, that Ms. Black compares to Ms. Palin in accomplishment or intellect; she clearly exceeds Sarah by light years. However, the question here is about readiness, or fitness, for the position offered.

Did Ms. Black ever blink? Did she ever take a moment to consider whether and how her credentials matched up to the requirements of the position? Did she ever recognize just how closely those credentials would be publicly scrutinized, particularly given the increasingly contentious atmosphere Joel Klein had generated over the past eight years? Did she ever wonder whether someone with no discernible link to the world of education or public schools or even the lives of the families who struggle to survive in NYC and pull their children through school was really suited to the job? Did she ever ask Mayor Bloomberg who else was considered, or whether there might not be better candidates, both in terms of professional qualifications as well as political palatability? Did she ever think to recommend to the Mayor that a more visibly public search than a 7:00 a.m. breakfast meeting might result in a choice (even if it was her) that would at least not have the appearance of an offer that just sort of came up at a millionaires-only cocktail party? Did she ever consider suggesting to the Mayor that, given her lack of credentials, appointing her without a public process or at least some prior consensus building would be like driving a stake through the eye of teachers and parents, and make her assumption of the job substantially more difficult? Finally, did she ever wonder whether she was really the person best suited to lead over one million children by assuming responsibility for their educational futures?

By all accounts so far, Ms. Black never blinked. "...my stomach did a flip-flop. The opportunity made me feel fantastic," she told gossip-monger Cindy Adams (!!!!) in a spasm of egocentricity during her only media interview since the appointment. Ms. Black didn’t think it was necessary to have a real interview, the kind where the candidate asks the prospective employer some probing questions. She apparently thought it was enough to say "Yes!!" and cap her professional career with a stint as a public servant – just a nice little schools chancellorship before finally retiring to Connecticut. All she would need to get ready would be to read a few of Joel’s files and a couple of reports, right?

On the “I-didn’t-blink” scale, Ms. Black and Ms. Palin seem to have garnered the same scores. The citizens of NYC helped vote down Ms. Palin; sadly, they are not granted the same option (or any voice whatsoever) with Ms. Black.

Commissioner Steiner, the citizens of NYC are waiting to see if you will blink -- and think.

letter from civil rights leaders Norman Siegel and Michael Meyers re the Cathie Black appointment

The appointment of Cathie Black as chancellor, a magazine executive who sent her children to private schools and has no education background, is an important turning point in the history of the Bloomberg administration. Why?

It has provoked a firestorm of controversy, with the rest of the city waking up to how the mayor uses his money, power and influence to disregard the normal rules of civil conduct. An editorial in El Diario is good example of the widespread disgust. This citywide moment of clarity has occurred only two times before: when Bloomberg fired three members of the PEP who disagreed with him immediately before a critical vote, and when he announced his intention to overturn term limits.

Parents and education advocates have long known and their kids have long suffered from the way in which the mayor behaves as though the public schools are his personal fiefdom, to do with whatever he wants, regardless of what research shows and how parents, educators, and the advocacy community feel. Finally, New Yorkers as a whole are realizing the damage represented by his autocratic behavior. It is a critical moment in time that must be act upon by joining together to reject this appointment and the abuse of power it represents.

How?

1. First sign onto the letter below, written by civil rights attorney Norman Siegel and Michael Meyers, director of the NY Civil Rights Coalition, and join us in a press conference tomorrow, Sunday Nov.14 at 1 PM in front of Tweed. The letter clearly shows how the mayor's selection of Black, done in secrecy and without any public process, is inconsistent with the principles of equal employment which have governed candidate searches in the public and private sector for more than three decades -- to ensure that qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds were fully considered before making a final determination.

If you'd like to sign onto this letter, just send your name and any affiliation to classsizematters@gmail.com before 10 AM Sunday morning.

2. Then sign the NYC Kids PAC petition. Even if you've signed onto other petitions already, please sign this one as it doesn't just sit there, it automatically sends messages to all the key education policymakers in Albany, including Commissioner Steiner, who will make the final decision as to whether to approve Ms. Black's waiver. As of this morning, it has nearly 1200 signatures, and had generated over 10,000 emails to Albany in 2 1/2 days.

3. Attend the PEP meeting Tuesday night at Brooklyn Tech and make your voice heard! Come at 5:30 PM to sign up to speak; and join the movement in opposition to the mayor's abuse of power. (directions.)
__________________

OPEN LETTER TO NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER DAVID STEINER IN OPPOSITION TO A WAIVER FOR CATHLEEN P. BLACK

Dear Commissioner Steiner:

We the undersigned concerned citizens, parents of public school students, and current and former public school students and teachers of New York City are outraged by the recent action of Mayor Michael Bloomberg in announcing his choice for the next Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools, one Cathleen P. Black, without even having conducted a public search for the best qualified candidates. It is shocking to us that his choice, Ms. Black, appears to lack not only teaching experience but is lacking any of the educational credentials and qualifications for the appointment to the major post of a school superintendent in New York State.

Because the leader of the New York City Schools is critical to the raising of academic achievement levels of our children, and because we believe in equal opportunity as the best process for recruiting and evaluating competitive candidates for a job that deserves excellence—consistent with your own efforts to raise standards for teachers, staff and students—we respectfully and strongly urge you to hold the Mayor’s appointee to the standards and qualifications set out in the statute for school superintendents. Accordingly, we urge that you deny the City’s anticipated request on behalf of Ms. Cathleen Black for a waiver from these qualifications.

We stress the impropriety of there being no public search whatsoever for this top educator’s position. On the very day and at the very hour that incumbent Chancellor Joel Klein’s resignation was announced, Mayor Bloomberg announced Mr. Klein’s successor. Hence, there was no opening that was advertised; no recruitment period for applications; and no equal opportunity process for qualified candidates of any race and both genders to apply and to be considered for this top educational post.

The fact that Mayor Bloomberg did not undertake a public search in accordance with equal employment opportunity principles in itself raises significant public policy issues, as well as the specter of cronyism. How can it be that the position of leader of one of the nation’s largest school systems can be filled in such a cavalier manner—without any kind of notice or recruitment period for the consideration of capable and talented individuals—persons who are educators, who have the statutory qualifications and certification, and the requisite experience and skills to understand the best practices of pedagogy? The school superintendent for the New York City School District should have knowledge of curriculum and instruction and assessment, as well as extensive teaching experience.

At a time our school children deserve only the best qualified people at the top of the school system and throughout the ranks of the teaching, supervisory and administrative staff of our public schools, at a time minority group children in particular are not performing at grade levels much less with proficiency in core subjects, and at a time this city is mired in disputes as to the accuracy of testing data and about appropriate educational strategies, it is especially important that we have someone at the helm who can deal with these issues with expertise and authority.

Given that the city school system is rank with systemic segregation by race and ethnicity—and Mayoral control has been sharply criticized for inattentiveness to due process, and for refusing to provide for meaningful parental involvement in decisions affecting the welfare of their children, it is even more necessary for the citizens and parents of New York City to be confident that the next Schools Chancellor is the most capable and qualified person available for the job, and that the process was open to all segments of the population and not just a crony of the Mayor.

In these circumstances, and because we are shocked and appalled that no public search for qualified candidates was even conducted, we urge you to reject the City of New York’s request for a waiver for Ms. Black, thereby forcing the City to conduct a real search and to consider diverse candidates for this top educational post. That is how you got your job—and it is how the next Schools Chancellor—whoever he or she may be—should and must earn this City’s top educator’s post.

A nationwide search for capable candidates will undoubtedly produce qualified persons worthy of meeting the challenges of reforming the New York City public school system and capable of bringing into existence a system of high expectations and achievement for students, teachers, and staff. Excellence has to be the standard for all “stakeholders” in our school system—students, teachers, their supervisors, administrators, and school superintendents alike.

We urge you to do the right thing; reject the waiver request and give clear instructions and guidance to the City of New York that you will not consider candidates for this post that have not been recruited and vetted through a genuine search process in which all qualified applicants may be considered and evaluated on their merits.

SIGNED:
Norman Siegel, civil rights attorney
Michael Meyers, Director , NY Civil Rights Coalition
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters and NYC public school parent

(add your name by emailing it to classsizematters@gmail.com by 10 AM, Sun. November 14)