Black Out! And She’s Not The Only One…Plus An Edupick For NYS

Here's Andy Rotherham on Cathie Black, with a quick and spot-on comment that promoting John King to replace Steiner is a no-brainer:

 

April 7, 2011

Black Out! And She's Not The Only One…Plus An Edupick For NYS

http://www.eduwonk.com/

A few months ago I wrote a column for TIME asking who is qualified to run a school system and saying the verdict is out on Cathie Black.  Well, jury's back.  And the answer is apparently no.

Josh Greeman's take on all this is worth-reading although I think this is more an unforced error for Mayor Bloomberg than an error overall.  And even with Easter coming late this year you gotta give Fordham's Mike Petrilli some props for predicting last winter that Black would be gone by Easter.

My sense was that Black just never quite liked schools or school people and that's a key aspect of the job and vital to doing it well.  Even Joel Klein's critics acknowledged how much he cared about the work and the people (adults and kids).  You never got that vibe with Black.

Also, NYC's John White is off to New Orleans to run the school system there, good for them and good for him.  And David Steiner, NY's state education commissioner, announced today he's heading back to private life later in the year.

Update: Worth mentioning the obvious, on the commissioner job the ideal candidate is already in Albany – current Deputy Commissioner John King.