That's one argument that has been floated around the media, first by Gloria Steinem and now others.
But it's jive.
Yes, it's true that I have made fun of her for her plastic surgery and her Park Avenue socialite shindigs, but mostly I have mocked her for being just another corporate whore and hypocrite who takes care of her corporate buddies while laying off the little people.
Frankly, if Bloomberg had picked a man for the job but he was a hedge fund manager with no experience in education other than sitting on the board of a charter school and attending one meeting of that board, I would mock that guy without mercy too.
That's what I do it here at Perdido Street School - point out that the corporate CEO types are running a policy that harms schools, students, teachers, and communities.
So Suze Orman and Whoopi Goldberg and the rest of the women who signed a letter supporting Black can give it a rest.
Here at Perdido Street School and elsewhere in the Real Reformers circle, we don't care about race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.
We care about what a particular person thinks and says about education issues.
We care that a particular person supports traditional public schools.
We want a particular person to try and understand what teachers and other school staff go through day-in and day-out trying to educate children this country.
Whenever people bash teachers, talk rot about how great charters are when the data clearly shows differently, or promote corporate privatization policies for public education, we take them down.
Doesn't matter of it's Bush, Obama, Bloomberg, Cuomo, Duncan, Rhee, Klein, Paige, Spellings, Oprah, the ed deform shills at the op-ed pages of the Times or the (now unemployed) teacher bashers from Newsweek.
That's just how it is.
Cathie Black is under the gun now. If she says the right things about education, believe me, that will change.
But she won't.
So far, what we have heard about policy from her is layoffs and more charters.
That's why Bloomberg appointed her.
When that's the policy a particular person pursues, that particular person is going to be savaged by Real Reformers.
I honestly don't believe it has anything to do with gender. If there hadn't been a Chancellor Klein I doubt there would be this much opposition to Cathie Black. But we've lived through 8 years of having a Chancellor without a solid education background and we've seen first-hand how destructive it's been to public education. Fool me once....
ReplyDeleteNo, it's absolutely because she's a woman. We have consistently been courteous and respectful with Chancellor Klein, letting him do whatever the hell he wants, no matter how boneheaded, unproductive, or disingenuous it may have been. We should certainly show Ms. Black the courtesy of ignoring how manifestly unqualified and unfit she is for the job of managing the largest school system in the country.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have been very courteous and respectful to Klein, that schtup. And Mayor Moneybags as well, who I venerate nightly before I turn in to lay my head down to sleep.
ReplyDeleteI find this "We must back Black because not too would be misogynistic" specious at best, dishonest at worst.
Anon, you make a good point. After eight years of Klein, the next chancellor was going to get scrutiny no matter what. Bloomberg got the benefit of the doubt in 2002. He does not now.