OK, Now I Get It

I've thought about why Klein resigned so abruptly yesterday and I've read what other people have had to say about the resignation and I think I agree that Bloomberg pushed Klein out because he had become a bit of an albatross around Bloomberg's 2012 presidential ambitions.

Bloomberg hired Cathie with an "i" - a media mogul like himself - because she is so much less abrasive in personality and temperament than Klein.

But we should not be fooled by her charm. Given that she has no education experience whatsoever, it is obvious she was brought in for business reasons, not education reasons.

In fact, she says she hasn't set foot in a school since last year when she visited a charter school she is affiliated with.

I think she was brought in to put a friendly face on the cost-cutting and layoffs that Bloomberg is going to announce in the coming months.

With Cuomo bragging about how he won't raise taxes on hedge fund managers but will cut state aid to schools and with the economy stagnating in cycles of anemic growth, Bloomberg is going to argue that the NYC school system has to become sleaker and more efficient.

That means layoffs and cost-cutting.

And you can bet the layoffs and cost-cutting won't come at Tweed.

So expect Cathie with an "i" to put on a friendly face and an empathetic smile as she lowers the knife and lays teachers off, raises classes sizes even higher than they are, closes more schools and opens up more charters and otherwise tries and makes the NYC school system "profitable".

In other words, gives us more of the same - only with a happy face.

The union leadership better beware - just as in D.C., the exit of Michelle Rhee has not meant the end of Rheeform, the exit of Joel Klein here in NYC will not mean the end of Bloombergian autocratic rule and the continued "creative destruction" of the NYC public school system