The city was dealt another blow in its attempts to keep secret a series of e-mails surrounding the selection of failed schools chancellor Cathie Black.
The Bloomberg administration was denied its request that the state’s highest court reconsider the ordered release of the information.
Black moved from head of Heart Publishing to head of New York City’s schools for a brief, tumultuous stint before her ouster in April 2011.
Sergio Hernandez, 23, a former reporter for the Village Voice, had tried to get access to e-mails between Black, the mayor and his office, using the state’s Freedom of Information Law in 2010.
Hernandez told The Post he was “gratified” by the most recent decision.
He suspects the e-mails will reveal public-relations strategy over Black’s controversial appointment, given that she had no background in education.
The city said the e-mails were private, and Hernandez turned to the courts for access. Two lower courts ruled in his favor last November.
“We are still reviewing our potential next steps,” a city Law Department spokesman said, adding that releasing a public servant’s e-mails could discourage others from public service.
Two things here:
First, notice how Bloomberg is big on getting information about teachers out to the public, but when it comes to 911 system reports or paperwork/communications involving his personnel, he's not so much in favor of getting that information out to the public.
The word that comes to mind for that is, uh, "hypocrisy".
Second, I really miss Cathie Black.
I argued back than that the longer Cathie Black remained chancellor, the less harm Bloomberg would do to the school system.
I think that has been borne out.
The increase in closures, the turnaround nonsense, the publishing of the TDR's, the teacher evaluation mess - that stuff has all come under Walcott.
If Cathie Black were still chancellor, she'd be too busy trying to remember where she parked her car last night or trying to get her bra back from the wall at Jeremy's Ale House to get into too much of that stuff.
When I read this story in the Post I had the same reaction and your comments are exactly how I felt.
ReplyDeleteThey spent so much time in damage control with her that they couldn't focus on damaging us.
DeleteThat's what I miss most about her.
I also felt she was the best thing that ever happened to the schools under Bloomberg. Clearly incompetent, she discredited him and embodied so much of what he is about: class arrogance and malevolence, ignorance about child development and education, and totally disconnected from the communities she was ostensibly serving.
ReplyDelete