Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio said Thursday he has not yet offered the city schools chancellor job to any of the leading candidates, but promised an announcement would come "soon."
De Blasio gave few details about the chancellor search at an event at a Crown Heights preschool where he unveiled another part of his campaign to enact universal pre-K and expanded after school programs.
"Until I get what I know we need I'm not going to jump too soon," de Blasio said when asked about the chancellor search, in which school system veteran Carmen Farina, a longtime de Blasio education advisor, has emerged as front runner, according to sources. De Blasio said finding interested candidates was not an issue. "There is so much extraordinary talent out there. There are a lot of people who would love to be chancellor. We think there are some very intriguing possibilities."
When asked about an ideal chancellor candidate, de Blasio said he's looking for a chancellor who shares his educational values. "They have to be a change agent and a very effective leader and administrator," he said. "We will have an announcement soon."
I wondered earlier this morning why the announcement is taking so long, especially since rumors are swirling that de Blasio wants Carmen Farina for the job and Farina, after saying she didn't the position, is now ready to take it.
De Blasio's comments from yesterday do nothing to change my wondering aloud why the announcement is taking so long.
Is pressure being exerted on de Blasio behind the scenes by various constituencies in the education reform world?
Is the Obama administration or the Cuomo administration weighing in on the process?
Have some DFER's shown up with a suitcase full of cash for BdB if only he picks an Eva-friendly chancellor?
Is Carmen Farina having second thoughts about taking the job or is Bill de Blasio having second thoughts about offering it to her?
Dunno the answer to any of this, but I do know that the longer the process goes, the more I think Farina is not the choice to be chancellor.
I am not so sure she was always in the running. It was kind of doubtful from the beginning that she was not interested. Even if she did take the job, it would be on a short term basis.
ReplyDeleteI hope the delay is due to mayor elect Deblasio having someone already in place just waiting for Bloomberg/Walcott to vacate Tweed so no last minute damage can be done. Perhaps the new choice will so infuriate Bloomberg that DeBlasio is holding off until the exact right time to avoid any interference from the Bloomberg mob. Hay its holiday season I can wish??
ReplyDeleteI like how Anonymous #2 thinks...
ReplyDeleteThink he'll announce by March?
ReplyDeleteBDB making some announcement this morning, as announced on WNYC.
ReplyDeleteBut it's at some industrial cite -so that's probably on jobs or development.
So maybe not a chancellor announcement and more of his anti-chancellor decision chutzpah?