In recent weeks, Mr. de Blasio and his team have reached out to Dr. Starr, the superintendent of the Montgomery County school district, and Kaya Henderson, chancellor of the Washington school system, say people close to Dr. Starr and Ms. Henderson. It was unclear whether the calls were to gauge their interest or to merely solicit advice.
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Ms. Henderson is considered friendly to the kind of policies endorsed by Mr. Bloomberg — she was once a deputy to Michelle A. Rhee, the hard-charging former chancellor of Washington schools. But she is considered more of a peacemaker than her predecessor and an agile negotiator with the teachers’ union. A spokeswoman said Tuesday that Ms. Henderson was traveling and unavailable for comment.
It doesn't matter if de Blasio was interviewing Henderson for a possible hiring as the next chancellor or simply soliciting advice from her.
As the deputy to Michelle Rhee at DCPS, as one of the key ed deformers who has pushed test score-based schooling and teacher evaluations, either interviewing her for a job or soliciting advice from her is problematic in my eyes.
I wrote last night that de Blasio's flip flop on the chancellor pick process was a troubling sign for what may come in a de Blasio mayorality.
If de Blasio reached out to Kaya Henderson for either reason - to interview her for the DOE job or just to ask her advice about something or somebody else - it's another troubling sign.
That's a big if, of course.
This story could just be one of those "planted" things by some DFER or Eva Moskowitz ally looking to stir things up.
Nonetheless, I think it is important to warn de Blaiso publicly that holding Henderson in anything other than contempt for her education record and policies is unacceptable.
One good thing might result if he does tap Henderson to be chancellor, however.
She might finally get some scrutiny for the cheating scandal in DC she helped quash, along with her boss at the time, Michelle Rhee.
Let's also not forget that Henderson is involved up to her neck in the cheating scandals - conveniently overlooked by The Powers That Be - that characterized Rhee's tenure in DC.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, this might be part of a so-called reformer disinformation campaign to jam De Blasio.
Or it could be the first of many sell-outs.
Probably planted by some DFER/deformer to screw w/ people, but you never know. I thought I would respond with just how big a problem even talking to this person is. Kaya Henderson is a criminal. Literally - a criminal. She was at the meeting where Rhee was told of the widespread cheating. And they did nothing. That will get some scrutiny if she's picked. So I bet she won't be picked and wouldn't take it if she was. She has to know the cheating scandal would get new legs if she got tabbed for the DOE gig. But we'll see.
DeleteTotally shocked when I read about this in the Times. Maybe he is trying to stir the pot or tell his enemies he viewed all sides of the issue. I can't imagine her even being on a list. Still crossing my finger for Starr. I have been following Montgomery County before Starr took over because they turned down RTTT funding in order to keep a fair and balanced evaluation system that didn't include test scores. It is called PAR. What I like about it is that teachers are part of the decision-making process while the teacher in question still gets all due process rights. Many times a year of staff development is offered. But I have taught in many schools where teachers were there to collect a pay check and nothing more. These are the same teachers who will test prep (or cheat) until the cows come home and might be labeled exceptional. I think every school knows who the weak link is and why principals are afraid to start a paper trail. I do however feel the committee should be elected and not appointed. I no longer trust principals or union reps. However the union rep should be part of that committee.
ReplyDeleteStarr btw was the first person to call for a moratorium on testing until students and teachers were familiar with the new curriculum. This is a guy is ahead of everyone else when it comes to common sense.
As for public forums.....I can see it turning into a circus.
I prefer Cashin, I think, although I would take Starr. None of them are perfect, but surely better than a Rhee-acolyte. I have a hard time seeing de Blasio picking Rhee's deputy. I think that story was a DFER/deformer plant. But it doesn't matter - it's good to get public and let BdB know what will happen if he picks someone like that. It won't be pretty.
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