Perdido 03

Perdido 03

Friday, December 20, 2013

Why No Chancellor Announcement Yet?

So now it's December 20th, the last school day of Dennis Walcott's tenure as chancellor.

In just 12 calendar days, Walcott's replacement is supposed to come into power.

There have been lots of stories in the press and on the Internet about the names that are supposed to be on de Blasio's short list for chancellor, but no actual announcement about the pick itself from de Blasio.

Here is de Blasio's schedule for today:

NYC Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is in the city with no public schedule.

Doesn't look like there's going to be any announcement today either.

What exactly could be holding up the announcement?

The news stories in the past few weeks seem to say that former DOE official Carmen Farina is de Blasio's choice for the job and Farina, after saying for a long, long time that she didn't want it, is now ready to take it.

If de Blasio wants Farina and Farina now wants the job, at least for a little while, what exactly is holding up Bill de Blasio from having a press conference to announce this pick?

Are there machinations going on behind the scenes, some pressure being exerted by the Obama administration for de Blasio to pick someone pro-testing (as has been reported) or from the education reform/hedge fund manager contingent for de Blasio to pick someone pro-charter?

Is Farina actually unsure whether she wants the job or is de Blasio unsure he wants her?

Is de Blasio looking to pick someone more corporate education reform-friendly for the gig, someone like Barbara Byrd Bennett, Rahm Emanuel's CPS CEO, and looking to bury that announcement during Christmas week?

De Blasio has a well-deserved reputation for being late as hell to events, but the delay in this chancellor announcement, given that many tea leaf readers think de Blasio wants Farina and Farina now wants the job, is very, very strange.

Any idea why the hold-up on the announcement?

Should we be concerned by the delay or is this just business as usual with BdB?

4 comments:

  1. This is one piece of a larger picture. A critical and extremely detailed analysis of Bloomberg/Klein's education policies just went up on Diane Ravitch's blog http://dianeravitch.net/2013/12/20/tweed-insider-where-the-bloomberg-administration-went-wrong-on-education/

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    1. That was a good piece. I need some time to absorb it and then write about it.

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  2. RBE, please take a look at Newsday op ed piece by Rockville Center Principal Carol Burris. It calls for the Regents to be elected to office and provides some very interesting information which I know you will find of interest.

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    1. Saw it, thanks - running out for Christmas trip, so cannot blog it. But it was good!

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