Cathie Black's Four Tips On How To Be A Leader

Cathie Black is back in the news, offering advice on how to be a leader to the Daily Muse.

She is described as a "former chairman of Hearst Magazines, best-selling author, advisor, investor and board member in digital start-ups and entrepreneurial companies," but not once is her ill-fated 96 day chancellorship of NYC schools mentioned in the piece.

We here at Perdido Street School, having been keen Black-watchers the past few years since she got run out of the NYCDOE, have our own Cathie Black tips for leadership.

First, know absolutely nothing about the job you're doing, the people who work under you, and the kids you're supposed to be working for.  If possible, have contempt for all of those people and things and show that contempt by mocking people as you close their kids' schools or by suggesting birth control as a solution for all the problems those people bring to you for resolution.  Or even better - reference the Holocaust when talking about making choices about schools.

Second, hide in your office when it becomes clear that the people and your own underlings (including those at Tweed) have as much contempt for you as you have for them.  Go MIA for as long as possible, never give an interview to the press or allow a reporter anywhere near you, as you have no idea what you're talking about and can be assured that if you open your mouth to the press, you will only confirm that fact to others.

Third, drink as much as possible to hide your pain.  Attend as many parties as possible, where social drinking is accepted, but go over the limit as often as you can and sometimes take out a tree on the way home with your car.  Then have your p.r. flak insist you weren't driving drunk and tell the press that the driveaway where the other 20 cars made it out okay was too narrow for you and you just couldn't help but ding a couple of cars and killing a tree on the way out.

Fourth, try and re-emerge into the business world after the disaster that was your 96 day wonder chancellorship by offering an idiotic little piece like "How To Be A Leader" at the Daily Muse even though it's clear you do not know the first thing about good leadership and frankly wouldn't know a good leader if you fell over one on the way home from Happy Hour.  Know that your entire career has been enabled by nepotism and cronyism, that knowing and socializing with the right people means more than anything else in 2013 America.

These are the tips we here at Perdido Street School have picked up from watching Ms. Black work her magic on both the private and the public sectors.

Now you don't have to read her little Daily Muse article or, heaven forbid, buy her books on leadership skills.

How Will Chancellor Walcott Give The Finger To Teachers This Fall?

Oh, no - Chancellor Walcott dislocated his middle finger this week while walking to the gym.

As a result, he has to wear a cast over his hand that puts his middle finger out of commission for at least a couple of weeks until it heals.

With school beginning for teachers in less than three weeks, will Chancellor Walcott be healed in time to give the traditional "Middle Finger" to educators on the first day back to school?

Will he be able to give the "Middle Finger" to all those schools he tried to close a couple of months ago that a judge said he couldn't close?

Throughout the Bloomberg administration, the first day back to school is traditionally a time to recommence teacher-bashing season, to warn teachers about impending layoffs during the January budget fight, to smear teachers in the press as perverts and sex offenders, and to suggest that anybody off the street could do a better job teaching than the 75,000+ current people working as NYCDOE teachers.

An indispensable tool for the administration to get these ideas across, a shorthand for it, if you will , is the ceremonial "First Day Back To School Chancellor's Middle Finger."

Joel Klein was a master at it, often employing Eva Moskowitz to join him in his reverse salute to teachers, when he wasn't ignoring people and playing Angry Birds on his Blackberry, that is.



Bloomberg is pretty good at giving people the finger too, although like most oligarchs, he often prefers to hire somebody else to do the dirty work for him.




And of course his hiring of Cathie Black - a woman with no education experience, no common sense, no empathy, no class and no clue - was a "Middle Finger" to all the students, parents teachers, and administrators in New York City.



When you look up the phrase "Middle Finger" in the Urban Dictionary, you see "Bloomberg's hiring of Cathie Black as NYC schools chancellor" as one of the definitions.

In any case, here's hoping Chancellor Walcott's middle finger will be healed in time to tell teachers just what he thinks about them on September 4, 2012.

Sure Walcott can express his disdain, scorn and contempt for teachers without it, but nothing gets those feelings across like a good middle finger.

See what I mean?

Get well soon, Dennis - and stop drinking with Cathie Black, okay!

Or you'll end up like her.

New Yorkers Still Despise Cathie Black

Three months into Chancellor Black's tenure, and things are not getting better for her:

Concern about the appointment of Cathleen P. Black as the New York City schools chancellor does not appear to be easing as she approaches her 100th day in office, according to an NY1-Marist poll released on Monday.

In the poll, her job approval rating among New York City adults was 17 percent, with 23 percent of adults not sure or never having heard of her. The poll, which has a margin of error of 4 percentage points, was conducted by telephone in March and included 772 adults.

“It doesn’t paint a pretty picture,” said Lee M. Miringoff, the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “It is a long way from 50 percent, where you can at least say the city is divided about her. There’s no real core support.”

No, she has no core support and she has done nothing of note that was any good:

Ms. Black has remained largely sequestered from the public since taking over in January from Joel I. Klein, and at public functions she commonly hews to scripted remarks or takes limited questions. She made a couple of gaffes in her first weeks in office, including one in which she jokingly recommended birth control as a solution to school overcrowding in Lower Manhattan.

On policy matters like high school admissions and graduation rates, deputy chancellors — particularly Shael Polakow-Suransky, the chief academic officer — often speak for the Education Department. State officials made Mr. Polakow-Suransky’s appointment to that role a condition for permitting Ms. Black to take the chancellorship, because of concerns about her lack of experience in education.

Black's support in the Marist poll has fallen four points, from 21% back in February to 17% now. The number of people who have no opinion of her or don't know her has fallen from 35% to 23%.

So more people know her, fewer people like her.

Heckuva job, Cathie!

Fake Cathie Black

The fake Cathie Black Twitter account doesn't seem to have the same juice as the fake Rahm Emanuel Twitter account, but I think this tweet is particularly telling:

once, when I was at USA Today, a bad flu went around, and we had to close the issue with 1/2 of our staff. NYC teachers'll be fine

.
That pretty much is the attitude, isn't it?

Meanwhile, the schools have taken nine (and soon to be ten) rounds of budget cuts, but Tweed gets to ratchet up the money on outside consultants and no-bid contracts.

It truly is a Tale of Two Cities.

Principals: Cathie Black Makes Bad Business Decisions

I would have to agree with this:

They wanted half, but the Education Department Monday night said it would only take 30% of the money prudent principals had saved for next year.

The move is unlikely to quell principals' anger.

Chiara Coletti, spokeswoman for the principals union, called the compromise "capricious," adding: "They should have trusted the principals to know how to best use their savings for kids."

"It's simply a bad business decision sending the wrong message to frugal and fiscally responsible principals throughout New York City," said Edward Tom, principal of the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics.

Principals have until March 18 to decide whether to take the deal or spend the saved funds this school year.

In a statement, Schools Chancellor Cathie Black said that after "thoughtful feedback" from principals, the department had crafted a solution to help them keep making "prudent, long-term budget decisions."

Cathie Black is, to be frank, full of shit that the "thoughtful feedback" helped her craft a solution to help principals make "prudent, long-term budget decisions."

The criticism forced her to try and walk back the decision to STEAL 50% of the unused school money, but STILL save face and garner some cash by saying she'll ONLY take 30%.

Not good enough, Ms. Black,

I think the principals are right on the substance of this - to punish principals who have tried to be judicious with their funds is just a bad idea.

But coming from the woman who thinks birth control is the solution to school overcrowding, can you really expect any good ideas?

City Council: Cathie Black Is A Robber

31 members of the City Council called Cathie Black out for taking back funding already given to schools this year:

A majority of City Council members chided Schools Chancellor Cathie Black Tuesday for her plans to seize the rainy-day funds of frugal principals.

Cash-strapped Education Department officials said last month they were offering principals a choice to spend their savings -or lose 50 cents of every dollar they keep for next year.

Then officials announced a compromise measure on Monday, saying they would only take 30% of the funds.

But 31 City Council members rejected that step, criticizing the agency's move in a letter to Black.

"This is about doing what is right for our schools and what is right for our students," said Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Queens). "To take back funding that is already given is nothing more than robbery."

Last year, principals rolled $80 million over to this year to buffer their schools from expected deep spending cuts.

Education Department officials declined to comment.

Councilwoman Crowley is exactly right - and that makes both Bloomberg and Black the robbers.

The DOE obviously felt anther pressure to try and "compromise" - saying they'll only take 30% of the unused school funds rather than 50% - but that is STILL not good enough.

The City Council must not only hammer Black but also the man REALLY calling the shots on this - Bloomberg.

Maybe if the principals were going to use the money for scotch and birth control, Chancellor Black would let them keep 100% of it?

Cathie's Choice: Clueless Cathie Black Hears It From Brooklyn Parents, Pols And Educators

Cathie Black got an earful in Williamsburg last night:

Hours after Mayor Bloomberg announced on Monday that 4,600 teachers would be laid off due to budget cuts, Schools Chancellor Cathie Black took her roadshow to Williamsburg, where she was verbally assaulted by nearly 200 seething Williamsburg parents and teachers.

Speaker after speaker took issue with Black over virtually all of her and Mayor Bloomberg’s educational agenda:

• On layoffs: “Our teachers — they’re not from Teach for America — these people grew up in this neighborhood, went to school here, and stayed here when on one else would,” said Brian DeVale, principal of PS 257 in Bushwick. He argued that good principals know how to get rid of bad teachers without layoffs from on high.

• On priorities: “This is an agency with a $22 billion budget — we should be trying to find savings in there somewhere,” said Councilman Steve Levin (D–Greenpoint).

• On charter schools: “I’m upset by the lack of community schools,” said Williamsburg parent David Dobosz. “We now have a mayoral dictatorship of schools. This is not what the law intended.”

To her critics, Black repeated what she has often said when under fire: “I will work day in and day out as your chancellor,” she said in her opening statements at the “town hall” meeting at JHS 71 on Rutledge Street. “We will work with the best of our abilities to solve our financial problems.”

DeVale had another problem with Black — she wouldn’t take his teddy bear.

Yes, the principal showed up with a gift for Black: a bear that he said was in honor of President Teddy Roosevelt’s dedication towards civil service.

“It’s ironic that [mayoral control of schools] is now trying to destroy civil service,” said DeVale. “She wouldn’t take the bear.”

Of course she didn't agree with any of those things she heard last night.

She thinks the TFA's are better teachers than veterans.

She privileges charters over community schools.

She doesn't care about finding savings in the consultant business the DOE does rather than laying off teachers.

And she wants to end civil service rules because it is good for business.

No wonder she wouldn't take the guy's teddy bear.

Maybe if he had brought her a thermos of martinis or some birth control, she would have accept his gift.

Bloomberg Won't Let Clueless Cathie Black Talk To Associated Press

Apparently learning from the New York Magazine fiasco, Mayor Moneybags has reinstituted the media gag on Clueless Cathie Black, barring the Associated Press from speaking to the NYC schools chancellor for an article chronicling her first few weeks in office.

Wonder what Bloomberg used for the gag?

Condoms?

Scotch?

Cathie Black's own foot?

Whatever he used, he's keeping her quiet because the only thing they can trust her with is scripted ed deform boilerplate.

And even that she can't get quite right.

So best to keep her quiet.

Let's see how long this lasts - both the media gag and the chancellorship.

I still maintain that a few more months of mishaps, and Cathie with an "i" might just decide she needs to spend more time with her family.

Cathie Black Booed In Queens

Cathie Black is managing to get booed in every borough. Last night she went to Kew Gardens and heard the boo birds there at PS 165:

Schools Chancellor Cathie Black received an earful Monday night during a town hall meeting in Queens.

Black addressed parents and teachers at P.S. 165 in Kew Gardens Hills.

At one point she was heckled by the crowd when they felt she wasn't answering their questions.

She did manage to score some points when she told them that when it comes to laying off teachers, "last in, first out" was not the way to go.

But by the end of the night, many parents gave Black a failing grade.

"The chancellor did a horrible job. She didn't answer one question. She doesn't care about the children at all. She just cares about numbers and statistics. There's no love in her eyes, there's no love in her heart. We need a Chancellor who cares about the students --just like our teachers care about our students."

"She has a lot on her plate. I think if she had better preparation it might have been better. Given that she's only been in the position for only five weeks, I can't hold that against her. But she did seem unprepared in certain respects."

Other topics covered during the meeting were the looming cuts in state aid, the issue of overcrowding, and what parents felt was an over-emphasis on standardized testing.

Next up on the Boo Cathie Black Tour?

Maybe the Bronx, where Yankee fans who usually sit in the outfield seats and throw batteries at the opposing players can take on Ms. Black.

In all seriousness, she is a disgrace.

She jumbles up the ed deform jive she spouts off by rote, she doesn't understand the first thing about the public education system, is completely tonedeaf and clueless about the needs of children, parents and teachers, and has an inflated sense of self that clearly needs to be addressed with some much-needed ridicule.

Luckily that ridicule is coming in spades - every time she visits a school now to talk with parents or heads a PEP meeting.

One of the takeaways from that New York Magazine article yesterday was that Ms. Black was not the genius the mayor depicted her during her publishing career.

She just happened to be pretty ambitious, knew the right people and rode a couple of obvious elephants to victory (like Oprah magazine and the Food Network Magazine.) Hell, ANY magazine exec worth their rolodex could have done that.

Judging by her performance so far as chancellor, I suspect that the mayor has realized he has made a mistake, but like John McCain with Sarah Palin, he doesn't know how to judiciously and graciously extricate himself (and the NYC public school system) from it.

Cathie's Choice: Condoms And Martini Olives

Is it just me or does Cathie Black look visibly drunk in this photo from the Times taken from last night's PEP meeting?

What has she got in those water bottles - vodka martinis?

Judging by the the way she talks and the words she says, it certainly sounds like she starts drinking heavily right about 1:30 in the afternoon and sauces all the way to the end of the evening.

Cathie's Choice: Bloomberg Won't Let Cathie Black Answer Questions

This can't be helpful:

Schools Chancellor Cathie Black announced her first education initiative today, by pledging $10 million to provide tutoring for struggling city students.

The money will go to 532 public elementary and middle schools, where the three-quarters of the students failed state reading and math tests last year.

...

Afterwards, Black was asked by a reporter to comment on a joke she made in a Manhattan task force meeting last week, saying that "birth control" could help school overcrowding.

The mayor said he would answer for the chancellor, said that Black made a mistake and is adjusting to public life. He then said Black is moving forward and focusing on the budget.

Not allowing his chancellor to answer her own questions.

Remember when Bloomberg said he hired Black because she was such a good manager of people?

How come she can't manage to answer her own questions?

Bloomberg Booed In Harlem

Via Queens Teacher comes the story of Mayor Bloomberg hearing the boos up in Harlem on MLK Day:

NEW YORK (WABC) -- On this Martin Luther King Day, Mayor Michael Bloomberg just couldn't catch a break thanks to his new schools chancellor.

The controversy stems from Cathie Black joking about overcrowding in the schools on Friday.

"Could we just have some birth control here for a while. It could really help us a lot," she said.

But today nobody's laughing.

"Obviously, it was a joke. Nobody says it wasn't, but you don't make jokes like that when you have a massive overcrowding problem," Julie Menin of Community Board One said.

So today when Rev. Al Sharpton introduced the mayor at his annual MLK event, Bloomberg got booed.

"Come on! We're upset the choice he has made. You're choosing a business person to run an education institute," Gregory McMillan of National Action Network said.

"That lady he appointed - for education? She should never be talking about us black people need to stop having babies or need birth control," Sandra Hynson said.

In fairness to the chancellor, she never said a thing about race and birth control.

The mayor, though, deemed it bad enough.

"Cathie Black made a joke. Some people took it the wrong way. She has apologized. I think she'll learn slowly with time as did I," Mayor Bloomberg said.

This latest controversy comes as a recent poll gave Bloomberg his lowest approval rating ever, 37 percent -- but that was because of the big blizzard. His unpopularity today seemed tied solely to his new and controversial schools chancellor.

The excuse that Black was just making a joke is jive.

She made TWO offensive remarks in one hearing.

First, when she said school overcrowding could be solved by more birth control.

Next, when she compared the "tough decisions" she is going to have to make as chancellor to sending one child off to live while sending the other off to die in a Nazi death camp.

Sorry, the excuse that she was making a joke doesn't fly.

Nothing funny about either of those remarks.

Like Bloomberg, she is a blueblood who has NO CLUE that what she said was offensive.

And that is the reason why the joke excuse doesn't fly.

Both the birth control comment and the Nazi death camp reference were symbols of the larger problem with both Bloomberg and Black.

They have NO IDEA how the other half lives and they don't seem to care

Cathie's Choice: Chancellor Apologizes For Birth Control Joke During Jets Game

Cruella deBlack (aka Clueless Cathie Back) made news again yesterday when she apologized for saying birth control was the best way to deal with school overcrowding:

Schools Chancellor Cathie Black apologized yesterday for her off-color quip that birth control could help solve school overcrowding and for comparing her decisions on how to deal with limited resources to a mother deciding which of her children will live.

Julie Menin, chair of Community Board 1, told The Post that Black called her during halftime of yesterday's Jet game to say how much she regretted the remarks.

"She gave a very sincere apology, and she was very clear it didn't reflect her belief," said Menin, who was present at Black's ill-fated attempt at humor during a meeting at Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's office Thursday.

"She sounded very remorseful about the comment and wanting to be able to move forward and work together, and she assured me that she took the issue of overcrowding seriously," said Menin, who had criticized Black's comments.

"I do very much appreciate that she reached out."

And guess who seems to be behind the sudden apology?

Another artless, blueblood known for stepping on people's toes and feelings:

Menin believes the apology may have been motivated in part by the Bloomberg administration's embarrassment at Black's comments.

"I think City Hall is concerned about it. I think they realize the comments were more than an off-hand joke and that parents downtown take the issue very seriously," Menin said.

Indeed, the comments were more than an off-handed joke. They're an emblem of how the mayor and the DOE leadership see the overcrowding problem - as not something to be solved by the people who created it (i.e., city planners and the mayor himself) but rather as another problem in which they displace blame onto others.

Not enough school space downtown?

That has nothing to do with the city encouraging thousands of people to move downtown after 9/11 - rather that's the fault of all those people having too many kids.

Even though most people downtown don't seem to have any more kids than Ms. Black herself or Mayor Moneybags himself have.

So apparently Cruella DeBlack - the woman who compared school spacing issues to sending children off to Nazi death camps during the same meeting that she made the birth control joke - has been forced to apologize for the birth control joke, but not the Sophie's Choice/Nazi death camp reference.

That too is an emblem of the Bloomberg/Black/Klein education policy - some schools flourish and thrive under them and are given all the resources they need while others are snuffed out.

Just ask the students from these schools about that:

A controversial school play that skewers ex-Chancellor Joel Klein debuted Friday to raucous cheers from the actors' classmates.

Pep-rally-style applause greeted student actors from two Queens high schools for their on-again, off-again adaptation of the Greek tragedy "Antigone," which slams Klein over inequalities between the schools.

"After all the hard work we put in, people finally get to see us," said 10th-grader Nneoma Okorie, 15, who played the title role. "People get to hear our side of the story."

Administrators at Jamaica High School and Queens Collegiate initially banned the play, but later allowed the show to go on.

The teacher in charge of the production called the performance a victory for free speech.

The students "demanded they be listened to," said instructor Brian Pickett.

The one-act play took aim at school officials for creating a divisive atmosphere at the two schools, which share the same building. Queens Collegiate is a new and growing school, while Jamaica has been branded a failure and is slated for closure.

The play's opening scene depicts two sisters coming home from the two schools. A character who attends Jamaica complains that she didn't have textbooks, while Antigone cheerfully describes the spiffy computers at Queens Collegiate.

Klein is depicted as the villain King Creon, who favors Antigone in the ancient play.

"We cannot continue to invest in failing schools," Klein's character declares.

"Maybe you're failing the schools," responds another character, drawing a huge cheer from the audience.

Students came up with the idea for the play, "Declassified, Struggle for Existence: We Used to Eat Lunch Together," after attending a theater course at Queensborough Community College.

The initial decision to block the play drew protests from students and advocates for free speech.

Gee - I wonder why Cruella deBlack didn't show up at Jamaica High School to do her stand-up routine about birth control and Nazi death camps as an opening act to the student play "Declassified, Struggle for Existence: We Used to Eat Lunch Together"?

Cathie's Choice: Remember Kids, Play It Safe!

New contraceptive ad:



Cathie Black says, when you're out swilling cosmos and binging on Bolivia's Finest all night, don't forget NYC Condoms.

Ms. Black no longer needs to worry about birth control when she's out swilling cosmos and binging on Bolivia's Finest, but back in the day when she did, like the old American Express card, she never left home without it.

And you shouldn't either.

Remember kids, play it safe - Put a cap on it!!!

It's good for you AND for NYC public schools!!!

Cathie's Choice: New Yorkers Comment On Cathie

Some very interesting comments on the latest Cathie Black gaffe in which she suggested birth control as a solution for school overcrowding and compared "tough decisions" she has to make on school funding and placement to sending children to a Nazi death camp:

A word of advice, Cath. You need to build up a modicum of credibility before you start with the wisecracks. Despite what you may believe, you have none when it comes to the educational system.

...

Well, what do you expect from a Waspish Park Ave matron? It's just a matter of time before her views on eugenics become public.

...

Come on, you guys. She was absolutely right. A little birth control would have been a great thing. Pity her own parents didn't use it.

...

what a sweetheart! she reminds me of Cruella DeVille.

"All right. Keep the little beasts. Do what you like with them. Drown them, for all I care."

I like it - Cruella Cathie Black.

I think we have a new name for her.

Hey, Cruella, pass me the flask...

Cathie's Choice: Even The NY Post Hammers Cathie Black For "Nazi Death Camp" Reference

Wow - you know Cathie Black is hitting bottom when even the NY Post editorial writers are hammering her:

Two weeks: That's all it took for new Schools Chancellor Cathie Black to embarrass herself and her office.

At a meeting Thursday on school overcrowding, parents hit Black with some stark data: By 2015, Lower Manhattan will be short some 1,000 school seats.

Cue Cathie the Comedienne: "Could we just have some birth control for a while? It could really help us all out a lot."

Don't quit your . . . oh, never mind.

Sure, a Department of Education spokeswoman says that Black takes the overcrowding issue "very seriously."

"She regrets if she left a different impression by making an off-handed joke in the course of that conversation."

No doubt.

Still, the joke wasn't even the worst of it. Black next tried being serious.

She told the group that every neighborhood has its own unique "issues" -- and that everyone comes tugging at the DOE for help in different directions, making it impossible to satisfy all comers.

"So it is -- and I don't mean this in any flip way -- it is, it is many Sophie's Choices. With a, you know, with a board on the wall and saying duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh."

Sophie's Choice?

So New York students either get the school of their parents' preference or . . . transport to a Nazi death camp?

Now, we don't think that the chancellor finds her students a burden, or thinks there are too many forgotten urchins in her schools.

But the circumstances of her ascension to the chancellorship were such that she has zero margin for error.

It's inexcusable for her to make jokes where birth rates -- always a sensitive issue among minority parents -- are the underlying punch line.

And if Black wants to compare overcrowded city schools to packed-in Nazi cattle cars, she may very well be in the wrong line of work.

Certainly she needs to come to terms with the stark fact that, ex officio, she acquired many, many enemies when she became chancellor. They want her to fail, and they will do everything in their power to harm her and, by extension, her principal -- Mayor Bloomberg.

Black has just given them much aid and comfort, unnecessarily so.

The chancellor truly needs to watch her words in the future.

Man, when the NY Post suggests that Cathie Black - the woman they said was "a proven manager capable of making policy" is now somebody that they say "may very well be in the wrong line of work," she's in trouble.

Michael Fiorillo makes the point in this comment that even if she goes, the corporate policies will stay the same.

And I have made that point too.

And Fiorillo also says that having her around as long as possible is good for the anti-corporate/real reformer forces.

He writes:

In fact, we should hope that she stays as long as possible. Every day she's there, she discredits Bloomberg a little more, leaving open the possibility that something will crack and expose these people for the predators and parasites they are.

I agree with that also.

She is a corporate clown, an entitled Upper East Side matron as clueless about the "other half" as Margaret Dumont is about nearly everything in the Marx Brothers movies.

That Bloomberg chose her to lead the school system - and that all the editorial writers and many in the political, business and education establishment in the state (see here, here, here, here, here, and here) and indeed, even the country (see here) - have supported that choice exposes them all to the charge that they just don't give a shit about public education, public education systems, students or teachers.

They care about the money - namely making sure they spend a whole lot less of it and steering almost all of it to privatized education interests.

Now that the Black appointment - and the support Bloomberg shills like the Post have given for it - is coming back to bite the ed deformers, they're worried that she is going to do a helluva lot more damage to the corporate ed deform movement than anything else.

And they may be right.

So, long may Chancellor Black live on to make cracks about birth control for parents as a solution for school overcrowding and references to Nazi Death Camps as the alternative to charter schools - she is EXACTLY what you ed deform guys wanted and now you have to live with her.

Cathie's Choice: The ATR Solution

Now that Cathie Black has referenced Sophie's Choice and the Holocaust in a talk she gave to parents in Tribeca the other night about how difficult school funding and spacing issues are going to be, it makes me wonder just what other "solutions" she has in mind for the various "problems" she faces as chancellor.

The ATR situation, for example.

Seriously, she has stated quite openly that when it comes to a problem, she is going to make a choice in which one sides lives and thrives, the other side gets sent off to, well, you know.

Could there be a group of people more emblematic of that kind of choice than the ATR's?

You can bet she (or Bloomberg, who is pulling the strings connected to her alcohol-soaked head anyway) will be looking for ways to finish those folks off and get them off the payroll.

I think the same can be said for veteran teachers. If you have 15+ years in the system, you are on her hit list.

Meanwhile back at Tweed, they're yucking it up over the unreliable TDR reports they plan to release to the press and bucking it up with over $2 million dollars in bonus money.

Apparently there are no Sophie's Choices down at Tweed.

Nope - just lots of money and laughs.

And back in the schools, bedbugs run free, PCB's leak from the lighting fixtures, the chancellor jokes about birth control as a solution for overcrowding and references Hitler's Final Solution when talking about the "tough decisions" she has to make.

Not even Tom Wolfe could write this stuff up and get away with it in a novel entitled the Bonfire of the Cathies.

But somehow, Bloomberg and Black are getting away with this.

So far.

We'll see how much longer.

I can't imagine she's making too many friends or allies these days with the stupid things she says.

She might find that New Yorkers have their own solution to the problems in NYC public schools - getting rid of Cathie Black.

Cathie's Choice: To Open A Charter Or Take A Trip To Auschwitz

Man, it just doesn't get any worse than this:

NEW YORK (CBS 2) — New York City Schools Chancellor Cathie Black opened up a can of worms on Thursday after joking about her solution for overcrowding in schools.

“Couldn’t we just have some birth control for a while?” Black mused. “It could really help us out a lot.”

There were chuckles from those attending the meeting, but some said her attempt at a joke was not funny.

Now the chancellor is under fire, facing criticism from parents, reports CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman.

At a meeting Thursday night in Tribeca, Black compared the tough decisions on schools to a classic book set after the holocaust that was later made into a film starring Meryl Streep.

“So it is, and I don’t mean this in a flip way, it is many Sophie’s choices,’” Black said.

“As we know, in ‘Sophie’s Choice,’ one child dies, so I … you know … I was offended by it. I’m sure the people were,” parent Tricia Joyce said.

Tricia Joyce was at that meeting, called by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, to discuss overcrowding in the schools. There were about 40 people in the room. Joyce has children who attend P.S. 234 in Tribeca. Those at the meeting also heard the new schools chancellor make the joke — after a parent who is also an NYU professor detailed the growing number of schoolchildren over the next few years.

The Department of Education released the following statement: “Chancellor Black takes the issue of overcrowding very seriously. She regrets if she left a different impression by making an off-handed joke in the course of that conversation.”

“It’s actually … out of context. You know if she was nervous it’s not an unusual thing to have said, given the news she had just been delivering. Was it in good taste? In my opinion, no,” Joyce said.

The people that Guzman talked to want to give Chancellor Black a chance. They said they’re hoping this was just a misstep, and not typical of what they could expect in the years to come.

The statement released by Department of Education came only after persistent requests from the media. At first, all the DOE said was: “no comment.”

I think I can see how this movie ends - the charter schools live (and get the extra funding and space) and the traditional public schools, well, you know.

Seriously, she compared funding and space issues to a movie about the Holocaust in which one character lives and the other is killed by the Nazis.

Is there ANYBODY in public life, outside of perhaps Sarah Palin, who says as many dumb things as Cathie Black?

I'm starting to think that prediction the Fordham Foundation ed deform hack made about Black being gone by spring may turn out to be accurate

Nearly every time she opens her mouth in public, her foot goes inside.

Some days, both feet go in.

Yesterday, it was both feet.

Heckuva job, Cathie with an "i"!!!!

Cathie's Choice: Clueless Cathie Black Puts Her Foot In Her Mouth Again

Cathie Black might possibly be one of the most clueless people in the education reform world today - and given who inhabits this world, that's really saying something:

Schools Chancellor Cathie Black joked that there's a simple solution to overcrowding in lower Manhattan - birth control.

"Could we just have some birth control for a while?" Black said Thursday night. "It would really help us."

Black earned chuckles for the joke at an overcrowding task force meeting, but downtown parents say the growing population of youngsters is no laughing matter.

"I always cringe when I hear that (joke)," said Public School 234 parent Tricia Joyce. "I understand the temptation to joke about it. But our situation isn't funny any more."

The problem, parents and advocates charge, is that the city offered incentives to developers to build without also increasing school seats.

Joyce was also upset that Black compared weighing the needs of different schools to the movie "Sophie's Choice."

"As we all know, one child dies (in the movie). This isn't optional," Joyce added. "We have a right to a public school seat."

A spokeswoman said Black didn't mean to make light of the important issue.

"Chancellor Black takes the issue of overcrowding very seriously, which is why she was engaged in a discussion with lower Manhattan parents on the subject," said spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz. "She regrets if she left a different impression by making an off-handed joke in the course of that conversation."

Amazing - joking about school overcrowding and telling people to "put a cap on it" as a solution.

That's one helluva manager of systems.

Not so good with people, but a helluva manager of systems.

Clearly Black does NOT take the problem very seriously, does NOT take parents very seriously, and does NOT take her job too seriously.

Which is great, because parents, students and teachers are quickly learning NOT to take her seriously either.

She is a joke - a very bad and very cruel joke.