Friday, November 12, 2010

 
Joel Klein Departs; Cathie Black Stepping In

Much has been written and discussed about the mega-announcement (at left) this week by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg of the resignation of city schools chancellor, Joel Klein, and his appointed replacement, Cathie Black, the former chairman of Hearst Magazines.

Joel Klein has rightly deserved praise for his accomplishments as schools chancellor, including higher graduation rates, ending rubber rooms for disciplined teachers, the rapid growth of charter schools (and his making district space available to them), and a host of other achievements. (NYCSA president, Bill Phillips' statement is here).

Key Indicators of Success
There will be plenty of time for people to dissect Klein's policy achievements or shortcomings. Here's three primary indicators that he was a real success as chancellor:

1) Re-authorization of Mayoral Control. The New York State Legislature, after much debate, overwhelmingly re-authorized mayoral control of the New York City School System. There were many loud voices in the legislature to clip the mayor's wings and return the system to a more decentralized governance. In the end, those voices withered to a small minority. The merits and student success was evident under Chancellor Klein's leadership to warrant continuation of mayoral control of the schools, and the legislature wisely did so, with relatively minor changes.

2) Klein's detractors. When the likes of Diane Ravitch and United Federation of Teachers president, Michael Mulgrew, are consistent critics, you're in a good place as schools chancellor. I would have real doubts about Joel Klein's leadership if either of these individuals were praising him. In the case of Mr. Mulgrew, he is a natural adversary of any schools chancellor whose responsibility is to bargain and resist teacher union demands for financial and accountability reasons, alone.

3) Longevity. Joel Klein served for more than eight years as chancellor, the longest tenure in 70 years, since Harold Campbell's time (1934-42). In fact, since decentralized school governance was put in place in the late 1960's, there had been 14 schools chancellors before Klein, lasting on average fewer than 2.5 years on the job. Change for the better takes time, and Chancellor Klein remained long enough to improve the system. Had he not been up to the job, the mayor could have fired him instantly. Mr. Klein also had the benefit of presiding over a mayoral control structure, and would not have taken the job under the previous board of education governance that frustrated most of his predecessors.

The New Chancellor; Waiver Requirement
As for his named successor, Cathie Black, she will have to await action by the state Education Commissioner, David Steiner, for a "waiver" from the legal requirement that only an licensed educator is eligible to serve as chancellor. If such a waiver is granted, it would be the third consecutive chancellor to obtain one, including Klein and his immediate predecessor, Harold Levy. Chancellor Frank Macchiarola, who served for five years under former Mayor Ed Koch, was another highly regarded leader and also required this waiver.

Which leads to the final point: it's time to repeal the requirement for education credentials to serve as a New York City schools chancellor or superintendent of a school district. I submit that education background is not the primary skill-set to lead a large organization, especially the New York City Department of Education. CEO-type leadership and management skills are paramount, which include finding the right underlings with various expertise, and overseeing an organization around goals and results. With her experience, Ms. Black has proven herself as this type of leader.

We can only hope Ms. Black can build on Mr. Klein's success. The job's high visibility and scrutiny from all directions will test her very early.

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard

Twitter.com/petermurphy26
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posted by Andrea Rogers at PermaLink 3:13 PM