NEW YORK—Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, appointed Schools chancellor on Thursday, did not meet with the uproar his predecessor, Cathie Black, did when she was appointed in November—nor has he been welcomed with open arms.
While Walcott has the background in education that Black lacked, his credentials are not totally impeccable. He does not hold a superintendent’s license, meaning he will need a waiver to officially take the post. He expects to have a waiver in hand before the week is out. Critics also point out that Walcott may have spent two years as a teacher, but that was decades ago.
While the two chancellors vary greatly in their credentials, their platforms are nearly identical—following the plan already put in place by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Those who vehemently opposed Black throughout her tenure got their way when she resigned last Thursday. But they were not fully appeased, as they were left out of the process of choosing her successor.
“[Schools chancellor] is a position of moral authority. In order to have the confidence of the public, there should be a process,” said Greg Kelly of “Good Morning New York” on Fox 5, reading out a statement by former Schools Chancellor Frank Macchiarola, who served in the position from 1978 to 1983.
Walcott was Kelly’s guest Monday morning. Walcott disagreed that a process including input from the Board of Education and other community members would have been better.
“I used to be one of those board members that used to go through that process. … It was ugly,” responded Walcott, recalling Ramon Cortines, who served as Schools chancellor from 1993 to 1995.
Walcott says Cortines was elected through a process and sometimes he worked out, sometimes he didn’t.
Cortines had great support from the Board of Education and was generally popular among parents and educators. Those were the days before Mayor Bloomberg exercised mayoral control over the city’s schools. Back then, the Board of Education was charged with finding a chancellor.
Former Chancellor Cortines and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani were known for butting heads.
The chancellor’s tenure was fraught with conflict over the education budget, with Giuliani grabbing for a chunk of the $8 billion allotted to what the mayor saw as an overly bureaucratic and wasteful system.
The conflict finally came to a head when Giuliani pushed to take greater control of the schools system. The issue was a schools security force. Giuliani wanted it under the control of the NYPD. Cortines did not. Giuliani appointed a five-member investigative panel composed of his allies and ordered public hearings on school security, according to a Daily News article from that time. Cortines got fed up and resigned.
When Bloomberg took office after Giuliani, he took the next step and reinstituted mayoral control over city schools, which had been relinquished in 1969. Now the debate over control continues.
“We gave him mayoral control, but we didn’t make him a dictator,” says Kelly of Bloomberg.
Walcott joined host Mark Reilly on WWRL’s “Morning Show” on Monday after his interview with Kelly on Fox 5. Reilly commented that mayoral control “has a great deal of latitude, a lot more latitude than a lot of people thought.”
Walcott confirmed in his interviews that there is no gap between his policies and the mayor’s when it comes to education.
Read More...Walcott in the Media
While Walcott has the background in education that Black lacked, his credentials are not totally impeccable. He does not hold a superintendent’s license, meaning he will need a waiver to officially take the post. He expects to have a waiver in hand before the week is out. Critics also point out that Walcott may have spent two years as a teacher, but that was decades ago.
While the two chancellors vary greatly in their credentials, their platforms are nearly identical—following the plan already put in place by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Those who vehemently opposed Black throughout her tenure got their way when she resigned last Thursday. But they were not fully appeased, as they were left out of the process of choosing her successor.
“[Schools chancellor] is a position of moral authority. In order to have the confidence of the public, there should be a process,” said Greg Kelly of “Good Morning New York” on Fox 5, reading out a statement by former Schools Chancellor Frank Macchiarola, who served in the position from 1978 to 1983.
Walcott was Kelly’s guest Monday morning. Walcott disagreed that a process including input from the Board of Education and other community members would have been better.
“I used to be one of those board members that used to go through that process. … It was ugly,” responded Walcott, recalling Ramon Cortines, who served as Schools chancellor from 1993 to 1995.
Walcott says Cortines was elected through a process and sometimes he worked out, sometimes he didn’t.
A Lesson From History: Mayoral Control
Cortines had great support from the Board of Education and was generally popular among parents and educators. Those were the days before Mayor Bloomberg exercised mayoral control over the city’s schools. Back then, the Board of Education was charged with finding a chancellor.
Former Chancellor Cortines and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani were known for butting heads.
The chancellor’s tenure was fraught with conflict over the education budget, with Giuliani grabbing for a chunk of the $8 billion allotted to what the mayor saw as an overly bureaucratic and wasteful system.
The conflict finally came to a head when Giuliani pushed to take greater control of the schools system. The issue was a schools security force. Giuliani wanted it under the control of the NYPD. Cortines did not. Giuliani appointed a five-member investigative panel composed of his allies and ordered public hearings on school security, according to a Daily News article from that time. Cortines got fed up and resigned.
When Bloomberg took office after Giuliani, he took the next step and reinstituted mayoral control over city schools, which had been relinquished in 1969. Now the debate over control continues.
“We gave him mayoral control, but we didn’t make him a dictator,” says Kelly of Bloomberg.
Walcott joined host Mark Reilly on WWRL’s “Morning Show” on Monday after his interview with Kelly on Fox 5. Reilly commented that mayoral control “has a great deal of latitude, a lot more latitude than a lot of people thought.”
Walcott confirmed in his interviews that there is no gap between his policies and the mayor’s when it comes to education.
Read More...Walcott in the Media
Walcott in the Media
Walcott was available to the media all weekend, and stepped with ease into the official meetings and dealings required of him.
Kelly mentioned that Black was fired because the “story became about her,” as the mayor put it, and not about the children. Kelly wondered whether this set a precedent.
“Are you just a few stories away from being fired?” Kelly asked Walcott, probing him about his sense of job security.
“I’m always one step away from being fired,” replied Walcott, passing it off as being the nature of holding public office. Calm and reserved, Walcott remained cool as a cucumber throughout the interview.
When confronted with the protests this weekend around school closures and colocation (putting two or more schools in one building), Walcott responded, “This is New York. You’re always going to have someone upset at you, you’re always going to have someone suing you.”
A group of disgruntled parents gathered in front of the Brandeis Educational Complex on the Upper West Side on Sunday. They announced a lawsuit against the city for planning to put a charter school in the building. It is a common occurrence in the city, one that Walcott says New Yorkers will continue to see.
“Top on my agenda is making sure parents know they will be equal partners.” He said he’s here to listen, but he has some tough decisions to make.
Eddie from East New York, Brooklyn, called in to WWRL. His son went to a charter school in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The principal was not attentive to every student’s needs, said Eddie. Walcott said it is a case of a nonperforming charter school. Whether charter or not it depends on how a school performs—nonperforming charter schools will be shut down just like any other school.
“We’re not saying all charter schools are the best thing since sliced bread,” admitted the chancellor.
“Our goal is to provide quality choices for parents,” he added, listing off some of those options: “single sex, large schools, small schools, charter schools.”
“It’s a lottery, so there’s no cherry picking,” said Walcott, addressing one of the major concerns charter school critics have about the admission process.
“Charter schools should not be pushing students out and we will be monitoring to make sure [they are not pushing students out],” declared Walcott.
The new chancellor stands by the mayor’s opposition to the last-in-first-out policy whereby the teachers with least seniority are laid off first. He says quality of teaching years must be considered above quantity. He also pointed out that some schools stand to lose 20 or more percent of their staff simply because they have newer teachers, with some of the city’s schools not losing any teachers.
Walcott visited PS 261 in Brooklyn on Monday afternoon. Principal Zip Mills said, “I don’t want to lose any of my teachers.” That was her No. 1 concern. The new chancellor reported that 6,166 teachers will still be laid off, and 1,500 lost through attrition. This is expected to save $435 million on the schools budget, 70 percent of which is staffing costs.
When pressed about the controversial reports over the weekend that teachers are “buying their way out of rubber rooms,” as Kelly put it, Walcott confirmed that some teachers paid up to $15,000 in fines to get out of the rubber room.
Other rubber room teachers—teachers taken out of the classroom for misconduct—were dismissed and some are in “what used to be called Rubber Rooms.” He told Reilly that there are some teachers who think they should be back in the classroom, but are not, and that the rubber rooms are “basically” closed.
Kelly mentioned that Black was fired because the “story became about her,” as the mayor put it, and not about the children. Kelly wondered whether this set a precedent.
“Are you just a few stories away from being fired?” Kelly asked Walcott, probing him about his sense of job security.
“I’m always one step away from being fired,” replied Walcott, passing it off as being the nature of holding public office. Calm and reserved, Walcott remained cool as a cucumber throughout the interview.
When confronted with the protests this weekend around school closures and colocation (putting two or more schools in one building), Walcott responded, “This is New York. You’re always going to have someone upset at you, you’re always going to have someone suing you.”
Walcott on the Issues
A group of disgruntled parents gathered in front of the Brandeis Educational Complex on the Upper West Side on Sunday. They announced a lawsuit against the city for planning to put a charter school in the building. It is a common occurrence in the city, one that Walcott says New Yorkers will continue to see.
“Top on my agenda is making sure parents know they will be equal partners.” He said he’s here to listen, but he has some tough decisions to make.
Eddie from East New York, Brooklyn, called in to WWRL. His son went to a charter school in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The principal was not attentive to every student’s needs, said Eddie. Walcott said it is a case of a nonperforming charter school. Whether charter or not it depends on how a school performs—nonperforming charter schools will be shut down just like any other school.
“We’re not saying all charter schools are the best thing since sliced bread,” admitted the chancellor.
“Our goal is to provide quality choices for parents,” he added, listing off some of those options: “single sex, large schools, small schools, charter schools.”
“It’s a lottery, so there’s no cherry picking,” said Walcott, addressing one of the major concerns charter school critics have about the admission process.
“Charter schools should not be pushing students out and we will be monitoring to make sure [they are not pushing students out],” declared Walcott.
The new chancellor stands by the mayor’s opposition to the last-in-first-out policy whereby the teachers with least seniority are laid off first. He says quality of teaching years must be considered above quantity. He also pointed out that some schools stand to lose 20 or more percent of their staff simply because they have newer teachers, with some of the city’s schools not losing any teachers.
Walcott visited PS 261 in Brooklyn on Monday afternoon. Principal Zip Mills said, “I don’t want to lose any of my teachers.” That was her No. 1 concern. The new chancellor reported that 6,166 teachers will still be laid off, and 1,500 lost through attrition. This is expected to save $435 million on the schools budget, 70 percent of which is staffing costs.
When pressed about the controversial reports over the weekend that teachers are “buying their way out of rubber rooms,” as Kelly put it, Walcott confirmed that some teachers paid up to $15,000 in fines to get out of the rubber room.
Other rubber room teachers—teachers taken out of the classroom for misconduct—were dismissed and some are in “what used to be called Rubber Rooms.” He told Reilly that there are some teachers who think they should be back in the classroom, but are not, and that the rubber rooms are “basically” closed.
