Parents Intend to Sue Bloomberg for Cathie Black Blunder

The New York City Parents Union and several individual parents have filed an intent to sue Mayor Michael Bloomberg for $100 million in damages out of his own pocket for appointing Cathie Black as schools chancellor in November.
Parents Intend to Sue Bloomberg for Cathie Black Blunder
Tara MacIsaac
4/27/2011
Updated:
4/27/2011
NEW YORK—The New York City Parents Union and several individual parents have filed an intent to sue Mayor Michael Bloomberg for $100 million in damages out of his own pocket for appointing Cathie Black as schools chancellor in November.

Black, who took the post in January, and stepped down earlier this month, did not have experience in the public school system causing many to call her a poor choice to run the nation’s largest public school system.

The claim states that Black was feeble, did not show leadership qualities, failed to understand the budgeting process, and the system in general. It continues to describe how schools began making independent decisions and central leadership crumbled, estimating that this disarray cost the system millions every day.

The claim quotes Black in the days following her resignation, “It was like having to learn Russian in one weekend, and then having to give speeches in Russian and having to speak Russian in budget committee and City Council meetings.”

Bloomberg chose Black for her business acumen as the accomplished president of Hearst Magazine. Parents say he should have known better.

The parents intend to sue Bloomberg for misfeasance of office.