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Targeting: The NY State Senate, The NY State House, Board of Regents, David M. Steiner (Commissioner, NYS Education Department), John B. King (Deputy Commissioner, NYS Education Department), State Sen. Dean Skelos (NY-009), State Sen. John Sampson (NY-019), and State Rep. Sheldon Silver (NY-064)
Mayor Bloomberg has appointed Cathleen Black as the new NYC Schools Chancellor to succeed Joel Klein. Ms. Black is a corporate executive and magazine publisher who has no education experience, did not attend public school herself, and sent her children to private boarding schools in Connecticut. Her background does not qualify her to lead a school system of 1.1 million public school students.
NY state law requires that candidates for school superintendency who do not meet minimal requirements must receive a waiver from Education Commissioner David Steiner. This waiver is to be issued only to persons “whose exceptional training and experiences are the substantial equivalent of such requirements and qualify such persons for the duties of a superintendent of schools.” Ms. Black has no “exceptional” training or experiences that would qualify her for this position.
NYC has had nine long years of a chancellor who was not an educator. NYC public school students have suffered enough with crowded classrooms, inflated test scores, and parents shut out of the system. Our children can only be saved if we have an educator as Chancellor, and who understands what a quality education really means. The waiver must be denied.
Take action now by signing our petition, and your letter will be sent immediately to Commissioner Steiner, the Board of Regents, and the entire NY State Legislature. Please also follow up with a call to the Commissioner’s office at (518) 474-5844.
Thank you for supporting our kids.
NYC Kids PAC
PETITION TEXT
Denial of Waiver for Cathleen Black as NYC Chancellor
Dear Commissioner Steiner:
We respectfully urge you to withhold any waiver that would allow Cathleen Black to become Chancellor of the NYC public schools. Ms. Black is simply not qualified to become the leader of the nation’s largest school system.
We have had nine, long years with a chancellor who had little or no educational experience, and our schools have suffered as a result, with growing class sizes, worsening overcrowding, test prep replacing a full and varied curriculum, rampant credit recovery, and no narrowing of the achievement gap.
We need an educator who understands what teaching and learning are all about, who will listen to parents, and who will recognize the meaning of a quality education.
Yours respectfully,
We have had nine, long years with a chancellor who had little or no educational experience, and our schools have suffered as a result, with growing class sizes, worsening overcrowding, test prep replacing a full and varied curriculum, rampant credit recovery, and no narrowing of the achievement gap.
We need an educator who understands what teaching and learning are all about, who will listen to parents, and who will recognize the meaning of a quality education.
Yours respectfully,
[Your name]
