Stuyvesant High School (Wikipedia)

Every month, there's some new scandal over at the uber-prestigious  Stuyvesant High School.  Last month, the young ladies of the  math and science public school held a "Slutty Wednesday" to protest the dress code that denied them the right to wear booty shorts and mini-skirts to home room.

Later that month, over 50 students were implicated in a ring that cheated on the state's Regents exams, using their cell phones to pass around a photocopied version of the test and swapping answers. Today, justice was served...at least partially...on a radio program announcing the possible punishment of these 2.0 sneaks.

Despite petitions for leniency--especially for the photocopying suspect, a popular junior named Nayeem Ahsan-- Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott announced earlier today on WOR-AM’s John Gambling radio show that Mr. Ahsan and may be suspended come September, along with another student who passed notes about a physics' exam. The other students have yet to find out their fate.

Oh, and now the number is up to 71 students...none of whom were allowed to be using cell phones in school in the first place. The New York Daily News reports on the program:

“Cheating has taken place for who knows how long,” said Walcott. “Now with technology — and that’s why we banned cell phones — people have the ability to use new technology to try to cheat. So people are always trying to think of new ways to do things. It’s not acceptable. We’re not going to tolerate it.”

Leaders of Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union won’t say whether or not—or when—they will walk off the jobs. The local’s president, Michael Cordiello, won’t rule out the possibility, but insisted that the union has no plans for such an action. City Hall has made it clear that it cannot offer the job guarantees that the union is seeking. (The drivers work for private companies whose work force is unionized. Companies have said they may go to court to block a strike.)

Let’s be clear about what’s at stake: the union wants seniority-based job protections for drivers who transport preschool students in special education classes. At the city’s urging, Governor Cuomo two months ago vetoed a bill that would have extended those protections—the governor noted that the State Court of Appeals ruled that such protections would drive up the cost of transportation and would have a chilling effect on competition.

City Hall officials have supported those protections in the past, not because they thought the rules were fair, but because they feared the very sort of job action that seems imminent. But City Hall changed its position over the summer, and rightfully so.

The union is now in the position of arguing that the rights of school children, including those in special education class, are less important than work rules that are clearly outdated, inefficient and simply wrong. It would be interesting to hear union officials make that case.

City Hall has been quick to respond to and prepare for a strike that Mayor Bloomberg described as both “illegal” and “outrageous.” The Department of Education spent more than $1 million on Metrocards, which will be handed out to students and parents in case there is no bus service. The agency also has prepared a set of rules and guidelines in the event of a strike. For example, students would not be charged with tardiness if they arrive in school up to two hours late.

The city’s high-profile preparations for a strike may cause the union to think twice about moving forward with a foolish job action in defense of indefensible work rules. Public-employee unions have shown that common sense can, on occasion, prevail in labor-management relations. Perhaps the private-sector drivers will take notice.

2012: GOP Establishment wants Mitch Daniels and others to enter the race, thanks to unimpressive field. [Jeff Zeleny and Jim Rutenberg]

White House Correspondence Dinner: Full video of Obama and Seth Meyers. [C-SPAN]

Trump Jokes: There's a lot of them; Eliot Spitzer in attendance too. [Rich Schapiro]

Trump Jokes: After birther issue, "he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like: Did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?" said Obama. [Tim Perone]

Trump Jokes: "[A]lmost painful to watch, the juxtaposition of the president, flexing his new post-birther comedy chops, and the real estate mogul-cum-politician, grimacing at his table." [Helen Cooper]

WHCD Pics: Bloomberg points a finger at Rupert Murdoch. [Vanity Fair]

WHDC Pics: Colin Powell kisses Madeleine Albright. [The Caucus]

WHCD Pics: Wolfson hangs with Cee Lo Green. [Howard Wolfson]

WHCD Pics: Weiner chats with Steve Buscemi. [Vanity Fair]

Trump: After bumping into him, Joyce Purnick's mother warned her, "Stay away from that snot-nosed kid." [Joyce Purnick]

Cuomo Hides: Keeping a low profile and is just working. [Michael Goodwin]

Cuomo Campaigns: raised money in Soho from prominent LGBT supporters; April 13 fund-raiser at Howard Rubenstein's house. April 15 fund-raiser meeting at Regency. [Adam Lisberg]

Bloomberg Speeches: Goes to Oklahoma May 21 for Oklahoma Foundation. [NewsOK.com]

Michael Grimm: Says he made peace with Tea Party. [Tom Wrobleski]

NY26: Jack Davis pulling 23 percent. [Robert McCarthy]

Property Tax Cap: Cuomo tells reporters "I'm trying, I'm trying" to get it passed. [Brian Amaral]

State Senate: 303 staffers cut since Republican took over. [Joseph Spector]

Alan Hevesi: Says Hank Morris is an enemy. [Ken Lovett]

NYPD: Cop pulled over car carrying Dennis Walcott; no ticket given. [WABC]

NYPD Escort: The dry cleaner who connected P. Diddy with cop escort. Maureen Callahan]

Ticket Fixing: Cops pressured by union delegates. [Sean Gardiner]

Taxi Politics: Fare hike in exchange for permitting street hails for livery cabs. [David Seifman]

Food NYC: Coca-Cola opposes Bloomberg's push to ban food stamps from buying sugary drinks. [Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinksy]

Charter School: New Geoffrey Canada project aims to educate students and the neighborhood. [Susan Edelman]

Buffalo: Federal government wants $700 million in misspent anti-poverty funding. [James Heaney]

St. Vincent's Hospital: Rally for one year anniversary of its closing. [astoria25]

And Michael Daly pays tribute to Hope Reichbach.

The waiver allows Walcott to take the job despite the fact that he is not a licensed superintendant. Cathie Black received the same waiver before she stepped up to the post, but unlike Black, Walcott has had extensive experience in the field of education, serving as Mayor Bloomberg's top deputy on the matter for the past nine years.

"Although Mr. Walcott has not completed all the education and experience requirements for a school district leader certificate," Steiner wrote in his decision, "I find that Mr. Walcott's exceptional record of successfully leading complex organizations, his deep knowledge of the New York City School District and the issues and challenges it faces and the leadership qualities he manifests, warrant certification for service in the New York City School District."

Of course, Steiner came to a similar conclusion about Black back in November, writing that her background and experience were "substantially equivalent to the certification requirements set forth in law."

Bloomberg has chimed in on the topic: "Dennis Walcott has been working his entire life to help New York City's school children," he said. "I am confident that experience will help him build on the successful reform efforts of the past nine years and improve our classrooms for the generations to come."

Walcott will be picking up where Black left off-which, for some lawmakers, isn't a point in his favor-beginning as early as Monday.

2012: Corzine, Orin Kramer raising for Obama. [Page Six]

1964: Bill Clinton visited Times Square, saw "a hooker approach a man in a gray flannel suit." [Politico]

The Lede:  "You can't find a hooker in Times Square anymore, former President Bill Clinton lamented Wednesday." [Adam Lisberg]

John Cook: He can't wait to read serious snark about Trump's birther-fueled campaign. [Gawker]

Birthers: Romney says "The citizenship test has been passed." [Aliyah Shahid]

Cuomo Intervention: Proposed bill would give electric companies permanent property tax abatements, "removing the basis" for an expected 12 rate hike in energy bills.[Fred Dicker]

Cuomo Travels: Touting Recharge New York program, in Buffalo, this morning. [Tom Precious]

Cuomo's Deal: Retroactive raises for Council 82 members; wage freeze till 2014. PEF won't accept similar deal. "The state made it clear that accepting these concessions would not ensure PEF members would not be laid off. [Casey Seiler]

Cuomo's Deal: Editors like it. [Daily News]

Cuomo and DiNapoli: Accused extortionist sheds light on their tension. [Rick Karlin]

Cuomo's Popularity: A "honeymoon." [Jacob Gershman]

Rent Rules: Letting rent laws expire would be a "tsunami" says Perkins. Golden disagrees. [Glenn Blain]

Cars: "Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, spent $26,000 on a 2011 Ford Taurus in February." [Joe Spector]

Changing Chancellors: Walcott easily clears a hurdle. [Sharon Otterman]

School Safety: Wildcat strike tomorrow? [Philip Messing]

Clothes: "New Jersey is wasting $3.1 million on clothing allowances for workers who aren't required to wear special clothes." [Lisa Fleisher]

Changing Chancellors: "The effort to turn this one instance into some sort of general referendum on non-traditional leadership shows how divorced our strident national education conversation is from the challenges of actually improving our schools." [Andrew Rotherham]

Happy Birthday: Assemblyman Marcos Crespo isn't afraid to send a polite note to embattled lobbyist Richard Lipsky. [Facebook]

Taxes: Nick Kristof's "raise my taxes" column makes the person with whom he files jointly, flinch. [Twitter]

Of course, that's not saying much. Ms. Black managed to make a terrible mess of things in a short amount of time, alienating parents, embarrassing her boss and generally acting like the out-of-touch elitist her critics portrayed her to be. When Mayor Bloomberg chose her to succeed Joel Klein, even her supporters--including The New York Observer, on this very page--conceded that she did not have a background in public education. Many hoped that she would commit herself to learning the difference between running a business and educating children. She never did.

Now it is up to Mr. Walcott to clean up the mess and restore the credibility of the chancellor's office. He is the right person for the job--he is a former schoolteacher himself, and as we learned in recent days, his grandchild is a public-school student in Queens. He has spent his career in and around government, so he knows how to maneuver his way around city politics.

Give Mr. Bloomberg credit for conceding that he made a mistake in asking Ms. Black to do a job she simply wasn't capable of doing. Given how much political capital the mayor expended on Ms. Black's behalf, it took no small amount of humility to pull the plug after just three months. It's clear, however, that it was the right decision.

Ms. Black did the mayor a favor in her post-resignation remarks. She played the sexism card, charging that her critics were tough with her because of her gender. In an interview with Fortune magazine, she asked: "If I were a guy, would I have had the pounding that I did?" She even suggested that newspaper editors conspired to publish unflattering pictures of her, as if these images somehow influenced public opinion.

Regrettably, Ms Black clearly doesn't get it. She lost her job not because she is a woman, and not because she looked a little less than perfect in the pages of the tabloids. She lost her job because she was bad at it.

So, for the sake of the children, she is gone. And as long as that is the measuring stick, perhaps the head of the United Federation of Teachers, Mike Mulgrew, will do the right thing by the city's public-school students by joining Ms. Black in retirement. Mr. Mulgrew and his union remain obstacles to the sort of education reform and innovation that New York's schoolchildren so desperately need.

Cathie Black was bad at her job and paid the price for it. But bad teachers rarely suffer such a fate, thanks to the UFT's obstructionism. There was no rubber room for Cathie Black, no make-work assignment to keep her on the job despite her incompetence. But for public-school teachers, outdated tenure laws mean that incompetents rarely if ever are held accountable.

But perhaps Mr. Mulgrew will consider making room for somebody new and more creative. After all, it's all about the kids, right?

"That's ridiculous. Give me a break," he said. "That is just so absurd," and "something I am not interested in."

2012: "There is zero chance that Donald Trump would ever be hired by the American people," said Plouffe. Trump's response: "They are very concerned because I am challenging him as to whether or not he was born in this country where there is a real doubt." [Lukas Alpert]

2012: Trump's birthed talk is getting under their skin. [S.A. Miller]

Federal Budget: " Obama is conspicuously failing to mount any kind of challenge to the philosophy now dominating Washington discussion." [Paul Krugman]

Campaign Finance: "public disclosure serves the interests of incumbents running for re-election by discouraging support for challengers." [James Huffman]

NY26: Lots of TV ads. [Robert McCarthy]

GOP Fund-raising: Cox paints Levy's problem as a Democratic problem. [Dan Janison]

Tea Party Scofflaws: Central figures in Buffalo's Tea Party have a history of not paying taxes. [Jerry Zremski]

Changing Chancellors: Walcott is "a different kind of crony." [Mike Lupica]

Hiram Monserrate: "I am currently consulting and assisting in the management of Papaya Pizza." [New York Post]

Cuomo's Agenda: His to-do list is not short. [Joseph Spector]

Cuomo's 100 Days: His interview crashed The Capitol Pressroom servers. [Teri Weaver]

Staffing Cuomo: Prosecutor tapped for key job with state police; Kessell meets Glaser tomorrow. [Fred Dicker]

Albany Ethics: "The rules for a more open government are being negotiated secretly." [New York Times]

Pension Costs: Politicians' fault. [EJ McMahon]

Forced Confessions: It sends people to jail and remedying the situation is problematic. [Rory Lancman]

Illegal Cars: Compartments for hiding guns would be outlawed. [Bob Kappstatter]

Mario on Andrew: "I asked Cuomo whether Andrew was a different kind of Democrat from his father. He paused for a long moment. 'I think . . .,' he began, then stopped. 'What’s a different kind of Democrat? It depends on how you describe a Democrat.' He paused again, considering. 'It’s difficult to . . . I think it’s. . . . ' Another pause. 'Is he a different kind of Democrat,' Cuomo repeated flatly. He then fell back on a politician’s instinct, telling me that the more salient question was what it meant to be a Republican. " [Matt Bai]

2013: John Liu's report helps position him as a labor-friendly, anti-Bloomberg candidate. [Adam Lisberg]

2013: Liu's report says major factor in rising pension costs is rising Wall Street investment fees. [Josh Kosman]

Federal Budget: Obama to set deficit goals in a speech on Wednesday. [Jackie Calmes]

Federal Budget: Port security cut from $288 million to $260 million, according to Rep. Peter King. [Alison Gendar and Jonathan Lemire]

Staffing Obama: Peter Orszag didn't want to work in the White House in the first place. [Page Six]

Greg Ball's Hearings: A "circus." [Times Union]

Staffing Bloomberg: Administration knocks down rumors Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is next to go. [Page Six]

Changing Chancellors: "Walcott, after all, is the consummate Bloomberg administration insider." [Rachel Monahan]

Changing Chancellors: Bloomberg didn't consult Walcott before hiring Blacl. [David Seifman]

Changing Chancellors: "By cutting his losses, he suggests he is not ready to accept life as a lame duck." [Michael Goodwin]

Changing Chancellors: Reverend asks "How many of you thank God that Cathie Black is gone?" and "The congregants responded with shouts of 'Hallelujah.' " [Fernanda Santos]

Changing Chancellors: "Mr. Walcott took several barbs about teacher layoffs, never flinching or growing upset or defensive. Ms. Black had been criticized for making an ill-considered joke and once mocking parents when she was under fire." [Barbara Martinez and Michael Saul]

Eduction Staff: 474 teachers returned to schools after stints in rubber rooms; 159 paid fines up to $15,000. [Susan Edelman]

Transit Staff: Sleeping on the job. [Reuven Blau]

Transit WiFi: Which Metro-North car is equipped? [Annie Karni]

Rate Hikes: A look at the high pay for power company executives ahead of next month's rate hike. [Heather Haddon]

Sharpe James: Newark's former mayor wants a new trial; juror didn't disclose parents work for the city and may be loyal to new administration that ousted him. [Lisa Fleisher]

Paying Politicians: Long Beach City Councilman collected a salary and unemployment checks. [New York Post]

Media: Couric doesn't consider Charlie Sheen a colleague; may do a show with Jeff Zucker. [Andrew Goldman]

“I will be accessible to you, plain and simple,” he said.

Walcott made a similar pledge when speaking to Department of Education staffers on Thursday, vowing, "You'll see me in your offices, you'll see me hanging out" and "They're going to have to tie me down, because I'm just going to be all over the place."