The Panel for Education Policy met last night and voted to shutter a dozen failing schools, and new schools chancellor Cathie Black was booed and heckled mercilessly throughout the hours long hearing.
Afterwards, hundreds of protestors poured into the streets in Fort Greene chanting, “Cathie Black is whack.”
Today on the John Gambling show, Mayor Mike Bloomberg said such displays have no place in our city.
“The decorum–this is embarrasing for New York City, for New York State, for America,” he said. “This is not democracy, letting people yell and scream. That’s not freedom of expression that’s just trying to take away somebody’s else rights. And if we want to attract good people to come and work for the public, you don’t do this…It’s become a bloodsport. That’s not good.”
Bloomberg said protesters were more motivated by self-preservation than by actually education children.
“People who provide the service poorly don’t want to lose their jobs,” he said. “That’s what they care about. They don’t care about the kids.”
A number of elected officials testified at last night’s hearing, including Assemblymember Hakeem Jeffries, Councilman Charles Barron and state Senator Tony Avella, who told Black, “You should not be sitting there as chancellor. You have no education experience.”