The Bloomberg administration has released its request to the State Education Commissioner David Steiner to grant a waiver so that First Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott can be officially named chancellor of the New York City School system.
The letter marks a study in contrasts to the one sent to Steiner a few months ago, when now former chancellor Cathie Black required a similar waiver.
In Walcott’s case, Mayor Bloomberg praises his experience in working with youth and with the city’s educational system.
“He has vast experience in and a deep understanding of the many complex issues that fact the Chancellor of New York City Schools, including diverse student populations, fiscal and budgetary matters, construction and facilities management, the importance of school-level decision making and the critical nature of teacher quality and what happens in the classroom,” Bloomberg writes. “He is also a skilled communicator who understands the vital need for building relationships within the school system and the communities it serves, as he has been doing for three decades. He is exceptionally qualifed to serve as Chancellor.”
Compare and contrast with the letter for Ms. Black:
“Throughout her career, Ms. Black has worked to build strong relationships with colleagues and subordinates, to motivate them to succeed and hold them accountable, and to provide support and expertise where necessary. In addition, as a leader in the field of publishing, Ms. Black has deep experience seeking out the opinions of customers, and incorporating their thoughts and ideas into the organization’s work…The challenging issues facing the New York City schools demand a bold thinker who is not afraid to champion new ideas. Ms. Black is widely recognized as a visionary.”
Of course, another difference is that Walcott is likely to be granted a waiver without much of a fight.
Full letters from both below:
Walcott Dennis_Waiver(function() { var scribd = document.createElement(“script”); scribd.type = “text/javascript”; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = “http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js”; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();cblack(function() { var scribd = document.createElement(“script”); scribd.type = “text/javascript”; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = “http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js”; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();
