Friday, January 14, 2011

The Great Black Out of 2011

I'm taking bets, starting now. How long before "Chancellor" Cathie Black is out on her behind? I'm betting on April 1, as this April Fool's Day prank of a "chancellor" surely can't last much longer than that.

Today, she once again had a "Let them eat cake" moment when asked her solution to school overcrowding. Her response? "Could we just have some birth control?"

Let's think for a moment what would happen if a parent came in to complain about overcrowding and you "joked" that they should have considered birth control. How long before you'd be hauled from your classroom and brought up on charges?

Of course, perhaps we're expecting too much of the "chancellor". How could she be expected to know not to insult parents and students, especially when she has no education experience at all? Given that her children went to a ritzy private school that costs as much per year as a new teacher's salary, and where the class sizes are smaller than the average softball team, Black can hardly be expected to empathize with the common folk like us who insist on having children despite not having trust funds for them.

This isn't the first time she's stuck her foot in her mouth, and if she does it one more time, her only supporter in NYC may be Rex Ryan. She may not even make it to Valentine's Day.

And as much as I hate to pick on her appearance, especially after we just got rid of the Nosferatu doppelganger Joel Klein, I really think the tabloids should stop printing pictures of Ms. Black that make her look as if she's just risen from a rip-snorting week-long bender and subsequent black out.

And speaking of Black outs, what's your take on how long she'll last?


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6 comments:

Poker Chick said...

Much longer than parents would like, unfortunately.

California Teacher said...

I'm observing your predicament from out here in California. I think Black comes off as a good-time gal with a sarcastic sense of humor who is accustomed to imparting low-brow witticisms at cocktail parties. She obviously has no idea how to comport herself with the politically-correct veneer necessary for the very public, politicized office of Chancellor. I believe your prediction of how long she will last will prove accurate.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, I think she will occupy the office of Chancellor for as long as Mikey remains Mayor. They both had the opportunity to do the right thing, which would have been to have withdrawn Black's nomination/appointment, when the public backlash began back in November. Black is clueless - she took the approval of her cocktail party cronies as the equivalent of public approval. Whatever we think publicly or privately about population control, her comments were outlandishly inappropriate in that forum. Certainly she is not advocating population control for all, just for the middle-class and working poor who can't afford private school tuition. For all the bloggers out there who claim that we are "picking on" Black, evidenced by the fact that Klein made similar comments during his tenure as Chancellor, are ignoring the fact that most New Yorkers (myself excepted) at first embraced Bloomberg and his high-handed arrogance in proclaiming he could "fix" the schools. NYers were willing to put up with Klein's various gaffes because they had Bloomberg-infused hope. That bloom has long been off the rose and most NYers who are part of the public sector (read: unions, schoolchildren and their parents) are more skeptical and cynical of Bloomberg's b--. . . pardon me, malarkey. Black will go only if Bloomberg tells her to go.

ed notes online said...

This can get so bad for Bloomberg that he may have no choice. Look for her to get an "illness." Or maybe she wants to spend more time with her family - at the boarding school.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, I think she will remain in charge of schools until she announces she is a candidate for governor of NYS in the next election (four years).

And she will tout her "public school leadership" as evidence of her dedication to public service.

I feel very sorry for the parents, teachers and students in NYC. Bloomberg shouldn't even be mayor right now in a 3rd term. He had no right to even be in office -- and to put her in this current job.

NYC has become a Banana Republic.

Anonymous said...

No.it is a monarchy with the divine right of kings. We underlings just don't register in the goings on in the castle. The moat is growing wider by the moment. It has been allowed to happen. As my dear old mom(speaker of idioms and sayings for every occasion) used to say, "You get what you deserve." "Out of the frying pan and into the fire."...my dad also used to say,"S#$% floats!"