Sunday, April 17, 2011

Dennis Walcott Channels Cathie Black


Dennis Walcott, the new cookie cutter choice for NYC schools chancellor, recently said something that rivaled even Cathie Black for inanity and insensitivity, yet it got virtually no press at all. His statement appeared in the NY Post, and was in response to a question about layoffs:

"We're looking at 6,100 jobs -- give or take."

Opposition in Albany has blocked City Hall's effort to inject merit into layoff decisions.

But Walcott said he's an "eternal optimist" and hopes to persuade union leaders and state lawmakers to give ground.

Excuse me? Walcott, the "eternal optimist", is looking forward expectantly toward giving 6,100 teachers the ax? Shouldn't the new chancellor express optimism that layoffs can be avoided altogether? Shouldn't he be hoping that class sizes don't explode as a result of those layoffs?

What Walcott really means is that he is optimistic that he can con the legislature into allowing him to fire senior teachers and so fulfill the mayor's dream of an at-will workforce. He doesn't give any more of a damn about the children of NYC than Cathie Black did.

The only difference is that the press called out Cathie Black when she made idiotic comments. Walcott's tenure as chancellor will be far more insidious, as the press has already pronounced him a much more thoughtful and serious person than Cathie, even though they are both spouting the exact same Bloomberg anti-teacher rhetoric.

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2 comments:

Schoolgal said...

This guy seems to be the poster child for the NY Post. But he's a total A$$. Why print any name if you know the data is flawed? Especially if the NY Post, like the LA Times, will put it in the fine print that no one will read? If you want to use it to motivate yourself to be a better test-prep teacher, so be it.

Emma Goldman's Ghost said...

Excuse me, but fuck the AYP.