Bloomberg always touts the idea of running the city like a business as his strength. Well, one can certainly argue whether running things like schools and hospitals on a business model makes any sense at all, but even if you buy into that premise, in what way is hiring someone with no experience for a job good business sense?

Bloomberg has always made it amply clear that he doesn't care at all about Public Education in NYC. All he has done is increased testing, often awarding the expensive contracts for this testing to out of state buddies, thus draining money from NYC itself, and has done nothing to improve class size. Objective test scores have shown that NYC has in no way improved more than surrounding districts which didn't "benefit" from Bloomberg's "reforms," thus showing Bloomberg's reforms have made NO IMPACT AT ALL on education in NYC, but rather have merely concentrated yet more power into Bloomberg's hands and allowed him more options for awarding paid positions to his cronies. And then he blames the problems on teachers rather than take responsibility for the failure of his own so-called reforms.

His appointment of the completely unqualified Cathleen Black, a Bloomberg crony who I guess is due some kind of reward for past services, as Chancellor of the NYC schools is just one of many examples of Bloomberg's failure of leadership, putting cronies and political obligations before actual governing of the city.

Cathleen Black should never have been nominated, and she should be outright rejected as basically just not qualified. Instead, Education Commissioner David Steiner has wimped out, basically saying he won't approve Cathleen Black unless she has someone qualified as an assistant to chaperone her so she doesn't mess up.

So the city has to hire someone qualified to make up for Cathleen Black's complete lack of qualifications and that would make it all okay? Can you IMAGINE running a business that way, let alone a city? Yet this is the brilliant way NYC is being run!

In many ways the statement I have seen that sums it up best is this one from one of my District Leaders, Chris Owens:

"Our pressure has been somewhat successful, but the victory is incomplete. The advisory board has rejected Cathleen Black's candidacy for Chancellor. Commissioner Steiner's condition that a strong academic deputy would be needed to approve Black may be a reasonable response to the situation for the powers-that-be, but Steiner's condition is not a victory for public education or for the rule of law.

If Ms. Black is 'required' to have an academically qualified deputy 'with autonomy', then Mayor Bloomberg should simply select a qualified Chancellor and that Chancellor can make Ms. Black the 'management' deputy. As a matter of self-respect, Ms. Black should now withdraw her candidacy for Chancellor."

- Chris Owens, a parent, a former President of Community School Board 13 in Brooklyn, and a Democratic Party State Committee member.

If there is someone qualified out there to be appointed to hold Cathleen Black's hand, then what the hell do we need Cathleen Black for? I am no businessman, but it seems blatantly obvious that the best way to run ANYTHING, from a city to a business, is to hire the most qualified people available, not hand plum positions to cronies as rewards for past favors.