Now That That’s Over, You Can “Get To Know” Cathie Black

The three ABC 7 interviews of Cathie Black are kind of scary in the way that the Sarah Palin interviews exposed the Vice Presidential candidate as a fundamentally decent communicator of vacuous thoughts and superficial platitudes. Watch them and see if you feel confident that she’s prepared to negotiate a new labor contract, tackle the lingering teacher tenure “issue” (sounds like the issue was lifted from Newsweek or Time, circa 1987 — teacher tenure isn’t troubling if you have a good evaluation system, which she barely mentions) or designing an innovative curriculum.

In a way, the interviews almost do more harm than good.

The first one: Platitudes like “We’re all human beings,” “It’s about the people” and “I am a proven manager.”

The second one: You’re reminded that she has no experience with labor unions — and the stuff about teacher tenure just exposes how superficial her understanding of the issue is — “We feel very strongly about teacher evaluations.” And . . . ? “I don’t agree with last in-first out” — it all sounds like pablum, not unlike what Sarah Palin sounded like with Katie Couric. Regarding changing teacher tenure, “We have to make sure that the union is in agreement that it’s really ‘children first’ . . . if ‘children first’ is really at the heart of what a teacher should be doing, there should be ways that we can work at this.” And “Give me a chance — I will listen . . . get to know me — don’t judge someone that you’ve never met.”

The third one: “Let’s move forward.” On the reconfigured standardized tests and new “corrected” higher standards “Individuals have seen their scores come down but we will get them back up again because we’ve got to motivate them” (pitch-perfect Palinistic circular MTV logic). “We have to make sure that the curriculum is strong enough, is innovative enough, is smart enough to prepare these children for a very different work force” — And . . . ? And don’t shut her out because you haven’t met her — “Give me a chance — I want to listen to them [parents].”

If you’re still curious about this issue, it’s kind of shocking to hear how superficial she sounds. I expect a Vice President, or even a legislator, to have a “fresh perspective” — they represent voters, so in some ways I think it’s OK to have them be more uninformed — but to have such a “fresh perspective” for a position designed for an education professional? It’s bizarre, cynical and ultimately discouraging.

What Has Bloomberg Learned From This Rebuke?

The correct way to utilize a baseball analogy:

The candidacy of Cathleen P. Black, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s choice to be chancellor of the New York City schools, was in jeopardy on Tuesday as both a panel weighing her credentials and the state official who will determine her fate expressed deep doubts about her readiness for the job.

The official, David M. Steiner, the state education commissioner, said he would consider granting Ms. Black, a publishing executive, the waiver she needed to take office only if Mr. Bloomberg appointed an educator to help her run the system.

But even then, Dr. Steiner did not rule out rejecting her request for a waiver, saying he was skeptical about her ability to master the intricacies of the nation’s largest school system. Ms. Black lacks the education credentials required by state law to be schools chief.

Her cause was further undermined on Tuesday when only two of the eight members of an advisory panel Dr. Steiner appointed to evaluate Ms. Black’s background unconditionally endorsed her bid for a waiver.

. . .

Mr. Klein plans to step down on Dec. 31. Mr. Bloomberg has said that if Ms. Black is not approved, he is not certain any other qualified candidate would want the job.

“You know, we had a great pitcher for the first seven innings,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters on Tuesday before the panel voted. “We bring in the closer for the last couple of innings, and this was the right closer to bring in.”

This comes after bungling the same analogy last week:

“Joel Klein did a masterful job. That’s seven innings of pitching and now we need a closer to come in for three inn–,” before giving up on baseball. “And this city is so lucky to have Cathie Black willing to walk away from everything else and devote her life.”

His crew should start printing bumper stickers for a presidential run — “Bloomberg: He’ll Manage For All Ten Innings” — it’s like an updated version of “110 percent”!

I Would Ask If This Is An Example Of Irony But I Can’t See Around The Giant Inflatable Rat In My Face

First off, Happy Birthday, Giant Inflatable Union Rat — it turned 20 this year. The Daily News marks the occasion and notes that even though the thing has been used to great effect by the city’s unions to inform the public about non-union work sites (or whatever they’re using them for), there is actually no giant inflatable rat-maker union:

The vinyl vermin quietly marked their 20th birthday this year. The folks at Illinois-based Big Sky Balloons and Searchlights, creators of the inflatables, made their first rat for a Chicago bricklayers union in 1990.

Business was soon blowing up — the rats became an instant, unlikely symbol of corporate greed and anti-union work sites.

The company — a nonunion shop, by the way — says the majority of its business is done on the East Coast. The rats range in height from a relatively small 6-footer to the super-sized 25-footer.

The costs can run upward of $8,000.

See also: Union Rat.

As That Great Educational Mind Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi Once Said, “This Is The Democracy, We Will Have No Pretext”

On the one hand, this is debatable:

If Cathie Black can’t get a waiver to become the city’s next schools chancellor, it’s going to be tough to attract anyone else of such stature to the high-pressure post, Mayor Bloomberg argued yesterday.

“How would you get somebody else?” the mayor asked. “I don’t know what you’d do if you didn’t [get the waiver] . . . I don’t know why anybody would come if you didn’t do this.[“]

On the other hand, it doesn’t really matter, does it?:

New York State’s top education official on Friday named an advisory panel of eight experts, at least half of them with strong connections to the Bloomberg administration, to help him decide whether to approve Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s controversial choice to run the city’s school system.

Three panelists selected by David M. Steiner, the state education commissioner, worked as senior officials at the city’s Department of Education.

One of those three now works at a foundation that was, for many years, the vehicle for Mr. Bloomberg’s personal charitable donations.

A fourth panelist is the head of a museum that has received almost half a million dollars from Mr. Bloomberg in donations since he took office.

The More You Know . . .

Excellent advice when it comes to navigating rush hour in the Lincoln Tunnel:

A camouflage-clad Florida dance troupe desperate to make it to a live TV talent show set off a rush-hour terror scare when they ditched their cars in merciless Lincoln Tunnel traffic and tried to sprint through the tube.

. . .

“There are a lot of fumes in that tunnel, and we could have passed out or gotten hit by a car,” she said. “The next time we come here, we’ll stay in our cars.”

Location Scout: Lincoln Tunnel.