Albany, NY – Walcott Gets OK from State to Head NYC Schools

Albany, NY – The state education commissioner gave Dennis Walcott the go-ahead Thursday to serve as New York City’s schools chancellor, citing Walcott’s distinguished career and “the depth and breadth” of his knowledge of educational issues.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Walcott to head the city’s 1.1 million-pupil school system last week after publishing executive Cathie Black resigned.

Walcott needed a waiver from Commissioner David Steiner, as Black did, because he is not a licensed school superintendent.

But unlike Black, who had no background as an educator, Walcott has been a classroom teacher and holds master’s degrees in education and social work. He also started a mentoring program for boys and served as CEO of the Urban League before he joined Bloomberg’s administration as a deputy mayor in 2002.

Steiner said in his decision Thursday that Walcott “has had a long and distinguished career as a leader in private not-for-profit organizations and in public service.”

He noted that much of Walcott’s experience is education-related and “demonstrates a deep knowledge of the New York City school system.”

Bloomberg said in a statement, “Dennis Walcott has been working his entire life to help New York City’s schoolchildren, and I am confident that experience will help him build on the successful reform efforts of the past nine years and improve our classrooms for the generations to come.”

Walcott told reporters at a poetry-reading event later Thursday that his priority is working with parents.

“I’ve always talked about, especially in the past week, parent involvement, parent engagement, making sure that parents are totally invested in what’s happening in their child’s school,” he said.

Joining Walcott at the podium as the incoming chancellor read Langston Hughes’ “I Dream a World” was Bronx 17-year-old Justin Long-Moton, who was named New York City’s youth poet laureate at a poetry slam that Walcott attended in November.

“Justin attends Belmont Prep,” Walcott said. “But more importantly Justin is graduating this year, and more important than that, Justin has a full ride to Adelphi University.”

He added, “To all the students out there, we expect the best of you because you are great students, and like Justin, we’ll be here with you and working on your behalf.”

Another teen, Anthony Andujar of The American Sign Language and English Secondary School, approached Walcott about a disciplinary issue at his school. Walcott gave the student his card.

“I’m expecting that he hopefully helps,” Andujar said afterward.

Walcott is expected to officially start as chancellor on Monday. He will face issues including the possible layoffs of thousands of teachers due to budget cuts.

The relationship between the Bloomberg administration and the teachers union has been especially contentious in recent months as the mayor has sought to change seniority rules that would protect veteran teachers in the event of layoffs.

Walcott said he speaks regularly with United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.

Mulgrew said he has enjoyed a good relationship with Walcott over the years. He said he and Walcott spearheaded a career and technical education task force that created several innovative vocational schools.

But Mulgrew said that that regardless of who is chancellor, the union opposes Bloomberg administration policies such as closing struggling schools rather than trying to improve them and focusing increasingly on standardized tests.

“This is about the mayor and his policies,” he said.

Black resigned and Bloomberg announced his choice of Walcott on April 7.

Black, the former CEO of Hearst Magazines, spent a rocky three months as chancellor after Bloomberg chose her to replace Joel Klein.

Critics assailed Black for her lack of experience in education, and her few unscripted public appearances were marked by gaffes.

She told Fortune magazine after her ouster that the chancellor’s job was “like having to learn Russian in a weekend — and then give speeches in Russian and speak Russian in budget committee and City Council meetings.”