KochDinkinsGiulianiLetterAnnounce Support for Cathie Black as Schools Chancellor

Former Mayors Koch, Dinkins and Giuliani Announce Support for Cathie Black as Schools Chancellor

KochDinkinsGiulianiLetter.pdf (application/pdf Object)

11/17/2010

Urge State Education Commissioner to quickly grant waiver

Former New York City Mayors Edward I. Koch, David N. Dinkins, and Rudy Giuliani today announced their support for Cathie Black to serve as the next schools Chancellor. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Ms. Black’s appointment at a news conference last week, and this week will submit a request to State Education Commissioner David Steiner asking him to grant her a waiver to serve as Chancellor.

In a letter to State Education Commissioner David Steiner today, the former Mayors wrote, “With 24 years of experience as Mayors of the City of New York, and with a shared commitment to seeing our city and its schools thrive and succeed…we urge you to approve Mayor Bloomberg’s request for a waiver to enable Cathleen P. Black to serve as New York City Schools Chancellor.”

The former Mayors went on to write, “It is clear that Ms. Black certainly has an extraordinary track record of managing large organizations through trying circumstances. We believe that Mayor Bloomberg’s faith in Ms. Black’s competence and her proven history as an outstanding executive is, in and of itself, reason enough to grant the necessary waiver.”

Under the State Education Law, a School District Leader certificate is required for Ms. Black to serve as Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools. State Education Law section 3003(3) and 8 NYCRR Part 80-3.10(b)(3)(iii) authorizes the Commissioner of Education to grant a certificate to a candidate who does not meet certain educational and training requirements but “whose exceptional training and experience are the substantial equivalent of such requirements and qualify such person[s] for the duties of a superintendent of schools.”

Mayor Bloomberg said, “These are three individuals who understand the need to have someone who is talented and competent running an agency of this size, and that, at the end of the day, the buck stops with the Mayor. I appreciate their support for Cathie Black and for their commitment to helping our schools thrive.”

Cathie Black is currently Chairman of Hearst Magazines, where she has led a team of some 2,000 employees producing more than 200 local editions of 14 magazines in more than 100 countries. Under her leadership, Hearst had record-breaking years – they built on decades of success with titles like Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Popular Mechanics, Redbook, and Town & Country, introduced highly-acclaimed new titles like O, The Oprah Magazine and created digital platforms that were inconceivable in 1995. As the media industry has tackled digital changes, Hearst Magazines has been widely-regarded as being at the forefront of that evolution.

Current and former elected officials who have expressed support for Cathie Black include: former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Sr., Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro, State Senators Andrew Lanza, Marty Golden and Craig Johnson, and City Council Member James Gennaro.