New Schools Chancellor to Learn on the Job

In case you haven't heard, Commisioner Steiner, against the votes of his hand-picked panel, has decided to grant Cathie Black a waiver and will do so on Monday.  Because she has no qualifications whatsoever, Broad-trained Shael Polakow-Suransky will be her second-in-command.

This way, despite never having attended a public school, despite having rejected them for her children, despite never having shown interest in public education, despite being on the board for a charter but never having shown for a meeting, Cathie Black can experiment with 1.1 million schoolchildren in the largest district in the country.  Nonetheless, she already knows how to fire people, which is all that matters to Mayor Mike.

The fact that New Yorkers oppose this means nothing to Steiner as Mayor Bloomberg thinks it's a good idea, and he has more money than anyone else in the city.  Governor-elect Cuomo, taking a firm stand against democracy, says "Mayoral control means just that."

No one in the state or city government, apparently, gives a hoot what voters think.   What's your take on this move?  What should we do about it?