Is something that I know nothing about, and makes no sense to me. So I can’t help but imagine scenarios based on what I do know.
Item: A couple of years ago, Joel Klein was asked about running for Mayor (since Mayor Bloomberg was supposedly term limited), and he said the job he really wanted was school chancellor. If he really wanted to leave after eight years, that’s a big turnaround.
Item: We know Bloomberg cut a deal with the UFT to allow teachers to retire years earlier, and as a result the classroom is being drained even as total school spending has risen.
Item: We know that the financial disaster will really hit next year, when more pension costs are supposed to be paid and the federal stimulus money runs out. Many of the improvements associated with more spending are going to disappear, despite higher taxes. If NYC is once again singled out for extra cuts at the state level, it will be even worse.
Item: We know the UFT loathed Klein, and might have been willing to deal to get rid of him. We know the head of the union made positive comments in the immediate aftermath of the announcement, before turning against Black when everyone else did.
Item: we know that the next year or two is going to be about avoiding blame as the schools are gutted financially.
As in the 25/55 pension deal, the latest personnel changes in the schools — including the resignation of the budget director — leave you asking “why did he do it?”
Did Klein leave because he didn’t want to preside over the destruction of all he sought to accomplish due to the financial disaster?
Did Bloomberg fire him in the hopes of getting the union to agree to givebacks to limit the impact of the financial disaster?
Or did he just want a known, loyal person experienced in PR to massage the public impression of the impact of the financial disaster and associated blame game?
Bottom line, all those participating in the school reform wars are about to get what shouldn’t be but probably will be a big surprise. Along with thousands of laid off teachers.
Few are talking about the 25/55 pension deal, what it cost, and what will happen financially next year. And what about the budget when the stimulus package runs out? Will it be replaced with a phony budget or a real one, with disaster deferred through debt so the end happens on someone else’s watch?
It’s almost as if there is radio silence, and blackout curtains up. No wonder no one knew what was going on behind the curtain. And no one knows now what is going on at Tweed, at City Hall, and in Albany.
I just hope my predictions are correct, and SHTF doesn’t happen until the next school year. I’ve written off senior year for my youngest child in any event. So why speculate? The freight train carrying toxic chemicals has long since started running downhill, and will crash sooner or later, and there is no longer much that can be done about it.