Though?New York City's academic achievement gains over the past eight years are still matters of dispute, on Joel Klein's watch the nation's largest city also turned out to be among?its most impressive when gauged by the kinds of structural and policy changes that comprise intelligent, promising?modern-day school reforms.?(New Orleans is the only real rival for that title, along with the District of Columbia. For more on that, check out Fordham's recent study on reform-friendly cities.)
Klein won his spurs?not only?as arguably?the most creative/persistent/productive reformer among?the country's big-city superintendents?his only rivals would be Paul Vallas and Michelle Rhee, probably followed by Arne Duncan?but also?as a force to be reckoned with at the national level.?Smart, tireless, shrewd and well-connected, he seemed to be involved with everything nearly everywhere. He imported programs, ideas and people?to New York. He exported ?proof points,? ideas, writings, and more. He teamed up with strong figures from Jeb Bush to (aaargh)?Al Sharpton.
Joel made a couple of dubious initial personnel choices and?got off to a slow start on the curriculum front,?but he learned fast, generally hired well and never rested on yesterday's accomplishment when tomorrow's challenge loomed.?Despite ceaseless pushback from the country's most powerful teacher union, led by the smart/tireless/shrewd Randi Weingarten, he made a series of profound structural changes in the system, along the way harnessing the?power of data, of choice, of decentralization, of technology, and?much more.?Of course it helped that (until the last year or so)?he had pots of public and private money to spend. It helped that he?kept the job for eight years. It helped that?he had the steadfast backing of?a powerful mayor. But much of what looks promising today in New York City's public-education system is owing to his own personal qualities.
Cathie Black has big shoes to fill and?we wish her well. We wish Joel well, too, as he goes to work with another formidable figure. (Rupert Murdoch is cut from very different cloth than Michael Bloomberg.) And we thank him for demonstrating that even the biggest job in American urban education isn't too big to tackle and, much of the time, prevail.
?Chester E. Finn, Jr.
