社区黑料

During her two years as the top deputy to former schools chancellor Joel Klein, Carmen Fari帽a wasn鈥檛 frequently seen around Tweed Courthouse, the magisterial home of New York City鈥檚 Department of Education.

Fari帽a spent those years between 2004 and 2006 visiting schools, meeting with teachers, principals, and district leaders, and talking to parents. She emphasized literacy (), tried to improve gifted education, and led a drive to strengthen middle school performance, but she wasn鈥檛 an advocate of the large, metrics-driven efforts to convulse the system favored by Klein and his boss, Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

She wasn鈥檛 comfortable with the twinned endeavors of political sloganeering and speaking to the media. Ultimately, when she no longer saw space for her traditional songlines amid the department鈥檚 turbocharged accountability reforms, she stepped down.

Ten years later, as she prepares to retire a second time after serving as schools chief during Mayor Bill de Blasio鈥檚 first term, and at the conclusion of 50 years of service in city schools, there鈥檚 one thing we can say without having been present in any smoke-filled rooms: Mayor de Blasio got exactly what he paid for in Fari帽a, just as Klein did a decade earlier.

What might it presage about her successor if the mayor believes his chancellor has now outlived her usefulness? It鈥檚 not clear that de Blasio wants, or could get, a forceful personality for a second term that will likely be shaped to serve .

In Fari帽a, de Blasio landed perhaps the best-respected educator in the city鈥檚 schools: a teachers鈥� chancellor, an intuitionist, a expert at diagnosing poor practice in schools and classrooms, and with little regard for the capacity of parents, schools, or administrators to act well when unchecked.

Klein needed Fari帽a to fill the large credibility space left by Tweed鈥檚 young and largely non-educator top ranks. At the time she was a favorite but 聽With her accession came the iconic status she now enjoys; ironically, it made her a strong candidate when de Blasio went shopping for the top job in 2014. For the new mayor, Fari帽a鈥檚 luster resided in her rejection of Bloomberg鈥檚 reforms.

What de Blasio presumably knew he wasn鈥檛 getting in Fari帽a was precisely what the Bloomberg era specialized in: so-called 鈥渟ystems鈥� thinkers who proposed complex changes that integrated separate functions across an agency. Reformers have repeatedly faulted Fari帽a , but in fairness that鈥檚 on de Blasio. He allowed Fari帽a to surround herself with old teaching and learning colleagues who probably didn鈥檛 challenge her or compensate for her limitations as a leader.

Her involvement in the administration鈥檚 few big-ticket education items is unclear. Universal pre-K was birthed out of City Hall. The massive Renewal schools turnaround initiative, handicapped by de Blasio鈥檚 wild claim that it would was also the mayor鈥檚 brainchild. To the extent Tweed was assigned the lift, it had to carry these unrealistic expectations as well.

The program has repeatedly tripped over management issues, including , the department鈥檚 accessible academic goals for schools for a year, and an who may have been suboptimal or just aggrieved 鈥� it can鈥檛 be assessed given the few details provided by the city. A December announcement 鈥斅爐wo days before broke the news of Fari帽a鈥檚 departure 鈥斅爐hat 14 of the schools would close resulted in the of the first term.

Some believe the coverage prompted de Blasio to accelerate Fari帽a鈥檚 planned exit. One city education insider, who asked not to be identified because he frequently deals with City Hall, said, 鈥淭hey think they鈥檙e doing great and the only problem is that Carmen isn鈥檛 selling it.鈥� That may be true, but the mayor didn鈥檛 hire her to sell. And he had reason to know that she believes improvement takes place through modest, idea-driven initiatives like , which allow schools to collaborate, rather than half-billion-dollar, cookie-cutter turnaround programs for struggling schools.

It isn鈥檛 even clear that Fari帽a believes that , the wraparound services model for needy students and families that Renewal is built on, is effective for school rebuilding.

What does Fari帽a鈥檚 experience suggest for a successor? Some advocates and City Hall watchers say they believe de Blasio won鈥檛 take on a big new initiative in the second term and wants someone who can better make the case for the change he says is already around us: preschool expansion, improved student performance and school safety, some school desegregation, improvement in low-performing schools the mayor thinks he doesn鈥檛 get credit for, and support for teachers in the form of salary increases and, in all likelihood, a new family leave provision. Bargaining begins in the spring.

It may be harder than it seems to find such an advocate. Accomplished big-city educators or state leaders won鈥檛 likely relish the idea of giving up autonomy to work under a hands-on executive who wants control over the narrative of city schools and who hardwired the city鈥檚 approach to labor unions and charter schools.

If the new person is an outsider, figure a 12-month learning curve. The mayor will be a lame duck for the final year or 18 months of his term. That leaves at most two years for meaningful work. Given how slowly change happens across 1,800 schools and 135,000 employees, two years amounts to cleaning the blackboard.

Three categories of candidates come to mind. The first is a past or present New York education leader. There are many, but few have the cachet to excite New Yorkers. Second, a major district leader or university or past elected official who sees a few years in New York City as the capstone to a successful career.

Finally, there are still those, presumably and hopefully, who think helping 1.1 million schoolchildren in New York City is too exciting and challenging, too inspiring to pass up.

Disclosure: David Cantor served as the Department of Education鈥檚 press secretary from 2005 to 2010.

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.