Queens Pols Divided on Deal That Paved the Way for Black

Northeast Queens elected officials disagreed on the granting of a waiver to enable Cathie Black to become the city's schools chancellor, despite a deal that was reached in which a career educator will be Black's second-in-command.

State Education Commissioner David Steiner granted a waiver for Black, who was tapped by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to replace Joel Klein as chancellor.

Shael Polakow-Suransky, who is currently the city's deputy chancellor for accountability and performance, will act as senior deputy chancellor to Black under a deal worked out between the state education commissioner and the Bloomberg administration.

But elected officials representing school District 26, which covers Douglaston, Little Neck and Bayside, had mixed feelings on the deal.

"Mr. Polakow-Suransky is a seasoned education professional with a deep understand of New York's public schools," said Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, who supported the compromise. "Like many of my colleagues, I was concerned with Ms. Black's lack of experience as an educator when she was appointed chancellor. With Ms. Black's proposed appointment of Mr. Polakow-Suransky, I have decided to support Ms. Black's appointment."

But the councilman said he would support Black on the condition that the mayor voluntarily presents her to the City Council's education committee.

"The mayor has the right to appoint a chancellor as he sees fit," Halloran said. "But the Council has the right to a fair hearing from the new chancellor."

State Senator-elect Tony Avella, who recently wrote a letter to Steiner in which he asked him not to grant the waiver to Black, said he believed Polakow-Suransky was qualified. But he still did not believe Black should be the schools chancellor.

"The bottom line is that we'll have a chancellor with no educational experience," Avella said. "I'm sure [Polakow-Suransky] is good, but I still don't think the waiver is appropriate. If we had a co-chair who would be autonomous and could do what he thought was best, it would be an improvement. But Black would not have to pay attention to him."

The mayor was required to obtain a waiver for Black because she does not have a background in education.

State Assemblyman-elect Edward Braunstein said he was not only opposed to the mayor's pick for chancellor, but also the process by which he chose her.

"The utter lack of transparency exhibited by Mayor Bloomberg during his selection process for appointing Cathie Black to be chancellor is a prime example of why so many people are dissatisfied with certain aspects of the current mayoral control law," he said. "Mayor Bloomberg's decision to appoint [her] without holding a single public hearing is just the latest instance of the Department of Education turning deaf ear to parents, teachers and education advocates in school districts 25 and 26."

Both the mayor and the DOE have defended Black's credentials. She previously worked as the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines and a publisher of USA Today.

Black's appointment has also divided community leaders in northeast Queens. Glen Oaks Village President Bob Friedrich supports the mayor's pick, but Community District Education Council 26 President Robert Caloras said he does not believe Black is qualified for the job. He called the compromise between Steiner and the mayor's office "a joke."