Joel Klein, who has served as the chancellor of the city’s schools since the state granted the city mayoral control in 2002, is stepping down from his post, he announced today. He’ll become a vice-president at News Corp. with, he says, the responsibility of helping them “in the burgeoning and dynamic education marketplace.” If you read the pages of New York, you may have been tipped off to this news. Last month when we asked News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch (himself the 13th most powerful man in the world, according to Forbes) who he thought was the most important living New Yorker, he named Klein.
Cathie Black, the president of Hearst Magazines since 1995 (and former associate publisher of New York), has been named as his successor. Like Klein before her, she is an unorthodox choice. Klein had been engaged in public service with the Department of Justice and in the Clinton White House, between stints of private law practice. Black has never worked full time in public service or in education, although her resume is impeccable: After working at New York, she rose to the position of publisher at USA Today and then became president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America. She also serves on the board of IBM and Coca-Cola. And she wrote a book, Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life). “The Mayor selected Black to follow Klein as Chancellor because of her unique experience building on successes and leading teams to even greater achievements,” a press release from City Hall noted today, rather cryptically. According to Gotham Schools, Black will be the first woman to lead New York’s school system, according to Gotham Schools.
Live-Blogging Joel Klein’s Sayonara Press Conference [Gotham Schools]
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein to Step Down Today [NBC New York]
Earlier: Daily Intel’s 21 Questions with Cathie Black
