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Cathleen Black will receive the state waiver that lets her become the next New York City schools chancellor, following a Thanksgiving deal between the city and the state, an official familiar with the deal confirmed today.

Shael Polakow-Suransky, the man whose promotion allowed Cathie Black to become chancellor

The deal calls for Black to give a major promotion to Shael Polakow-Suransky, an education official who has sparred with Chancellor Joel Klein’s top deputies, even while working alongside them. Suransky, currently deputy chancellor for “performance and accountability,” will now hold two titles: senior deputy chancellor and chief academic officer.

Suransky engaged in especially vigorous debates with James Leibman, the official who created Klein’s controversial school report cards, according to department officials. He successfully lobbied to give schools the opportunity to create their own assessments rather than follow state tests.

The disagreements didn’t stop the two men from respecting each other. When Leibman left the Department of Education to return to Columbia University, Klein promoted Suransky to succeed him as head of the accountability office. An official said that Leibman promoted Suransky to the position.

Suransky is also one of a small number of top Department of Education officials who regularly refers to “instruction” as the part of education he would like to change — a trait he holds in common with Steiner and his top deputy, John King. Like King, Suransky is also a former teacher and principal. He has worked closely with state education officials on their main project, the reforms they are creating with their federal Race to the Top funding. Suransky has taken an especially prominent role in creating new assessments designed to make it harder for teachers to “teach to the test.” (more…)