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As expected, State Education Commissioner David Steiner has granted publishing executive Cathleen Black the waiver she needs to become the city’s next schools chancellor.

Steiner’s decision follows a deal struck between city and state officials, the details of which emerged late last week. The agreement called for Black to promote Deputy Chancellor Shael Polakow-Suransky to a new position of Chief Academic Officer and was designed to ameliorate Steiner’s concerns about Black’s lack of experience in the education field.

Under state law, the commissioner is allow to waive the requirements for education experience and certification if the chancellor candidate’s experience is “substantially equivalent.”

In his letter today, Steiner cites the waiver that his predecessor, Richard Mills, gave former Chancellor Harold Levy 2000. In that case, Mills wrote that the chancellor’s experience did not need to mirror the required credentials, but rather that the candidate’s experience has prepared her for the chancellor’s job.

“After careful review of the record before me it is my judgment that, when viewed in its entirety, Ms. Black’s training, background and experience are substantially equivalent to the certification requirements set forth in law,” Steiner writes. (more…)

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…)

Update: Maura sends this picture of the assembled panel. From second man on the left they are: Bernard Pierorazio, Kenneth Slentz, Louise Mirrer, Susan Fuhrman, Commissioner David Steiner, SED staff member Erin O'Grady-Parent, Jean-Claude Brizard, Andres Alonso, and Michele Cahill. Not pictured: Ronald Ferguson. And because high school never really ends, all of the panel members who worked for Chancellor Joel Klein are sitting at the same table.

Update 5:20 PM: The panel has voted to deny Cathie Black a waiver. Two members voted in favor, but four voted against it and two voted “not at this time.”

The final decision rests with Education Commissioner David Steiner, who has not made a call yet.

In just a few minutes, the panel selected to advise Education Commissioner David Steiner on Cathie Black’s suitability as chancellor will convene for the first time.

But its eight members won’t be pausing to field questions about their stances on Black’s appointment or on their possible conflicts of interest. (more…)

State Education Commissioner David Steiner has named the panel of education experts that will help him decide whether to allow magazine executive Cathie Black to become the next schools chancellor.

Without a background in education, Black needs a waiver from the state that will let her bypass the prerequisites: that she have a degree in education and several years of teaching behind her. Though the final decision rests with Steiner, the panel will play a role in reviewing the city’s case for why Black is qualified and making a recommendation.

Reviewing the list of panel members, New York University Professor Pedro Noguera said the commissioner had covered his bases.

“Steiner’s aware that this is very controversial,” Noguera said. “So if you think about it, instead of just him making the decision he can say, ‘Look, I got a group of very reputable people in education who agreed with me.’” (more…)

State Education Commissioner David Steiner is the person who has the final word over whether Cathie Black is permitted as Schools Chancellor Joel Klein’s successor. But the group of people who effectively oversee Steiner are trying to have their say, too.

A number of lawmakers — including Assembly members Marcos Crespo and Deborah Glick, as well as State Senator-elect Tony Avella — have already sent Steiner letters urging him to block Black’s appointment. Others have not gone that far, but are expressing deep misgivings both about Black’s lack of education credentials and the mayor’s abrupt and secretive selection process.

In making their stance, state lawmakers walk a fine line.

On the one hand, the legislature appoints the Board of Regents, who in turn appoint Steiner. And Steiner frequently needs to negotiate with lawmakers, as he has done this year over the charter cap and state budget. Lawmakers’ stances on Black’s appointment therefore matter.

“I think it should [matter],” said Queens Assemblyman David Weprin. “[Steiner is] going to have to deal with the legislature on a myriad of issues, as he has already.”

But at the same time, these are the same lawmakers who extended sole authority over the city schools to Bloomberg last year. (more…)

State education commissioner David Steiner and deputy John King discuss New York's Race to the Top application.

As school districts and charter schools prepare their proposals for spending their share of nearly $700 million in Race to the Top spoils, state officials are giving guidance about how they should use the money.

School districts have until November to create their plans for using the federal funds. On Monday, State Education Commissioner David Steiner and Deputy Commissioner John King held a videoconference with superintendents and school administrators around the state to help them begin to plan.

(Watch Steiner and King’s presentation and see the accompanying slides here.)

The state education department will keep half of the Race to the Top winnings; the other half will be distributed among participating school districts and charter schools according to the federal Title I formula, King said. (more…)

Education Commissioner David Steiner and Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch at yesterday's press conference in the governor's office.

Why should the Race to the Top grant have a greater effect than previous federal money? And why make New York City’s data system statewide if it’s not exactly beloved in the city?

WNYC reporter Beth Fertig put these questions and others to State Education Commissioner David Steiner and Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch yesterday. Clips from the interview ran on WNYC yesterday, but you can listen to the full conversation below.

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And here’s the complete transcript:

WNYC:  This money is not supposed to be plugging the gap that we hear about in the state’s education expenses.

STEINER: That’s correct. This money is dedicated to specific education reforms. Primarily the following areas. First, turning around lowest performing schools. Absolutely critical, it’s a moral dilemma that we face and we’ve got to solve for our students. Second, the preparation and support of outstanding teachers and principals, from the moment that they enter their training programs in preparation, to their entire professional careers. Third, providing our teachers and principals and parents and districts with world-class data systems so that we know in real time what is being done in the classroom, what’s working, what isn’t working, what needs to be changed. And, beyond that, working on our assessments and curriculum, so that the materials that teachers share with children really do prepare them for further education for university, college, and the workplace, and the assessments give us an accurate reading of how those students are doing. (more…)

Source: New York State Education Department

The day of reckoning has arrived.

After weeks of warning that adjusted standards would mean far fewer students passing state exams this year, state education officials released the exact numbers today.

Average raw scores on the state third through eighth grade math and reading exams remained flat. But because the state decided to raise the scores required for a student to be deemed proficient, the number of students passing fell sharply.

In New York City and other big cities, the number of students passing reading exams dropped by more than a quarter — from 68.8 percent of city students passing last year to 42.4 percent this year in reading, for example.

Just over 53 percent of third through eighth-grade students statewide passed the reading exam, compared to 77 percent last year. Around 61 percent of students passed their math exams, compared with more than 86 percent last year.

Pass rates of students learning English, students with disabilities, and poor students fell the farthest. The percentage of students learning English who passed the reading exam fell by more than half, from 36 percent to under 15 percent. Just 15 percent of students with disabilities passed the reading exam, compared to 39 percent last year. (more…)

As New York State grapples with improving its standardized tests, officials are asking the federal government for more time to make changes before schools are labeled as struggling.

In an interview on WNYC this morning, host Brian Lehrer asked State Education Commissioner David Steiner whether more difficult tests would mean more failing students and thus an increasing number of schools on the “In Need of Improvement” list. Schools land on the list if students’ test scores don’t increase by a certain amount for two years running. If the list grows, more schools could be closed or restructured.

Acknowledging that harder tests will be a new burden for schools, Steiner said the state was asking the federal government to withhold judgement until the changes are in place:

“What we’re asking them to do is give us a year or two to factor in the major change,” he said. ”We’re doing the same with academic interventions — that schools will have to give to so many more students — so that schools don’t have a huge unfunded mandate.”

If the U.S. Department of Education agrees to go a bit easy on New York schools, it’s unclear whether that would mean a temporary halt to “In Need of Improvement” designations.

State education officials are responding to widespread calls to make state tests more difficult. But they’re getting some harsh criticism from a surprising corner: the head of the Buffalo school system.

As Education Commissioner David Steiner and Deputy Commissioner John King travel around New York explaining their plans to overhaul the state exams, they’ve largely met with support. In New York City, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has called for tougher exams. But last week, Buffalo School Superintendent James Williams told The Buffalo News that he doubts Steiner and King’s approach will really improve the state’s schools.

“I think they’re two people who don’t know what they’re doing,” Williams said. “A more rigorous test is not going to improve student achievement. It’s not going to improve the graduation rate. I think it’s ridiculous.” (more…)