A reader sends in a group of articles about the Chicago superintendent J.C. Brizard:
Brizard is a graduate of the Broad Superintendents Academy
http://www.broadcenter.org/academy/network/profile/featured-jean-claude-brizard
He stirred up churn in Rochester before coming to Chicago:
The Corporate Agenda for Public Schools: Is Brizard on Board?
http://dragonflyeye.net/jongreenbaum/2009/07/24/the-corporate-agenda-for-public-schools-is-brizard-on-board/
He is one of many Broad Superintendents Academy graduates whose churn has left devastated school districts in their wake:
The Broad Foundation: A Parent’s Guide
http://schoolmatters.knoxnews.com/forum/topics/the-broad-foundation-a-parents
Diane Ravitch's blog 
He was so unpopular in Rochester NY and the teachers had a no confidence vote against him. It was bewildering why Chicago would want him but with the former mayor moving up to the big time in the Democratic party, I guess he recommended Brizzard for the job. It was great timing, Rochester cheered. Funny another superintendent Rochester fired ended up being hired by Washington DC and was fired one night at midnight, replaced by Michele Rhee. DC seemed to have regrets in firing Clifford Janey but believe me, Rochester didn’t. But then we got Brizzard! Rochester is so small that superintendent’s tend to use it as a stepping stone and leave it pretty quickly when the going gets tough. Lucky for us.
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Mayor Emanuel knew exactly what he was getting with Brizard – the fact that he was wildly unpopular in Rochester was a feature, not a bug. It was his first open up yours to the teachers and the union. As always, he thought a big power play would solidify his power and show everyone who’s boss, but the ultimate effect was to increase solidarity among teachers which led to the 90%+ strike authorization vote.
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They rotate around like their own version of the “Lemon Dance” or “Rubber Room.”
It’s a scene out of Waiting for Super(intendent)man.
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Like recycling coaches for professional and college teams. There must be an invisible circuit. Time to short it out.
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Broadies hire Broadies.
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Very clever, Alan!
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Diane, Remember the article in the Trib that I referred you to previously entitled,
“CPS fails to close performance gap”? What really struck me about that was, coming after a paragraph stating “CEO Arne Duncan — now the U.S. education secretary… closed dozens of underperforming schools ” is this:
“Brizard said many of those school closings were misguided, often about saving money instead of improving the learning environment for disadvantaged students.”
“I think too much was about efficiency,” Brizard said. “If you take a look, it’s been the same neighborhoods who did not have quality (schools) and still don’t have quality (schools).”
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-14/news/ct-met-cps-racial-gap-1114-20111114_1_performance-gap-cps-jean-claude-brizard
Maybe it the juxtaposition, but it sounds like a slam against Arne and, in any case, it is so not in keeping with the typical corporate “reform” blame the teachers retort regarding low achievement. I would not be surprised if Brizard got into steaming hot water for saying that. It made me wonder if maybe the guy was rethinking the whole party line thing.
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It may have been a slam against Duncan, but Brizard is fully on board with the corporate reform agenda. In that same article he also laid out a lot of standard talking points: that it’s about the kids, not the adults, not contracts; that students will benefit from the longer school day and a more “rigorous” curriculum”, development opportunities (in Broad philosophy and methods, I’m sure) for principals and pay bonuses to go with them, etc. For that matter, he’s done his fair share of school closings too.
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Seattle’s Maria Goodloe-Johnson was hired in Michigan after being fired from SPS – it was a fairly public financial matter here, so they can’t say they didn’t know what they were getting. She was Broadie too, so my guess is she was hired by a fellow Broadie.
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When I started my career as Superintendent in the early 1980s there were colleagues who had a reputation as “grenade throwers”… They would be hired by Boards who wanted to “clean house” and would come in, fire all the administrators (and, in some cases, teacher-leaders), hire replacements, and leave town. In some cases the Boards might have been doing the right thing: in small districts where leadership is inbred and incompetent an outsider is needed to make some cold decisions… but in other cases Boards wanted to dismiss administrators who were unpopular for seeking higher standards of performance or who didn’t support the football program enough or who suspended the wrong students… Lost in all this discussion about urban superintendencies and urban unions is the reality that most districts are small and political in the “small P” sense of the word and that unions are still needed to protect teachers from boards who disagree with reading assignments, discipline action, and grades given to students…. and there are Brizards out there who will always land on their feet because SOME Boards want grenade throwers for the wrong reason.
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With Jean-Claude I hope to hear a Trump like: “You’re Fired!” Permanently. No third acts please.
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