By Kathianne Boniello
The final pieces of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s education puzzle almost fell into place Monday as he introduced Joel Klein, who spent part of his boyhood in Queens, as the next schools chancellor at a packed news conference at the recently refurbished Tweed Courthouse.
Klein, a former assistant attorney general who ran the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division in the Clinton administration and who is well-known for leading the government’s case against Microsoft, grew up in Brooklyn and Queens and is a graduate of William C. Bryant High School in Long Island City. Prior to his appointment as schools chancellor, Klein served as chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann Inc., a media conglomerate.
Because Klein, 55, is a lawyer and businessman who is not a certified schools superintendent, the Bloomberg administration must obtain a waiver from state Education Commissioner Richard Mills before the appointment is final. Current Schools Chancellor Harold Levy, also a businessman, had obtained a waiver from Mills in January 2000 before his appointment was finalized.
A spokesman for the state Education Department said Tuesday Mills was convening a panel to approve Klein’s appointment and was awaiting the arrival of paperwork from the city. Spokesman Tom Dunne said the approval would probably take three business days.
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall gave cautious praise to Klein, whom she met Tuesday.
“I’m glad he has Queens roots,” she said through her spokesman, Dan Andrews. “He certainly has experience but not an educational background, so it’s important to see who he appoints as his deputy.”
The announcement caps a string of historic education achievements by Bloomberg, which includes a new governance structure approved by the state Legislature in May that gives the mayor control of the schools and eliminates the Board of Education. The mayor also successfully negotiated a new teachers contract, and chose to put the new city Department of Education in the Tweed Courthouse next to City Hall.
“I can’t think of anybody I’ve known that’s better suited for this job,” Bloomberg said of Klein Monday. “He is incorruptible. He is a visionary and I believe he will deliver to this city what we promised: a quality education to all our children.”
A former resident of the Woodside Houses, Klein had a short stint in 1969 as a math teacher in public school in Long Island City, according to the mayor’s office. Marshall’s office said Klein moved to the Woodside Houses from Brooklyn at age 9.
The lawyer identified a Bryant High School physics teacher, a Mr. Harris, as one of his role models and praised the city’s public schools.
“I owe those teachers and the New York City public schools more than I can ever repay,” he said.
Klein, who said he sent his daughter to private school, is a graduate of Columbia University and received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1971. After law school Klein worked as a Washington, D.C. lawyer for 20 years and was a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, whom he named as another role model.
The need to reform the city’s public school system, which has been dogged by budget problems, low test scores, overcrowding and crumbling schools, was not lost on Klein.
“Our future is at stake here,” he said. “It is an enormous honor to be able to serve in this effort.”
Levy, the schools chancellor appointed under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, had agreed to stay on until Bloomberg chose his replacement or Dec. 31, whichever came first. Levy was absent from Monday’s news conference, but later issued a statement praising Klein.
Levy described Klein as “a man with a distinguished career and clear intellectual strength. I look forward to assisting the new chancellor in any way I can.”
When asked if Klein could handle the city’s schools, which is the largest public school system in the nation with 1.1 million students, Bloomberg laughed.
“He managed 600 or 700 lawyers. That’s probably like herding cats,” the mayor said. “If he can do that, he can certainly do this.”
When pressed for specifics on how he would address the problems in city public schools, Klein said evaluating the system’s successes and failures was his next step.
“That is what the job is,” he said.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
