Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard chided former boss Mayor Rahm Emanuel this week in an interview from the safety of his new post at an East Coast educational organization, saying the mayor needs to “learn to let go and allow his managers to lead.”
In an interview with the Fordham Institute, Brizard also said the administration was caught flat-footed last year by the strength of the Chicago Teachers Union’s organizing power during the first walk-out in Chicago in 25 years.
“We severely underestimated the ability of the Chicago Teachers Union to lead a massive grassroots campaign against our administration,” Brizard is quoting as saying in the interview.
Brizard parted ways with Emanuel after the seven-school-day teacher strike in September 2012, telling the Tribune that “the mayor should have the CEO he wants to have.”
Brizard parted ways with Emanuel after the seven-school-day teacher strike in September 2012, telling the Tribune that “the mayor should have the CEO he wants to have.”
Brizard said talking to people about his new boss ahead of time didn’t prepare him for working for Emanuel when he took over in Chicago as the mayor’s hand-picked schools CEO in May 2011. Brizard came from a similar job leading the Rochester, NY, school district.
“I received a ton of advice on how to work with and for him, but in hindsight, few of these pieces of advice were helpful,” Brizard said in the interview. “MRE was always ‘on’ and a master at managing media. He is actually best when he is not on stage.”
“While I never experienced the man with the ‘reputation,’ I certainly can see that possible side,” Brizard added. “I experienced a man who loves his family dearly and is frustrated by the challenges of a school system in crisis and a crime situation that is making international headlines.”
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