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Brizard to Chicago?
April 18th, 2011

Jean-Claude Brizard, who spent 21 years in the city public school system as a teacher and administrator before becoming schools superintendent in Rochester, is apparently likely to head Chicago’s public school system, according to various reports this morning.

The move, which newly elected Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is expected to announce, today will be a huge step up for Brizard, a native of Haiti who launched his career by teaching junior high school science. The Rochester schools have 32,000 students; Chicago has the nation’s third largest system with about 410,000 students in 675 schools.

Brizard served as a regional superintendent and as executive director for secondary schools in New York City. He holds master’s degrees from City College and Queens College, as well as a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Queens College. Brizard most recently made news in the city when he served on the panel that advised state Education Commissioner David Steiner against granting an unconditional waiver to allow Cathie Black to become city schools chancellor.

Rochester reaction after the jump.

While there seems to be little reaction from Chicago so far, the rumors about Brizard sparked some irritation in Rochester. The city’s school board chief Mailk Evans said the board would meet to consider its legal options this afternoon. Brizard had signed a new three-year contract with the upstate city in November.

Expressing some irritation board member Van White told a Rochester reporter, “This is not the NFL. This is not Bausch and Lomb. This is not Xerox. This is public service. This is a superintendent that needs to see through the job that he began. The proverbial apple cart has been overturned. And the apples are all over the floor. And we believe we still believe this superintendent is the right superintendent to right that apple cart and put those apples back in this cart.”

By Gail Robinson on April 18, 2011, 11:32 am
In category: Education | 1 Comment »

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One Response to “Brizard to Chicago?”

  1. chicago reaction now Says:
    April 18th, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/district-299/2011/04/people-schools-ceo-announcement-today.html

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