Metro

Bad sign for fading Black

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It is said you never get a sec ond chance to make a first im pression. Cathie Black better hope that’s not true.

More than four months after Mayor Bloomberg announced that the little-known magazine executive would be his new schools chancellor, Black is failing to create a positive identity for herself. She is still defined by the clumsy rollout of her appointment, a battle over her credentials and by minor gaffes she made since taking over Jan. 1.

The result is a dismal public profile where only 17 percent of New Yorkers approve of the job she is doing, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. The 49 percent who disapprove include majorities of most major racial, ethnic and political groups. Fully one-third do not have an opinion about her.

Blacks and Hispanics, whose children comprise the bulk of public-school students, give her thumbs-down. Only 13 percent of blacks like the job she is doing, while 56 percent disapprove. Among Hispanics, 17 percent approve and 57 percent disapprove.

The first female chancellor in city history does not enjoy much support from mothers with children in the schools. Only 13 percent approve, while 55 percent disapprove, the poll finds.

Factors beyond her control contribute to Black’s problems. She was greeted by budget cutbacks and controversy, as the mayor seeks to close underperforming schools and battles with the unions and the Legislature about seniority rules during planned layoffs.

And Bloomberg himself is sinking, with the same poll showing only 39 percent of New Yorkers approve of his performance, while 51 percent disapprove. That’s his lowest standing in eight years.

Among school parents, only 28 percent approve of Bloomberg, while 61 percent disapprove.

The combination of his and Black’s weak standing could prove deadly to the mayor’s ability to make major school progress in his final three years. “The way it’s going, you’ll have the ‘education mayor’ ending his third term with a chancellor who isn’t seen as credible,” a Bloomberg insider told me.

Yet there is no evidence that City Hall is worried enough about Black’s reputation to do anything about it. Her public appearances are mostly limited to photo ops in schools, and experienced education deputies are trotted out to answer substantive questions about policy and student performance.

She has not made a major speech to demonstrate a passion and vision for the system, or to lay out a progress report on her learning curve. The vacuum means her stumbling start retains an outsized impact on perception, with one skeptic saying she seems to see the job as just “another corporate assignment.”

The mayor’s claim that she was a “superstar manager” in the magazine world has not yet proved relevant to the school system, with most decisions so far being made either above or below her.

My request for an interview with Black was denied by City Hall.

A state official suggested that Albany shares the public disappointment and said some are convinced Black’s appointment was a mistake. “You can’t parachute into the middle of a conversation on a signature issue like this,” the official said. “All the things being fought over now are much too complicated for that.”

That may or may not be true. But unless City Hall can soon change the momentum of her tenure and persuade the public she is up to the job, Black’s fate may already be sealed.

Changing Times

If you were confused by the many details of The New York Times’ plan to create a pay wall around its Web content, you’re not alone. The day after it announced the plan, the Times ran a cor rection on how its own story described the charges. Priceless.

Hillary flips for Arab League

Looking for courage in the world? Try the Arab League. Yes, that Arab League.

In comments that explain the Obama administration’s paralyzing fear during the first month of the Libyan uprising and its sudden decision to take military action under UN auspices, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last week credited the “courageous stand” of the Arab League (its seal, above right) for sparking the flip-flop.

She also told Congress that Washington hesitated during the evacuation of American citizens from Tripoli out of fear we would “raise alarm bells around the region and the world that we were about to invade for oil.” Together, the comments show how President Obama and his team have internalized false Arab narratives about American imperialism to the point where they hamper the legitimate exercise of our power.

Welcome to the Neutered States of America, with our interests defined by how many other nations agree with us. Once those interests have been approved by the all-wise “international partners,” our military is available for mercenary duty.

Using the Arab League as justification for action against Moammar Khadafy is especially odd, since it has the wealth and firepower to do the job itself but not the courage. Yet Clinton said its call for a no-fly zone was a “sea change” for a lot of people, apparently including Obama.

Until then, he had resisted the idea as too dangerous, even as France and England pushed it. After the Arab League plea, he almost immediately agreed to a potentially much larger role, with the UN resolution authorizing “all necessary measures” to protect Libyan civilians.

Even that goal is mushy if it doesn’t end Khadafy’s rule. Are we really prepared to preside over the break-up of Libya and permanently protect millions of people who would live in a separate state next door to him?

When the first shots were fired yesterday, including a barrage of US missiles, Clinton was in Paris. In a clear dig at Obama, she praised the “leadership of President Sarkozy.”

Ah, yes, French exceptionalism.

Mere drop in the bottomless bucket

America doesn’t have a budget because Congress can manage to pass only temporary spending bills, the last two of which cut a mere $10 billion out of a $3.8 trillion budget. By comparison, a Government Accountability Office report shows Medicare and Medicaid made over $70 billion in improper payments in 2010.

Perhaps Congress could just cut the waste, but that’s too obvious to make any sense.

ATM bank shots

Watch your wallet — government is here to help. Consider the sharp hikes in ATM fees and other bank service charges around the country.

Because of “reforms” in the Dodd-Frank financial law, banks will be restricted in how much they can charge merchants for debit-card transactions. Fees on a purchase of $100 would fall from $1.30 to just 12 cents.

In theory, that could lead merchants to pass the savings on to shoppers. In reality, the proposed change has sent banks on a frenzied hunt for new revenue to make up for billions in lost card fees.

Some are raising ATM charges, with Chase socking noncustomers as much as $5 for a withdrawal in some states, about double the current rate. Other banks are sure to follow.

All of which proves two basic truths. First, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Second, beware of reformers.