Metro

Cathie Black out as city schools chancellor after just three months on the job

Mayor Bloomberg’s embattled, hand-picked schools chancellor, Cathie Black, is out after just 96 days on the job.

One source said Bloomberg made the decision himself and told Black of it during a meeting this morning.

“He initiated the conversation,” the source said.

Having little choice, Black agreed to go, the source added.

EDUCATION COMMISSIONER STEINER NEXT OUT FOLLOWING CATHIE BLACK

At a news conference at City Hall this morning, Bloomberg sugar-coated the decision, saying the two had “mutually agreed” it was time for her to go.

“I take full responsibility for the fact that this did not work out,” he said.

Bloomberg said, “The story had really become about her and away from the kids and that’s not right.”

Despite that, Bloomberg also said he “thinks [Black] has done an admirable job.”

“I have nothing but respect … for the work she has done,” he added.

Black will be replaced by Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, who has served as a cross between a chaperone and mentor to Black since the out-of-left-field announcement of her appointment was made Nov. 11.

The head of the teachers’ union sidestepped questions about his opinions of Black’s departure.

Asked what grade he’d give Black, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said, “She wasn’t in the class for a semester so it wouldn’t be correct for me to give her a grade.“

The former publishing executive’s brief tenure had been wracked by public gaffes, abysmal poll numbers and a steadily departing crew of top level cabinet officials.

Black, 66, who officially took over for former Schools Chancellor Joel Klein in January, has been plagued by low approval ratings over the past few months.

Earlier this week, a NY1/Marist College poll showed that just 17 percent of New Yorkers think she was doing a good job, while 61 percent would give her a failing grade.

Black’s approval rating in a Quinnipiac University poll three weeks ago was a similarly abysmal 17 percent, with 49 percent wishing she’d leave.

Apparently, the sentiment was echoed by some inside the administration.

“This is very good news,” said one mayoral insider. “The fallout from the Black appointment just got so untenable.”

Black’s brief tenure was marked by controversy from the get-go.

In January, Black, whose lack of education and government work had been controversial since her appointment, joked about using “birth control” to stem school overcrowding during a meeting with concerned Manhattan parents.

She also likened her hard choices to those of a Holocaust victim from the novel and movie “Sophie’s Choice.”

Black later personally apologized, but some people say she never quite rebounded from the fallout. Mayor Bloomberg defended her on that occasion.

“I think the comment she made to me and my neighborhood was the writing on the wall,” said Community Board 1 chair Julie Menin.

At a meeting with students and parents in Brooklyn, Black again put her foot in her mouth.

As a chorus of boos greeted her at Brooklyn Tech HS this past February, Black mocked the crowd.

“I cannot speak if you are shouting,” Black had said before mocking the crowd’s response by repeating, “Ohhhhh.”

Since Black took the helm of the nation’s largest school system, four of the eight top deputies in place to support her have jumped ship — include two just this week.

City Council Education Chairman Robert Jackson called Black’s sudden departure “a surprise,” but he said it was “best overall for the city of New York and the children of New York City.”

“I have high regards for Dennis Walcott,” said Jackson. “I’ve known Dennis for over 20 years. “I know Dennis went to the public school system. I know as the deputy mayor he’s not going to lose his ground.”

Black’s replacement has plenty of education experience.

Walcott has worked as Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development and was a former kindergarten teacher in Queens.

Before joining the Bloomberg administration in 2002, he was the President and CEO of the New York Urban League. Walcott graduated from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut with a Bachelor’s degree and a Master of Education in 1973 and 1974, respectively, and in 1980, received his Master of Social Work from Fordham University.

Walcott, who served on the now-defunct Board of Education, said he is happy to have the job.

“I am a believer in reform and I am a believer in Mayor Bloomberg,” he said.

Black this afternoon said she was happy and relieved, adding that she had gone out and bought a new pair of running shoes.

She also said she was happy to have served and praised Walcott.

Amber Sutherland contributed to this story