The man for the job

Is it me or is the most frequently sought after quality in school administration these days a talent for telling the local community to shove it?

On the other hand, White's critics in New York echo some of the complaints heard in New Orleans: that school officials will show up to hear parents' concerns but rarely act on them.

Irene Kaufman, one of the founding members of a group in New York called the Public School Parent Advocacy Committee, said White met with parents mainly to "beat the drum for Joel Klein's agenda."

She added, "A lot of us found him to be very condescending."

Leonie Haimson, a parent in New York and a founding member of the group Class Size Matters, said White has often told parents one thing and gone ahead with another. She described a case a year-and-a-half ago in which White assured parents in Manhattan that a new computer learning program called "Quest to Learn" would not take up existing school space. Haimson said it ended up in the gym at Bayard Rustin High School anyway.

"He has no interest in other stakeholders," Haimson said. "He has no respect for parents."