Getting Buffaloed by Bloomberg

I'm a big Jets fan. The last three years have been especially interesting with Rex Ryan at the helm. He's larger than life, both figuratively and literally. In each of the three years he has been coach, he has predicted that the Jets would win the Super Bowl. While that hasn't happened (yet), we have gone to the AFC championship game in each of the last two seasons. This season is more iffy, but there's a chance we'll get to the playoffs again, and then--who knows?

This reminds me somewhat of Mayor Bloomberg, another (figuratively) larger than life personality who boasted that he'd get NYC public schools to the top of the heap. The boasting is where the similarity ends, however. Rex Ryan has produced results, while Mayor4life has not. The most recent NAEP scores show that over the last ten years, under Bloomie's stewardship, schools have not improved at all.

Bloomberg is trying to salvage what's left of his credibility by claiming that at least NYC has done better than other urban areas in the state--what Sol Stern of the Daily News calls the "We're better than Buffalo" defense. Talk about lowering expectations. NYC was supposed to be transformed into an oasis of educational excellence under the steady guidance of mayoral control; instead, we are slightly better than Buffalo.

Which brings me back to Rex Ryan. If the Jets lose this season, I'm having a hard time picturing Ryan coming out and saying, "Sure, we missed the playoffs, but at least we beat the Buffalo Bills twice!" No, beating Buffalo is NOT what Rex Ryan was hired to do. He was hired to get the Jets to the Super Bowl. And beating Buffalo on the NAEP is not what Bloomberg was hired to do; he was hired to make NYC schools significantly better than when he took over. He has failed miserably. The only honorable thing for him to do would be to resign, but that will never happen.

A final contrast between Ryan and Bloomberg is accountability. When the Jets underperform, Ryan falls on the dagger for his team. He does this, as any good coach does, to take the heat off his players and allow them to focus on the game at hand. Bloomberg, in sharp contrast, not only doesn't take the dagger himself, he plunges it into the backs of his teachers and then twists.

I'm certainly glad that Bloomberg doesn't coach the Jets. On the other hand, we might want to give Rex Ryan a shot at running the schools. He may not know much about education, but he sure as hell knows that beating Buffalo isn't enough.

Michael Mulgrew vs. Mark Sanchez

I'm a long time Jets fan. Today, my team plays the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the playoffs. Jets fans know the drill. We approach the game with both hope and apprehension, knowing that the Jets have found creative ways to blow big games for the last 40 years. Despite the fact that we gave the Bengals a drubbing just six days ago, the Jets are 3 point underdogs. No one believes they can end their run of bad plays and stupid decisions.

To win today, all the Jets have to do is follow the game plan. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez needs to hand the ball off about 75% of the time, and execute a few short passes to keep the Bengals' defense off balance. Sanchez has to control his emotions and keep from getting rattled, which leads to mistakes. I think he can be a great quarterback if he learns to, in sports parlance, "stay within himself".

Rookie UFT President Michael Mulgrew faces the same challenge. He's faced with an expired contract and a mayor who wants to drive him face first into the turf. Mulgrew's first challenge is to avoid mistakes. Randi Weingarten, his predecessor, fumbled the ball on seniority, ATRs, the rubber room, extended day, the open market, and a bunch of other issues. She turned to ball over so often you had to wonder which team she was playing for.

So far, I like Mulgrew. He has the potential to be the quarterback the UFT needs. He's pleaded his case in a calm but forceful manner with the public. He's shown no sense of urgency to sign a contract at any cost. He's stood firm for ATRs and the rubber room teachers, and has kept tenure off the table.

Mulgrew also seems to realize that you can't win with just a good defense alone. He's gone on the offensive on a number of issues, including actively fighting the proposed lifting of the charter school cap and suing the city for failing to use the CFE funds to reduce class size.

Both Mulgrew and Sanchez have shown the guts and poise needed to be good leaders. Whether they can hang on to that in the face of high pressure situations remains to be seen. The Jets face their test at 4:30 this afternoon. Mulgrew's challenge is ongoing.

I hope both are up to the task. Let's go Jets! And the UFT!