By: Benyamin Davidsons
Meisha Ross Porter started her first day as the new NYC Schools Chancellor on Monday.
Porter, 47, will replace former Chancellor Richard Carranza at the same salary of $363,346, having been appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Porter has become a rising star in the city’s Department of education, jumping to a “quick ascension”, despite less than 2 years as an actual teacher. Critics wonder if Porter has enough experience to run the biggest school system in America.
As reported by the NY Post, in 1997, Porter, formerly a community organizer, joined the DOE, helping to create the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice. She worked as assistant to founding principal David Banks for roughly three years. Then she started teaching English at the school. In 2003, only a year and a half later, her teaching days ended with her appointment as assistant principal. Just six months later, she was promoted to principal after Banks left to start a network of all-boys’ public schools. “It was a quick ascension, but there was no one better to lead that school,” Banks told The Post. “Nobody was more committed, nobody knew more about the school, beside me, than her. She was the heart and soul of the place — the two of us were.” In 2015, after ten years as principal, she was appointed as superintendent of all the schools in the Bronx, and now she will begin serving as NYC Schools Chancellor.
Unlike other DOE superintendents, however, Porter never earned a permanent teaching license. At that time, she didn’t need one to become a school administrator, as per the state education department. The state rules now say that three years of prior teaching experience are required. In fact, under laws set in 2014, most NYC educators cannot become principals without at least seven years of teaching or other instructional posts.
“She’s been in the right place at the right time, but she’s good,” Banks commented. “The DOE is a $32 billion industry responsible for overseeing buses, food and everything else. You’re not the top teacher, you’re running the entire system,” Banks added. “Meisha has been a wonderful educator. She cares deeply about kids and families. She knows how to improve schools, and get the community to buy in.”
In response to the Post’s request for comment, spokespersons for City Hall and the DOE wrote: “The NY Post’s desperate and racist attempt to undermine her qualifications is disgraceful. She is more than qualified with over 20 years of on-the-ground experience in the school system she is leading and we will not entertain these patently false claims”.
