Rochester, N.Y. – Surrounded by his cabinet – but no school board members, Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard explained his reasons for leaving Rochester in his first public statements since Monday’s announcement by Chicago Mayor-Elect Rahm Emanuel that he would head up Chicago Public Schools.
“I came here to do a job but always understood it would not be forever,” he said.
Brizard said he didn’t go looking for the opportunity.
“I'm not going to say I'm not ambitious. Everyone wants to be ambitious. I work hard. For me, it is about the work, not about money and certainly not about seeing what is next. I am not a serial superintendent,” Brizard said.
But Brizard did feel the heat during his nearly 3 ½ years with the Rochester City School District. Teachers overwhelmingly voted no confidence in his leadership. A Center for Governmental Research survey showed only 9 percent of teachers and 43 percent of administrators think the district is in a better place because of Brizard.
Downstairs from the press conference, community activists gathered to demand a different style of management going forward.
“I don't think the district is in a better place. To use the cliché, I guess I would say we've been on the wrong train, the wrong track in the wrong direction,” said retired principal Dan Drmacich.
“I'm not going to say he's a bad person, but I don't think he did much for our district since he's been here,” said parent Carmella Terry.
Brizard’s efforts to close troubled schools, end teacher seniority, enact merit pay and his support for charter schools caused controversy. More recently, he announced massive budget cuts, including more than 900 layoffs.
“It's not about bailing whatsoever,” Brizard said. “In fact, if I was I would be looking for a more difficult assignment.”
Brizard said the teachers’ no-confidence vote stung. “I am not anti-teacher…That label has probably been the most hurtful for me as an educator.”
Resignation by Text Message?
On Friday, four of the seven members of the school board held a news conference to say they supported Brizard and he had not informed them of any plans to leave the district. But board president Malik Evans and board member Van White admitted they had not been able to contact the superintendent for a week.
Then on Monday, Evans said Brizard sent him a text message informing him of his resignation. Evans called the text “unprofessional.”
Brizard said he did not inform Evans via text that he was leaving.
“I talked to Malik three times before that message. It wasn't just a text message. We actually spoke in person and last over the phone on Saturday,” Brizard said. He added that he did not get any texts from White, saying White perhaps had the wrong number.
Meta data from documents released by the district indicate that the press release announcing Brizard’s departure was created on Friday at 9:52 p.m. It was sent to the press on Monday afternoon. Brizard’s letter of resignation to Evans was created on Saturday at 10:27 p.m. Evans said he received by courier Monday afternoon.
“I'm not going to go back and forth on how we got notified and not notified,” Evans said. “I made it very clear on Monday how I was notified. I think it's time to move forward. It's time for us to move past Jean-Claude Brizard. He's made his decision. He's going to Chicago. We wish him well.”
