Incoming NYC Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott Hailed For Exemplary Leadership, Credentials

He's everything she was not.



Dennis Walcott, tapped to be the new schools chancellor, is a Bloomberg administration insider who attended and taught in city public schools - and sent his children to the system he'll lead.


Cathie Black, his embattled predecessor, was a surprising pick from the media world with no education experience and who sent her children to private schools.


"I'm just a guy from Queens whose parents were raised in Harlem," said Walcott, 59, a lifelong resident of the southeast section of the borough.


Walcott and his wife, Denise, have four kids and two grandsons. He started out teaching kindergarten and boasts that four generations of his family went to city schools.


"I have visited...hundreds and hundreds of our schools, walked their corridors, held the hands of the students and talked with the moms and dads," he said.


Walcott joined the Bloomberg administration in 2002 after 12years running the New York Urban League.


Lately, he had been frequently by Black's side as she tried to navigate through public appearances.


His supporters say he's more than ready to step into the top job.


"His leadership...will create opportunities for multiple voices - including parents - to be engaged in the school process," said Arva Rice, president of the New York Urban League.


Even critics seemed hopeful at Walcott's selection.


"I have been able to accomplish things with Dennis," said Michael Mulgrew, head of the teachers union. "We did a lot of work on career and technical education schools, we...were able to expand those schools."


After a raucous rollout, Walcott, who got a thunderous ovation when introduced to Department of Education staffers at Tweed Courthouse, was touted as a 2013 mayoral contender.


"An African American [with credibility on Wall Street] and the mayor's backing would be virtually unbeatable," said one City Hall source, "except he would have to resign now to start raising money."