When All Else Fails, Just Blame George and the Yankees

Professor Alan Singer at the Huffington Post asks, "Does the Ghost of George Steinbrenner Run the New York City Schools?"

Between 1982 and 1995, George “Boss Bluster” Steinbrenner completely mismanaged the New York Yankees. The team won no pennants, churned through thirteen managers (although some were repeats), and signed countless expensive free agents, including Steve Kemp, Ed Whitson, and Danny Tartabull, who failed to perform in pinstripes. Meanwhile Steinbrenner insulted his players and even hired a private detective to spy on one of the team’s stars. It was not until 1995, when Steinbrenner withdrew from active involvement in the management of the team, that stability in the form of homegrown young players (Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, and Andy Pettitte) and a long-term manager (Joe Torre) brought another round of success. Today it seems that Boss Bluster's management style, tossing money at the problems and blaming other people for your failures, is alive and well in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s New York City Department of education. Maybe Steinbrenner’s ghost is running the New York City school system.

As schools reopen this week, students and teachers return to twenty-two public schools that were originally slated to be closed because of poor student performance on standardized tests. The schools, teachers, and students were granted a reprieve in May and are supposed to be reorganized under the RESTART program. The reality is that the New York City Department of Education, with support from the Obama Administration and federal Race to the Top money, is setting up failing schools to fail again. .....

I happen to know and respect Dr Singer. I also know he is a Bronx born Yankees' fan. Now even though what he says is true, why couldn't he pin the blame on owners who were just as fiscally incompetent? Same old story, blame the Yankees for everything.