Jean-Claude Brizard has made a name for himself as a Klein-clone. Few people know that Brizard left New York City and went to Rochester NY where he is being sued and where he started the Rochester Rubber Room ("RRR"). I was contacted more than two years ago by an inhabitant of the RRR and have followed his case ever since. He is now in a 3020-a.
Then there is the Federal Lawsuit against Brizard, and the question of how Rahm could appoint Brizard:
Can Chicago legally hire a man who violated anti-discrimination laws in Rochester New York?Rahm to hire Brizard! Is it Legal?
A preliminary investigation of Chicago's mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel announcement to appoint Jean-Claude Brizard to be the next Chief Executive Officer of Chicago's public schools shows the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC Charge No. 525-2010-00266), Buffalo Local Office on June 29, 2010 found Mr. Brizard to have discriminated against one of his employees in his position as Superintendent of Schools for the Rochester City School District.
The EEOC findings are part of an open federal discrimination lawsuit (Case 6:10-CV-06384-MAT) in the Western District of New York, against Mr. Brizard. The plaintiff is Marilyn Patterson-Grant an African American and 57 years old that started working in the Rochester district in 1975 as a teacher and rose through the ranks to become Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, the district’s top administrator in charge of instruction was terminated on January 26, 2010. Subsequently, Ms. Patterson-Grant filed charges against the District and Mr. Brizard with the EEOC the Federal agency responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
"Mr. Brizard is quoted as saying that you will 'retire in place' or 'RIP'. Comments that were made at various board meetings, that gave an inference of age discrimination and also there's an allegation that Mr. Brizard made comments about the fact that the plaintiff was a strong, black woman and that's why they didn't get along," said Christina Agola, Patterson-Grant's lawyer in telephone interview.
http://abclocal.go.com/...
Copy of Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Jean-Claude Brizard
Chicago Teachers Union Threatens to Strike
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| Jean-Claude Brizard |
Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis said union members are showing "overwhelming" support for a strike, according to the Chicago Tribune. CTU and the Chicago Public Schools have been in contract negotiations for four months and are still far from coming to an agreement.
The parties have been embroiled in conflict for a while now over the district's implementation of policies that extend the school day and tie teacher evaluations to student performance. In the current negotiations, according to the Tribune, the union has asked for a nearly 30 percent raise over two years—24 percent next year and 5 percent the year after—while the district is offering a 2 percent raise next year and then turning to a merit pay system. Lewis, not known for being reserved in her rhetoric, said, "I have never seen anything like this hostile climate that exists right now."
Schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard said in a news conference, "It's unfortunate that the CTU will be talking about a strike when we know we have so much work we have to do within our schools."
Lewis claimed an informal poll of members at 150 schools indicates that nearly all teachers are ready to walk out. However, a new Illinois law has made a walkout difficult to initiate. At least 75 percent of all union members need to approve a strike, rather than a majority of voters as previously required. In addition, the law requires a series of steps—including a panel review and fact-finding process—be taken before a strike can occur, which would take at least four months to complete, pushing the possibility of a strike into the next school year.
Education policy expert Rod Estvan told the paper that membership "polling is also a negotiating tool on the part of the CTU to try to get a better offer."
If a strike were to take place, it would be the first in Chicago in 15 years.
CPS chief defends move closing, reorganizing schools
Chicago Tribune
LINK
“I argue and I beg that we can no longer accept a status quo that has failed our students year after year – because that’s exactly what has happened for decades,” Brizard told hundreds of parishioners at Apostolic Church of God in the Woodlawn community. “And it needs to stop.”
Speaking to reporters after the address, Brizard downplayed criticism from the Chicago Teachers Union and the Rev. Jesse Jackson that the closures and turnarounds amounted to educational “apartheid”
“Ninety percent of our kids are black and brown .... how can that be educational apartheid?” he said.
Jackson on Friday said the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition will call on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate inequalities in the city's public school system that, he said, have disproportionately affected African-American and Latino students.
“I’m focusing on the injustice of having kids locked into schools that have been underperforming for years ... I’ll let them do what they need to do,” Brizard said in response to the threat of a federal investigation. “I’ve got work to do here to focus on making sure our schools are delivering for our kids.”
Amid criticism from Jackson, the teachers union and scores of community members, the seven-member Chicago school board unanimously approved a slate of changes Wednesday that included closing seven schools and the wholesale restructuring of 10 others, a process CPS calls “turnaround.”
Among those on the list for closure are Dyett High School and Crane Tech High School, both institutions that have had top-level funding but haven’t shown results, Brizard said.
“These schools have been resourced appropriately,” he said. “We have not gotten a return on the investment. Our kids are not getting what they need.”
Community members also have protested any changes to community schools. But on Sunday, Brizard was met with encouragement.
The Rev. Byron Brazier, pastor of church, said he supported Brizard and the needed changes for the community.
“I know there’s always conversations about the schools and unions on what’s right what’s wrong,” the pastor said to the crowd, as murmurs of “uh-huh” and “hallelujah” rippled throughout. “(You can take ) the position to complain or you can take the position to support and help develop because he can’t do it by himself.”
Brizard, who has visited the church three times, told parishioners that good schools can make a difference for a young person in the city.
He used his own story as a young black man growing up in the projects in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“I was able to persevere and succeed and stand before you today refusing to accept the proposition that African¿American students growing up in urban America aren’t capable of extraordinary achievement,” he said to thunderous applause. “... I refuse to make excuses for any school failing to educate students and any child not meeting their full potential – and each of you should refuse to as well.”
He said many of the opponents have forgotten that in the end, these decisions are about children, not the adults who are involved in the school.
“I know change can be uncomfortable, but continued failure is unconscionable and is not an option,” Brizard said.
bschlikerman@tribune.comJean-Claude Brizard, Chicago's new Schools Chief, doesn't back down from a challenge
Jean-Claude Brizard, Chicago Public Schools' fourth chief executive since 2009, sees in Chicago an opportunity to succeed where he failed in Rochester
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When he arrived in Rochester, a chronically under-performing district of 34,000 students, Brizard tapped into his Broad training, promising to boost graduation rates and test scores, particularly among African-American and Latino students. But almost immediately he rankled longtime district employees by demanding stricter teacher evaluations and linking their pay to student performance.
Other initiatives — such as pushing for a longer school year, reducing suspensions to keep kids in school and laying off more than 100 teachers — prompted teachers to file numerous grievances with the Rochester Teachers Association and, ultimately, led them to give him a no-confidence vote. Brizard also found himself at the center of two ongoing federal lawsuits over his handling of teacher discipline and the firing of a longtime district employee who accused him of discriminating against her because she was an older African-American woman.
Even Brizard's wife, K. Brooke Stafford-Brizard, a politically connected insider from New York state, became a source of controversy when she began working to build a charter school in Rochester.
With his support cracking, Brizard abruptly announced he was leaving Rochester for Chicago — a move friends and critics say froze many of his reform efforts. The district is $80 million in debt, about half of its schools are failing federal academic standards, and the rising graduation rate Brizard once touted as an accomplishment is only marginally higher.
"I have a real problem with people who come here to make names for themselves but not to bring reforms that have lasting impact," said Rochester school board member Cynthia Elliot. "I think many people feel betrayed."
The stakes are higher in Chicago, but already Brizard's resolve and positive attitude are winning support from education insiders. And he's planning listening tours with teachers and students in coming weeks, hoping to build connections here that he lost in Rochester.
"He is calm. He listens. His is unflappable under pressure," said Timothy Knowles, director of the Urban Education Institute at the University of Chicago. "When you're going to be doing some heavy lifting … that kind of leadership is a key part of the equation."
Brizard said he never shies away from a battle, just as long as the fight makes sense.
"It's why I will stand in front of a group of people and get yelled at if we know this is ultimately good for kids," Brizard said.
jhood@tribune.com
nahmed@tribune.com
Described as passionate and stubborn, charismatic and calculating, Jean-Claude Brizard is the new face of reform for Chicago's distressed public school system.
Shaped by his humble roots in Haiti and forged in battles with school boards, parents and unions over a 25-year career in New York public schools, Brizard is accustomed to taking on challenges. But Chicago presents pitfalls unlike any he faced in New York City, where over 21 years he climbed the ranks from high school physics teacher to a regional superintendent, or in Rochester, N.Y., where a turbulent 31/2-year run as schools superintendent left questions about his ability to lead.
"I've never had an easy job in my life," said Brizard, 47, whose first teaching job was as a science instructor for teenage inmates at Rikers Island Prison in New York. "Each (job) has taught me a lot about what to do next and how to do things differently."
At Chicago Public Schools, Brizard encounters perhaps his stiffest test yet: a school district sinking beneath massive debt, ineffective reform efforts, academic failures and years of upheaval in leadership. But Brizard, the district's fourth chief executive since 2009, sees an opportunity to succeed where he failed in Rochester.
"It's not about reform for reform's sake, but how do we change the lives of children?" Brizard said. "That has to be the reason why we do this work."
Brizard's philosophies on life and education were partly shaped by his boyhood in Haiti under the brutal dictatorship of Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Brizard said his grandfather, a classical music conductor, was imprisoned for seven years because of his political views. When the family learned Brizard's father might be next, his parents fled Haiti, leaving Brizard and two siblings behind with family.
Six years later, Brizard, then 12, and his siblings reunited with their parents, but the images of poor families in his native country, with "fathers going through garbage cans to find food for their children," was forever imprinted in his mind.
As a Haitian in working-class Brooklyn, he endured bullying and violence, once getting jumped by teenage boys in a high school bathroom. His parents emphasized education, so while French and Creole were their native languages, they insisted the children speak only English at home. Brizard excelled in school and graduated from high school at age 16.
"Our parents instilled hard work in us. Education was the key," said Brizard's brother Jeff Brisard, an assistant principal at a Brooklyn high school. The two brothers, while close, spell their family names differently. "Without education, there was nothing," Brisard said.
Those early childhood experiences helped define Brizard's sense of fairness and equality, friends said, and is a reason why so many of his reform efforts have sought to close the achievement gap between students from poor and affluent backgrounds.
"He has seen poverty at a whole different level, and I think that has given him a fresh perspective on its impact on education," said George Nicholas, pastor at the Grace United Methodist Church in Rochester. "Poverty is a factor that can impede a young person's ability to get an education, but it can't be an excuse."
Brizard's immigrant roots continue to influence his outlook.
"I tell my (students) all the time that if you can't get through the front door, try the back door. If it's locked, try the window. If it's locked, go down the chimney," he said. "By any means necessary, get inside the house. Get inside and change (the world) from within."
At Chicago Public Schools, Brizard encounters perhaps his stiffest test yet: a school district sinking beneath massive debt, ineffective reform efforts, academic failures and years of upheaval in leadership. But Brizard, the district's fourth chief executive since 2009, sees an opportunity to succeed where he failed in Rochester.
"It's not about reform for reform's sake, but how do we change the lives of children?" Brizard said. "That has to be the reason why we do this work."
Brizard's philosophies on life and education were partly shaped by his boyhood in Haiti under the brutal dictatorship of Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Brizard said his grandfather, a classical music conductor, was imprisoned for seven years because of his political views. When the family learned Brizard's father might be next, his parents fled Haiti, leaving Brizard and two siblings behind with family.
Six years later, Brizard, then 12, and his siblings reunited with their parents, but the images of poor families in his native country, with "fathers going through garbage cans to find food for their children," was forever imprinted in his mind.
As a Haitian in working-class Brooklyn, he endured bullying and violence, once getting jumped by teenage boys in a high school bathroom. His parents emphasized education, so while French and Creole were their native languages, they insisted the children speak only English at home. Brizard excelled in school and graduated from high school at age 16.
"Our parents instilled hard work in us. Education was the key," said Brizard's brother Jeff Brisard, an assistant principal at a Brooklyn high school. The two brothers, while close, spell their family names differently. "Without education, there was nothing," Brisard said.
Those early childhood experiences helped define Brizard's sense of fairness and equality, friends said, and is a reason why so many of his reform efforts have sought to close the achievement gap between students from poor and affluent backgrounds.
"He has seen poverty at a whole different level, and I think that has given him a fresh perspective on its impact on education," said George Nicholas, pastor at the Grace United Methodist Church in Rochester. "Poverty is a factor that can impede a young person's ability to get an education, but it can't be an excuse."
Brizard's immigrant roots continue to influence his outlook.
"I tell my (students) all the time that if you can't get through the front door, try the back door. If it's locked, try the window. If it's locked, go down the chimney," he said. "By any means necessary, get inside the house. Get inside and change (the world) from within."
In 2003, then-New York City School Superintendent Joel Klein promoted Brizard to the district headquarters, where he eventually became a regional superintendent to oversee curriculum, planning and school closures. His decision to shutter a struggling Brooklyn high school sparked outrage among parents and politicians, but he withstood it.
"If you're going to take a tough stand on certain issues, talking about closing down schools, which he did, or talking about teachers' evaluations, you're going to rock some boats," Klein said. "(Brizard) understands that."
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