Chicago schools appointee from NY

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The new Chicago Public Schools chief makes no excuses for wanting to overhaul public education and called himself a "completely effective" leader during his contentious three-year tenure in Rochester.

Jean-Claude Brizard, who worked for over two decades in New York City schools before taking the helm in Rochester in 2008, said during a sometimes testy news conference last week that he understands large school systems and "how you move a battleship and turn it around quite effectively."

Without elaborating on his plans, Brizard said: "Chicago is poised to make some wonderful gains. You cannot have progress without things moving and changing. But lots of wonderful work has been done by Arne Duncan and others . . . that we're going to build on."

Duncan once led Chicago schools, which have more than 400,000 students, and is now head of the U.S. Department of Education.

Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel said he chose Brizard because the New York school official was unafraid of making tough choices. Emanuel wants to remake Chicago's schools, including crusading for reforms to improve student learning and teacher quality.

Brizard will leave behind an uneasy relationship with the Rochester teachers union, whose members recently gave him a resounding vote of no confidence. Union leader Adam Urbanski said Brizard promoted policies that teachers found unpalatable, such as promoting charter schools while pushing to close poorly performing public schools.

On Wednesday, Emanuel defended picking Brizard because improvements are needed in graduation rates, test scores and the district's finances.

"I chose somebody to shake up the status quo because if you look at those results the status quo is not working for our kids," he said at a news conference. Emanuel takes office May 16.

The Chicago Teachers Union has expressed concern about Brizard, citing the no-confidence vote in Rochester.

While Brizard, 47, said he felt guilt about leaving the 34,000-student Rochester system, he denied that growing tension with the union was a factor in his departure.