Joel Klein, former chancellor of the New York City schools, is about to find out. He took a position with News Corp. after stepping down from his education post in December, and now it looks as if he’s got his first big project on behalf of Rupert Murdoch: Klein, a lawyer by training, will “provide important oversight and guidance” as the company deals with the fallout from the ballooning News of the World scandal. (Among other things, the tabloid reportedly hacked into the cell phones of a murdered 13-year-old and families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.) Of Klein’s qualifications for the task, a New Jersey education official explained, “He’s been in the cauldron for a good stretch of his career, so it’s more than an abstract issue for him.” We’re not sure if that metaphor can be read as an implication that running the New York schools is scaldingly hellish, working for Murdoch is a deal with the devil, this is a witches’ brew of problems, or that Klein’s career has been lately nothing but toil and trouble (now doubled?), but we’ll just throw all those into the pot and stir it.
Joel I. Klein, Former Schools Chancellor, to Tackle Hacking Case [NYT]
Previously: News of the World Went After Cell Phones of 7/7 Victims’ Families, Scotland Yard Payments Confirmed
