Giving the clear impression that he had decided to stay on as the head of the New York City school system, Chancellor Ramon C. Cortines yesterday offered an impassioned defense of his 16-month tenure and said he would try to improve his working relationship with Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Breaking a long silence after weeks of unrelenting criticism by the Mayor, Mr. Cortines declared in an interview that he was satisfied with his achievements so far.
"There is not an area in this system that I have not tackled," he said. "If I stay one year, if I stay two years, three years or five years, I'll never let up on my focus on teaching and learning."
Mr. Cortines, speaking in his office at the Board of Education headquarters, asserted that he still had not decided whether to accept the contract extension the board is expected to offer him today, but he pledged to reveal his plans today.
Despite his disclaimers, the Chancellor sounded very much as though he was preparing to lead the city's school system long after his contract expires July 1. He described preparations he was making for the budget cuts he expected for the school system not just next year but over the next several years, outlined long-term plans for reforming the special education system and hinted at other multi-year initiatives.
Sitting on the edge of his chair at a conference table, his voice occasionally rising, Mr. Cortines offered an often-emotional account of his work to overhaul New York City schools, the nation's largest system, since his arrival in September 1993. He had been superintendent of schools in San Francisco and was awaiting confirmation as an Assistant United States Secretary of Education.
"Even if I knew then what I knew today, I would still come here," he said. "I believe that New York City is a doable system, but a chancellor alone cannot do it and neither can a mayor. And neither can anybody alone. It is going to take the entire community."
But despite the energy Mr. Cortines displayed yesterday, school officials hinted that at times, he had been wounded by Mr. Giuliani's campaign against him.
Hours before yesterday's interview, in fact, Mr. Cortines met face to face with Ninfa Segarra and Irene H. Impellizzeri, the Mayor's two representatives on the board. The hour-long session, in which the City Hall representatives offered an item-by-item evaluation of the Chancellor's performance, appeared to leave Mr. Cortines temporarily shaken.
Although Mr. Cortines declined to discuss it, a person familiar with the meeting said, "It was very unpleasant."
After that encounter, Mr. Cortines's aides canceled several appointments, but an hour later rescheduled some of them, including the interview with The New York Times.
Ms. Segarra, who also serves as a deputy mayor, acknowledged in a telephone interview that the meeting had been awkward.
"For Irene and I, it was very difficult, because we helped bring him to the city, and we had such great expectations," Ms. Segarra said. "We told him our gratitude for some of the valuable things he has contributed, but that it would be difficult if he stayed on."
Mr. Giuliani made that clear again yesterday, saying that there would be continued friction between him and the Chancellor if the board offered Mr. Cortines anything more than a one-year contract.
"The fact is, we will not have a good working relationship if the vote goes the way it is intended, for two years and no firm conditions on reform," he said. "I think the board is making a mistake in voting to continue Mr. Cortines without any strict conditions of accountability."
Mr. Giuliani, who launched a campaign two weeks ago intended to make the Chancellor so uncomfortable that he would decline a contract extension, said on Sunday that he would drop his opposition if the seven-member board would limit a new contract to one year and include in it performance goals set by the Mayor. But on Monday, the board president, Carol A. Gresser, brushed those conditions aside, saying that the Mayor was in no position to dictate terms.
Mr. Giuliani said yesterday that he was "not dictating at all." He continued, "I think it was a suggestion and a recommendation which I think would be the wiser course of conduct."
In the interview, Mr. Cortines was asked how he reacted to the Mayor's daily drumbeat of criticisms.
"I haven't gotten caught up in all that," Mr. Cortines said. "I think that the rhetoric that has gone on for me and against me has really overshadowed the issues that this city faces."
Several times, however, Mr. Cortines indicated that he wants and is seeking City Hall cooperation. "I respect the position of the Mayor, because that is the seat of government in this city," he said.
"There's got to be a partnership," he said. "I will seek to continue to develop a working relationship with all aspects of City Hall." He also said, referring to Mr. Giuliani, "As long as I'm here, I'm going to attempt to work with him."
But he occasionally hinted that he viewed the Mayor's often-harsh attacks on the school system as unhelpful, including Mr. Giuliani's statement earlier this month that he wanted to "kick the living hell" out of school bureaucrats.
"If we're kicking the hell out of this system, it'll never improve," Mr. Cortines said.
He compared his attempts to overhaul the city's system of 1,100 schools to the complexity of retooling a major corporation.
"I have not had a one-item or a two-item agenda," he said. "I have tackled everything. Whether it's been asbestos, whether it's been lead, whether it's been professional development for teachers, whether it's been leadership for administrators, whether it's been parent involvement, whether it's been community involvement, curriculum framework, personnel, data processing -- I've attacked it all."
"What has happened in 16 months?" he asked. "I can tick off 20 things that have happened in 16 months and just think of what could really have happened it I had had the support of everyone."
To overhaul a system such as this is like retooling one of the major private companies in America. What has happened in 16 months? I can tick off 20 things that have happened in 16 months and just think what could have really happened if I had had the support of everyone. I remind City Hall that they said they didn't care how I did it as long as I did it. And I've done that. . . . I have not engaged in any kind of battle. I may not have always done it when and how City Hall wanted it, but I've complied. I respect the position of the Mayor. That is the seat of government in this city. I've been a part of city government and I understand the problems. I want the school system to be a part of the solution. . . .
I do not believe that you solve the problems of this city by across-the-board cuts. I believe that you set priorities and you look at the options and you eliminate, and I have eliminated. You consolidate, and I have consolidated. You downsize, and I have downsized. You outsource, and I have outsourced. I have tackled everything. Whether it's been asbestos, whether it's been lead, whether it's been professional development for teachers, whether it's been leadership for administrators, whether it's been parent involvement whether it's been community involvement, curriculum framework, personnel, data processing, I've attacked it all. . . .
I don't work for [the Mayor]. I work with him. Legislatively this is a separate entity. And as long as I'm here I'm going to attempt to work with him. I am not going to isolate this system. There's got to be a partnership. I will seek to continue to develop a working relationship with all aspects of City Hall. I don't care if it's me that's chancellor or somebody else that's chancellor.
