Goodbye D.C., Hello California (good luck to you, California)
Michelle Rhee, the chancellor of schools in Washington, D.C., has resigned her post. Rhee, the hard-nosed leader who is the darling of the ed reform movement, will leave at the end of the month. I'm thinking she left rather than stay and allow herself to be asked to leave (she backed the wrong horse in the recent mayoral elections).
But, she's marrying the Mayor of Sacramento so look for her to take over California education and slash and burn there.
But, she's marrying the Mayor of Sacramento so look for her to take over California education and slash and burn there.
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From the LA Times
High-profile former Washington D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee announced the launch of her Twitter page shortly after news of her resignation filtered through the national media Wednesday.
Rhee said that leaving her post after more than three years was "heartbreaking" but quickly moved to ensure conversation about her ambitious education reform program continued at her Twitter account and her new Web page.
Her resignation drew statements from Minnesota governor and presumed 2012 presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, among others.
Already having attracted more than 1500 Twitter followers in the five hours after her launch, Michelle Rhee tweeted:
Do you have an innovative idea for #education reform? Tell me, http://michellerhee.org/share-ideas
Today, I resigned from my position as Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools. Find out what I'm doing next: http://michellerhee.org/
It's really far away, so you'll have time to better plan your next stupid revolution.
C U Later.
-bill
I hate that.
Rhee, when she just out and fired hundreds of DC teachers recently, said something like, well, some of them were sex offenders! Abusers!
Really? No, but it plays well with her one-track mission to vilify public teachers in order to shove her (and her "ilk," another word I would normally never use)agenda down the throats of a public looking for help educating their children.
Her "blame the teacher" rhetoric is nasty, mean, and will hurt children if that "theory" and the other reformers' blather continues to be seen as sensible and wise.
So I don't "hate" her (hard to tell, eh?) but I hate what her "reform" is doing to kids. I really do.
Ms. Rhee's war on teachers is no secret. You cannot consistently demonize a whole profession in every conceivable media outlet and execute a wholesale firing of teachers without generating a bushel full of ill will.
She tried hard, but didn't know the first thing about cooperation, negotiation, compromise, consensus building, or accepting less than anything she wanted. Doing so boxed her into a corner because she thought she could steamroll DC with her political connections. Hubris & Ego trumped kids, ultimately. And yes, I hate that with a passion.
Were she a reasonable person, with an ounce of eloquence, she could have persuaded people a la Bill Clinton. Instead, like our very own, she decided to be a bulldog. Sorry, that will never work, anywhere, for anything. But, she thought she was Midas because the Mayor adored her. At last, reality reared its head, and are the kids any better off now that the ultimate quitter is cutting and running? I don't think so.
I guess the lesson for the day is: When you can't get everything you want, take your ball and go home, but never, ever give an inch. Glad my kids aren't in DC.
My. How very Sarah Palin.
"Poor thing. She seems to have no first language." - Dick Cavett
I kinda want to see a soap opera about all these ed reform people and their stormy romances . . . General Schools? Days of Their Lives? All My Students?
She's very much like Michelle Rhee in her thinking.
Ms. Rhee already has set things into motion so it's not like G-J would have to start at square one.
In 2005-2006, DC public schools served 58,000 students, a somewhat similar size to Seattle.
Dr. G-J is an ambitious person.
Hmmm.
Any yes, Mellisa pretty sure the ink on her resume is wet from printing so quickly after Rhee's departure. My understanding is that she has always wanted an east coast position - from my limited sources w/in the district.
Could just be wishful thinking also.
On the other hand, the per-student funding in D.C. is equally extreme.
I don't know what Michelle Rhee was doing there, but, given that budget, I would think that there would be a lot of money to provide the sort of services needed to address the low achievement.
The situation is ripe for a lot of break-the-mold thinking.
Here's the funny thing: for all of the talk about Reform, there is very little outside-the-box thinking in the Reform movement. There's very little creativity about how classes should be formed or how students should be taught. Instead it's all about contracts and assessments.
I would really like to see an Education Reform movement that had something to say about education.