Seattle Schools Community Forum

  Update:   Washington Post's guest post refuting claims Brown made to Stephen Colbert on his show.  Pretty interesting stuff. Move over, Michelle Rhee - here comes Campbell Brown. Did you hear about this? Rhee's star is waning. Her StudentsFirst group has closed up shop in about five states and the billion dollars she was hoping to raise didn't materialize. Well, nature abhors a vacuum and so we have former CNN anchor, Campbell Brown. This newest ed reformer on the block is going after the teachers union and, in specific, teacher tenure.  (But like the star-crossed coupling of Wendy Kopp of TFA married to Richard Barth of KIPP, Brown is married to Dan Senor who is on the board of the NY state StudentsFirst.) Let's pause here for a moment and all say together: Tenure for public school teachers is NOT the tenure of university professors. Teacher tenure basically guarantees due process for teachers so that they cannot be stripped of their jobs for things l...

This fall the citizens of Seattle will be voting for mayor.  As of now, I believe there are seven candidates.  I have interviewed one of them - Peter Steinbrueck - and have Kate Martin on tap.  I will reach out to Mayor McGinn but from working with him over the last several years, I have a good idea of his views.  One of the candidates is Councilman Tim Burgess.  The Councilman has been deeply involved in Seattle public education and was a big supporter of the Families & Education levy.  He also has shown a propensity for behind-the-scenes con-fabs with high-level SPS leaders and it is unclear to me whether he ever shared any of this information with other councilmembers.  (We have public disclosure e-mails to thank for this info.)  Now I see that Councilman Burgess is being thrown a fundraiser this week by the following people: Michael and Marie DeBell, Sherry Carr, Clover Codd, Bree Dusseault , Chris Eide, David Elliot, Christina Gonzal...

Many seem to think that the criticism of Michelle Rhee has to do with her personal style of presentation of her ideas.  She herself has said she had a "PR" problem in D.C.   I would agree that she can be off-putting.  (I even find a little of myself in her as she and I have a tendency to get to the point in a blunt manner that can be hard on others who prefer a gentler nuanced delivery.)  In the Frontline special on her, she says even her mother thought her too cold as a child and said that maybe her new job was just right for her because she needed that coldness.  (I sense in Rhee and her background that blunt talk was the order of the day.) Here's my thread on that show. But, in the end, it is not Rhee, it's her ideas.   And she certainly is the poster child for ed reform and there was no surprise that Time Magazine put her on the cover for that reason. But let's break this down.  First, what has she truly accomplished that gives her the ...