D.C. School Chancellor Rhee Out After Fenty Loss
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 at 8:00AM
Did the controversial D.C. school chancellor Michelle Rhee make things better for the embattled Washington, D.C. public school system or was she a "cold" and "aloof" administrator who brought more problems than she solved? I'm still learning about Rhee's tenure, so I don't have much of a take on it, but I do know this much: The woman wasn't exactly on a friend-making tour as the local D.C. teachers' unions hate her vehemently for how she was never afraid to fire anybody (or everybody for that matter).
Now, after all the drama and reform, she's out.
From NBC Washington:
D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee will step down at a news conference scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Mayflower Hotel, NBC4’s Tom Sherwood reported.
High-level sources say Mayor Adrian Fenty and presumptive mayor-elect Vincent Gray will both be at the meeting along with Rhee and Deputy Chancellor Kaya Henderson, who is expected to replace Rhee at least temporarily.
The sources say Rhee will leave at the end of the month because she and Gray agreed that Gray "deserves his own team" to run the school system and that it was a "mutual decision."
George Parker, president of the Washington Teachers Union, said he appreciates the timing of Rhee's decision.
"The best out of this is she's making the decision sooner rather than later," Parker said. "I think that kills all the speculation. We can move forward with trying to get to the business of running the schools and improving the outcomes of our students. We can move forward with that now that we know whether she's staying or going. It's a good thing that we now know."
Now former D.C. Council member Vincent Gray, now the once-and-future Mayor of Washington, D.C., is all but assured to be in charge, Rhee is stepping out now. Gray was pretty cold on the idea of keeping Rhee during the campaign even though they did meet and discuss city schools. But if you don't want to be enraged this morning do try not to read the comments on NBC Washington's site at the link here. Nothing like hearing people think Vince Gray is going to event a time machine to send D.C. back into it's Cracktown days of the 1980s because black voters have alleged weak mental faculties. I don't think you can stop the march of progress. People like parks, new buildings and better facilities. They just didn't like Fenty. Anyway, almost all their comments can be boiled down to "Negroes ruin everything and Fenty was Batman-meets-Jesus. Hope you all die in a fire." But, if you want to be mad ... clicky, clicky!
Reader Comments (19)
I remember being in the Boston public school system. While I went to one of the "better" high schools, a neighboring school - the Jeremiah Burke High School - lost its accreditation. All those kids, who worked hard despite having no books and no A/C and 50 kids crammed in each classroom, were basically told that their education meant nothing.
Students who were enrolled there were lampooned, called stupid, and ridiculed upon entering the school each morning by other kids on school & transit buses that drove by...
I could not imagine being a DC-public school student during the past few years. With all the publicity and mayhem over "America's worst school system" plastered on every major newspaper, as well as the media's fixation on this... woman... whose claim to fame was her willingness to fire any and everyone...
*sigh* the effect on a young person who has been told "your school system sucks... your whole education is a #FAIL" cannot be measured.
Having witnessed what this kind of damage can do first-hand, I pray that the Gray administration adopts a plan that is well thought out, followed-through, supported by a team, and most importantly - puts the well being of DC's children FIRST.
I don't know much about Rhee or the D.C. schools. But recently I happened to catch a few minutes of an MSNBC education "town hall" that featured a panel consisting of people associated with the documentary "Waiting for Superman" (which seems to simplify a highly complex and politically charged issue).
I couldn't get over how rude Rhee was to Randi Weingarten, the head of the teacher's union. When the moderator made a comment to Rhee about her having ideas different from those of Weingarten, Rhee made a face and rolled her eyes, while the (immature) crowd laughed. I'm sure they dislike each other intensely, but that was simply not productive. Then when Weingarten was trying to clarify an oversimplication Rhee or someone else made about an education policy, MSNBC went to commercial. Too complex for cable, I guess.
I am not a mindless supporter of public school teachers or their union, incidentally, but do recognize that they have a fiendishly difficult job.
I knew this day was coming the minute Gray won the primary, and frankly it makes me mad. If Michelle Rhee was really concerned about DC kids (as she's been huffing and puffing in interview after interivew over the last three years), she should have lobbied to remain in her position under the Gray administration. Instead, she chose to poo-poo working for anyone besides Fenty before the election, and now just throw in the towel 3 short years after she started.
Yes, it would have been more difficult working with Gray, but when was this job ever easy? And maybe she should have thought about that possibility before alienating the people she would need to ally herself with in a non-Fenty adminstration.
I also think it was a wasted opportunity on Gray's part. If he had found some common ground w/ Rhee, imagine how he would endear himself in the Fenty-supporting wards. But, methinks there were some egos involved in this decision.
So, now the schools have to begin the process again. ::sigh::
"I could not imagine being a DC-public school student during the past few years. With all the publicity and mayhem over "America's worst school system" plastered on every major newspaper, as well as the media's fixation on this... woman... whose claim to fame was her willingness to fire any and everyone...
*sigh* the effect on a young person who has been told "your school system sucks... your whole education is a #FAIL" cannot be measured."
I agree with Antonio and I can only imagine the effect that all of this had on teachers. There's nothing worse than working with a hatchet over your head. Instead of prompting teachers to be more productive I think Rhee's tenure may have had the opposite effect.
I don't live in D.C. but I'm glad she's gone.
Honestly. Michelle Rhee talked a lot of shit that sounded good but she really had no business being in that position in the first place. She taught in a classroom for three years and all of a sudden she's BOSS! Suspect indeed. Turns out she's the ex-wife of the founder of Teach for America. At least she got shine on "Oprah".
What a joke.
Anyone's who's serious about what education truly is should read "Weapons of Mass Instruction" by John Taylor Gatto. The book is the truth on compulsory schooling.
@Mirabella:
Just to clarify: The founder of Teach for America is Wendy Kopp. Michelle Rhee's ex-husband is Kevin Huffman, TFA's EVP of public affairs.
As an African-American who has lived in DC for some years now, I have come to believe that this is more about DC's black middle class and its desire to use government and teaching jobs as a way to preserve their standing than the schools and the kids. DC schools have been failing for DECADES people ... Somebody had to come in and make some hardline changes and people didn't like it. DC is full of some of the most backward black people on the planet. Even the educated ones don't have good sense. Do the research folks - every official who has tried to implement serious school reform in DC has been run the hell out of town. Her tenure is the longest of any schools head here in the last 20 years. TWENTY YEARS. That points to a failing on the part of a city and the people in it. Sad. The sooner I get away from here the better.
*one of the longest tenures is what I meant to type LOL
Sorry you feel that way D. As a product of D.C. public schools (Class of 2003), I don't consider myself or my classmates failures. Nor do I consider my educated family backward. I hope that I don't currently live in your hometown and disparage the black people where you grew up. That would be rude and uncalled for when the issue is education, wouldn't it?
As to Rhee, while she did weed out some teachers who had gotten comfortable collecting their checks, she did not empower veteran teachers who were invested. Sadly, eduction will not improve until the economy does.
My University of Virginia graduate school research focused on DC Public Schools, and boy do I have stories to tell! I went “undercover” to gather information regarding “how teachers/administrators are hired in a failing system”.
At the time I was working in private industry, so I was not looking to take the position I interviewed for, however it was VERY enlightening to say the least. I arrived to the interview location 30 minutes early to ensure proper location and access. Read the story if you can. It hurts me to my core that in this day and age we still have African Americans who function as if we just arrived off the ships:
The woman at the front desk was on the phone having a personal conversation when I arrived to check in (I know because she said, “Guuurrrl, he said what?” like she was getting the scoop). She looked up from the phone as if to say, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” I took a seat and waited for her to finish her call and went back to check in. As I walked around the side of the desk I could see that she had on sandals and her heals looked like they could cut glass….I am sure she had not had a pedicure since 1971, and this was in 2004. She also had an outfit on that was wrinkled and looked like she had just graduated from the Welfare to Work program.
As I waited, and waited, and waited, the front desk representative finally came over 45 minutes after my appointed time to tell me that the “panel is running late, there is traffic”. I thought to myself, the entire panel is late? I sat and waited so I could finish my research paper, and had anticipated the entire fiasco based on the information I already discovered about the school system. I can’t even list all of the statistics because the school system (as in the letter I wrote to Anthony Williams) is basically an idiot factory that perpetuates everything about the African American community that we are trying to eradicate.
Another person came to interview and sat next to me. She started with light banter and eventually stated, “It is a shame how all of these people from Maryland and Virginia are trying to come here and take our jobs”. At that point I was glad I did not have any University of Virginia hanging out to give me away. She was an angry woman who wanted it known that DC Public Schools are jobs for DC residents.
When the panel finally arrived I was taken into a room where an HR representative told me “the rules of the interview process” i.e. They will ask only questions on the paper and cannot elaborate, etc. When I walked in the room, the panel was sitting there (two women, one man) with poker faces. The darker woman of the two surveyed my suit (Nordstrom) and allowed me to take a seat. Never did they apologize for being over an hour and a half late.
The darker of the two women read the questions, and I am quite sure that she graduated from a school that was at least equivalent to a low functioning DC Public School. It was like listening to a struggling fourth grader, however we got through it. Needless to say, I needed the research, so I sat through the pain.
When I presented my final project to the University of Virginia (to an all White class of grad students), they looked at me as if they saw my hair catch fire. They were completely stunned by the statistics:
32% of teachers were not qualified to teach the subjects in which they were assigned.
Black students on average miss 6 days of school a month.
More than 30% of students are living below the poverty level.
37+% Drop out rate. Etc., Etc., Etc…….and some more Black issues, etc.
Anyone can challenge this post if you so choose, but you cannot make me change my mind about anything positive about DC Public Schools. You may not have liked Rhee, but she was doing what needed to be done.
I have so much more to say, but it is too painful……
Justice
I've gotten snippets of this story, but just realized that Michelle Rhee was not African American.
I do feel that the teachers union, and the teaching profession has been for too long been a way for some, *not* the best and the brightest, to scrape thru college and into a fairly stable career by going into "Education". It sounds as if Ms. Rhee could learn to play with others better... but nothing but good can come from 'our' community waking up to the fact that everyone, parents, children and teachers have a role to play.
@Justice; you wrote;...,that perpetuates everything about the African American community that we are trying to eradicate and then later on; ",The darker of the two women. Blatant colorism, which adds nothing to the discussion, is something I wish we all could /would leave in the last century
How many classrooms did you visit for your research, justice? Did you include a section on the DC TAG program and it's success rat? How does the interviewers ability to speak make her judgments of the worthiness of applicants? What does her skin tone have to do that ability? Lets talk about solutions istead of perpetuating foolishness. It doesn't help anyone but the self satisfied, self appointed moral judge.
typing on cell. Meant success rate.
Ding-Dong, Witch Rhee is Gone.
Man. As a definite product of both L.A. Unified and D.C. Public Schools, I was glad to have left the system for Oregon just as Chancellor Rhee assumed her position. That woman was ruthless. I knew many people who had lost their jobs due to her closing the schools, people who were passionate about their jobs and about their students. I know better than someone who isn't from D.C. that D.C. schools (and the students in them) can be hellions, but Rhee needed to learn how to communicate effectively and work collaboratively.
Eh.
Let's see what happens now.
@Justice:
I was with you until I got to "the darker of the two women" And you said it TWICE. I mean, REALLY? Seriously?? How is her skin color in ANY WAY related to anything you wrote? *smh*
co-sign on Antonio's comments. native washingtonian and dcps graduate here. the conventional wisdom has been to characterize dcps by its failures and pathologies, making the most damning anecdotes and data trends the focal point of any discussion about the system. it's as if the dozens of functional, accomplished people i went to school are urban legend.
llooking forward to continuing education activism and advocacy that is student-centered and progressive (e.g. curriculum development, teacher training, addressing poverty) with less polarization, less rhetoric and less reliance on the popular "reform" efforts whose results are at best inconclusive and at worst counter-productive (e.g. "merit" pay, emphasis on standardized testing).
My acknowledgement of the "darker of the two" was to highlight the stereotype in and of itself. People have a perception that black women (especially darker women) have attitudes, facial expressions that represent anger, etc.
She sat there and was the picture of the perception! Not welcoming, not approachable, and just sitting there looking angry....sad, but true.
Believe me when I say she was black, I am black. I didn't understand why she had the "attitude" as I walked in the door. She was late, I was on time..... Even though I am not the darkest person in the spectrum, I was not using the message as a way to divide us. I was using the message as a way to say, "We NEED to change our ways in order to change the perceptions!" Clearly I struck a nerve, and appologize if my message was not delivered with the crisp testimony I intended. I was trying to paint a visual picture, but obviously that didn't go over well....womp, womp.
Thank you for allowing the opportunity to respond.
Justice
I am a teacher in the NYC school system and the Chancellor here is similar to Rhee- unqualified and full of hot air. Yes the system needs overhaul, but the blame game does nothing to move towards our ultimate goal- progress. The problem I had/ have with Rhee is that she was entirely too negative. Yes there are bad teachers but the way she went about her business was not motivating or inspiring. No one wants to work for someone that tells you "you are a piece of crap now go out there and work ten times harder or you are fired!"
I've taught classes of 35 and only 8 kids would show up on a regular basis. I've had 18 year old kids straight from Rikers in the same class as 14 year olds. Listen, I'm not complaining about the work that I have to do to get high school kids performing on a 4th grade level to pass standardized state tests. I have no qualms about rolling up my sleeves and getting dirty. I have a problem with working my tail off only for my work to be bastardized in the media by the "grab your torch and pitch forks" pro-reformers. Be realistic, if a 15 year old kid is still reading on the 3rd grade level, he/she more than likely will not graduate in four years. Why is the 5 year option such a bad thing?
You can't group all teachers, students, and parents together. You will have a range in every category. No one solution (charter schools) will work for an entire system. You have to have varied levels of viable options in order for school systems to work i.e. charter schools, vocational schools, business schools, small schools, large schools, college preparatory schools, quality teachers, dedicated parents, A TRUE DISCIPLINE STRUCTURE (at home and at school), expeditionary schools, art schools, music schools, etc. You should not have an oversaturation of any one population at any one school.
But hey what do I know? According to Rhee and Klein the teachers are the enemies of the state.
From Huffington Post: October 27, 2010 (excerpt)
Rhee's last three years in DCPS have been notable and noteworthy. She has implemented controversial merit pay and teacher evaluation systems, and recruited aggressively for some of the best educational talent in the country. And as Education Trust's Kati Haycock says, "No matter what you think about the politics, DC Public Schools are having real results." Prior to 2007, less than a third of elementary students were performing math at grade-level; after two years close to half of DCPS elementary students are proficient in math and reading. Secondary students have achieved double-digit growth demonstrating tremendous progress.
Just this last week, I talked to my old boss from Inner City-Inner Child, Connie Zimmer. She said when she went to one of the DCPS elementary school/Pre-K centers this past week, she talked to some teachers. The word on the street, the teachers said, is that Mayor-elect Vincent Gray will bring back a number of teachers who were recently fired, many of whom scored too low on their evaluation to stay on.
"Come on now," Connie said to them. "You know they weren't very good teachers."
"Yeah, we know," they told her. "But they need a job."
Follow Mimi Carter on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mimicarter01