Can anyone tell me about Michelle Rhee, former Chancellor of DC Shool District?

[MintHillSkinsFan]

Apparently the new governor of Florida has appointed her as his "Special Advisor" on education. Did she have a positive impact in DC? What was her track record and policies?

Florida's education system is definitely broken but I'm concerned that it will only get worse with Rick Scott as governor.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/elections/fl-scott-visits-charter-20110106,0,7015958.story

Thanks for any input.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rhee

[Dan T.]

She came onto the DC as a crusader, and pissed off the teacher's union by trying to shake up the status quo. She had a bunch of teachers fired for performance issues. She closed a slew of schools to save money, and that didn't go over well either with parents in those areas where the schools closed. She tried to implement a teacher merit pay scale base on student performance, and that didn't go over well with the teachers union. She was a lightning rod for criticism from many quarters, but she always had an attitude of "I don't care what people say about me, my job is to whip this school system into shape." I think you're lucky to have her down there.

Oh, and she's the fiance of ex-NBA player and mayor of Sacramento Kevin Johnson.

[China]

Do a Google search:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/06/AR2011010605428.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/16/AR2010091607081.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/dc-schools/the-problem-with-how-rhee-fire.html

http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2010/12/michelle-rhee-and-geoffrey-canada.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2010/01/ms_rhee_apologize_dont_leave.html?wprss=class-struggle

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/23/AR2009092303309.html

http://nurserynight-lights.com/michelle-rhee-goes-national-by-launching-students-first-advocacy-group-takepart-inspiration-to-action.html

[MintHillSkinsFan]

Thanks for the Wiki and Google search. I've seen all that but just wanted to get personal opinions from people with first hand knowledge. I can always count on candid assessments from ES members, no matter which way they lean.

[mcsluggo]

my assessment is she has very strong and very weak points that play off each other. She is very dynamic, and willing to make bold steps, but then she is also abrasive and self promoting, which makes implimenting some of her good ideas more difficult.

[Burgold]

She came into a disaster. The DC school system was an unmitigated mess for a number of reasons. I was part of a consultation group that was asked to analyze schools individually to see how they're holding up in special ed. I reviewed IEPs and psychometric tests... there were far too many schools that didn't have their documentation, lost kids, failed to provide services, or were way out of date on their testing.

I think Rhee did some good, but at the worst she shook everyone up and broke up the complacency. That said, the DC school system while in somewhat better shape is probably still best categorized as a disaster.

[Kilmer17]

The teachers union in FL is going bat**** crazy over it.

So I think it's a FANTASTIC move.

[Bang]

I don't have any personal experience with the DC schools, but in seeing her in the news while she was here, I liked what i saw.

As Kilmer points out and also enjoys, she pisses off the teacher's union and shakes them up, and I'm all for that.

She had the gall to fire incompetent teachers.

She's no nonsense, and will definitely make hard decisions. She seems to cut thru red tape, and that irritates the bureaucrats, something else I favor.

~Bang

[JMS]

Thanks for the Wiki and Google search. I've seen all that but just wanted to get personal opinions from people with first hand knowledge. I can always count on candid assessments from ES members, no matter which way they lean.

She's one of the smartest and effective leaders in education today. She was brought in here by a previous mayorial administration to improve public schools in the district and she did a great job which made her a national star in education circles. She broke the Districts powerful teachers union which sheltered ineffective teachers. She did this by offering to dramatically increase salaries in exchange for teachers giving up their tenure rights. Which most of the DC teachers were all for, demonstrated by their vote of acceptence to the new teachers contract which allowed these changes. DC teacher salaries have thus gone up significantly under Rhee's strategy, while a few teachers have lost their jobs..

The net effect has been dc schools having some of the largest improvmeent in standardized test scores in the country over her tenure here...

Michelle Rhee is no longer with us because she tried to use her substantial clout and good will politically. She opennly endorsed the mayor who brought her into DC in his failed re-election bid. Thus she was forced to resign when her candidate lost.

It was a significant loss for DC schools. She's a bright spot in public education. Her policies remain in tact here; as her former deputy was appointed by the new mayor to take over her job.

If I were a florida teacher I would be pretty happy with Rhee getting involved in education in my state. Central to her philosophy is to pay top dollar and expect top results.

[sideshow24]

If you take Michelle Rhee self defense, then you too can say "nobody bothers me....."

[JMS]

If you take Michelle Rhee self defense, then you too can say "nobody bothers me....."

That's a period joke.... Nobody bothers me either!..

[TheLongshot]

Michelle Rhee is no longer with us because she tried to use her substantial clout and good will politically. She opennly endorsed the mayor who brought her into DC in his failed re-election bid. Thus she was forced to resign when her candidate lost.

Rhee knew she was going to be gone if Gray won. They had butted heads in the past and Gray had the support of the teacher's union.

[MintHillSkinsFan]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm not sure what to think. The bill that the Republicans tried to push through in Florida last year was basically throwing tenure out the window completely thereby hurting the good teachers as well as the useless ones. I'm actually glad Charlie Crist vetoed that one. If they can find a way to weed out the poor ones and reward the good ones then I am all for it and am hopeful that my kids can receive a better education.

I guess I'll sit back and watch it unfold. Should be interesting either way.

[Kilmer17]

You can expect that exact bill to surface again in about 2 months when the session opens back up. And Scott wont flipflop like Crist desperate for votes.

The teachers here HATE that she's joining Scott who they already hate.

Our schools are horrific. But the teachers union cares nothing about it other than to protect their own interests. Scott and Rhee are going to clean house, but it's going to be a nasty and dirty process.

[nonniey]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm not sure what to think. The bill that the Republicans tried to push through in Florida last year was basically throwing tenure out the window completely thereby hurting the good teachers as well as the useless ones. I'm actually glad Charlie Crist vetoed that one. If they can find a way to weed out the poor ones and reward the good ones then I am all for it and am hopeful that my kids can receive a better education.

I guess I'll sit back and watch it unfold. Should be interesting either way.

How does losing tenure hurt good teachers? Figure Good teachers aren't the ones that need to worry about being fired.

[MintHillSkinsFan]

^^^^^^It wasn't just the firing, it was the whole package. It was across the board salaries, they didn't take special ed into account, and they relied almost 100% on standardized testing as the criteria, which has nothing to do with how much the children are actually learning. All in all, it was just a poorly and hastily written bill.

---------- Post added January-7th-2011 at 01:57 PM ----------

Scott and Rhee are going to clean house, but it's going to be a nasty and dirty process.

This is what worries me. I'm all for cleaning house if it's done right but if it's not, the kids are going to be the ones that suffer. I have twin 7 year olds in public school and I can't afford to send them to private school. They are in one of the better schools in the county but I'm still not happy with a lot of things. And I'm afraid of things getting worse before they get better.

And BTW, I'm very involved with my kids so I work them pretty hard but I find myself having to correct things that their teachers should be doing but for whatever reason are not and that really frustrates me as a parent.

[Kilmer17]

If the teachers unions would offer their own idea on how to get rid of tenure and bad teachers, Im for hearing it.

But they've drawn a line in the sand. So they're going to get hit, and hit hard.

[JMS]

^^^^^^It wasn't just the firing, it was the whole package. It was across the board salaries, they didn't take special ed into account, and they relied almost 100% on standardized testing as the criteria, which has nothing to do with how much the children are actually learning. All in all, it was just a poorly and hastily written bill.

that's right. After the teachers ratified the new contract, I believe over the objection of their own union. The union has come back with a bunch of questions about the process.

(1) There was a mistake in the revenue projections the city used in negotiating with the teachers. So actual cuts did not have to be as severe as were agreed too.

(2) When teachers actually started to be evaluated, the teachers union had a problem with using the standardized tests exclusively for evaluation.

(3) I believe the Union has even called into question the firm used to count the ballots on the contract vote.

[Stew]

That's a period joke.... Nobody bothers me either!..

Jhoon is somewhere smacking his forehead right now.

[Fergasun]

What's interesting about Michelle Rhee is that she's a Democrat. It appears she is a student advocate, and I would guess based on the couple of hearing material I saw that part of what she is trying to do is figure a way to change compensation structure to attract outside professionals back into teaching. While it is true she shook up teacher's union, she also removed (fired) nearly 40% of the principals in DC schools as well. She is someone who has a big voice in education reform. I think her experience in DC has given her a little more political background and experience to understand some of the PR and other aspects of education reform that she'll be dealing with in the future.

An excerpt from her recent writing:

But it’s true that I didn’t do enough to bring parents along, either. I saw a poll of people who live in a part of the city where the schools experienced a significant turnaround, and everyone agreed that they were overwhelmingly much better now. But when they were asked, did we need to fire the teachers to see this turnaround, they said no. We didn’t connect the dots for them.

[mcsluggo]

it is a hard model to replicate, though... she used a large private foundation grant to pay for the bonus.

[JimboDaMan]

You get a mixed bag with Rhee. She came in to clean up a hideous mess with the DC school system. You only think the schools in Florida are horrific; you have no idea how bad things can be. Rhee set about with much noise and clamor to clean house. She made some improvements, although probably not nearly as much as she says. Some of her claims are misleading or unverifiable.

She has little tact or dipomacy. Before you cheer and say that's great, bear in mind she's out of a job because her mayor-protector lost re-election. This was a loss due in no small part to Rhee's bull in a china shop approach that over time created more and more detractors. She became an enormous political liability. Her premature exit makes her tenure as chancellor ultimately a failure, and one that she had a significant hand in causing.

A typical Rhee situation came about in the firing of about 300 teachers as part of her "cleaning house" campaign. The intent was to overcome tenure and get rid of bad or ineffective teachers, and the move met with almost universal acclaim. Over time, however, it became clear that some pretty good teachers had been dismissed long with the deadwood. There was no explanation given on why many of them were fired, but the suspicion was that some were selected simply because the rules allowed it and Rhee could pad the number of firings. When challenged, Rhee came out swinging. "I got rid of teachers who had hit children, who had had sex with children, who had missed 78 days of school." With one sentence she seemingly made criminal accusations and severly tainted the reputations of all the fired teachers - especially the best of them because there was no other explanation for letting them go. Rhee seemed stunned by the ensuing firestorm and had to back down. In the end there was ONE teacher who had sex with an 18-year-old (not illegally), a couple with allegations of striking students, ONE who missed 78 days. None of these teachers were the ones that looked like pretty good instructors, and no good explanation was ever offered.

Rhee unapologetically created a lot of collateral damage to unintended targets. Maybe its just part of the process, but sucks to get hit by the stray bullets. And, of course, good luck getting cooperation on ANYTHING after that. I was initially a strong supporter of hers. By the end I was still a supporter, but the word "strong" was no longer true. DC schools were such a mess that it was probably worth a try, and might have been successful if she had stayed longer. Your mileage may vary.

<edit>To further muddy things, the above posts are correct, the firings were justified because of a budget crisis. After the deed was done and the teachers were gone it turned out the budget situation wasn't as bad as had been claimed. Innocent mistake, or lying and manipulating by Rhee? Impossible to tell, but the suspicion that you're never getting the truth is something I'm afraid is part of the package with her.</edit>

[youngestson]

How does losing tenure hurt good teachers? Figure Good teachers aren't the ones that need to worry about being fired.

Tenure didn't just pop out of thin air. It became established by collective bargaining because various school districts were cutting their entire staffs every few years then hiring some or all back at beginning teacher's wages for the following school year.

---------- Post added January-10th-2011 at 09:40 PM ----------

If the teachers unions would offer their own idea on how to get rid of tenure and bad teachers, Im for hearing it.

But they've drawn a line in the sand. So they're going to get hit, and hit hard.

While the NEA is a national organization most of the nation's teachers who are a member of a union belong to one specific to their state. I know Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware Teacher's Associations have all made various proposals for changing teacher evaluation.

[dockeryfan]

My personal opinion is that she used DC as a stepping stone.

She implemented policy that I think she knew could not be sustained, and knew that she would be able to blame that on a variety of things because of the quagmire that is DC govt. Some of her ideas are fine, but I think she will use FLA as another step to public office back in California.