Why In The World Did President Obama Dub Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee A Wonderful Superintendent ?
According to Time magazine article in which Michelle A. Rhee appeared on the cover with a broom, it states: “In the last presidential debate each candidate tried to claim her (Rhee) as their own with Barack Obama calling her (Rhee) a wonderful superintendent.” Who knows why Barack supported Michelle Rhee so effusively?
Whatever President Barack Obama’s reasoning for this national shout-out, the million dollar question is why would a president support a chancellor when Rhee only “offered pleasing but implausible claims, while saying next to nothing about educational policy.” (Daily Howler) Does Barack Obama still praise Rhee given that her 5 year education plan lacks any substantive educational reform other than to rid DC schools of a significant share of its educational work force through terminations and buy-outs thereby creating a revolving door at-will work force?
Many think Rhee’s incredulous claims of raising her former students scoring on the 13th percentile on standardized testing to the 90th percentile in her short lived teaching career were simply pleasing anecdotes that still cannot be substantiated. Rhee by her own admission suffered during her first year and so did her students. It has been reported that in Rhee’s second year she got better. Would Barack Obama have given Rhee an endorsement if he had known that she didn’t afford DC’s probationary teachers and teaching fellows the same opportunity she was given to improve as a teacher? Did the president know that Rhee fired approximately 70 probationary teachers arbitrarily last year without regard to their 'Meets and Exceeds Expectations" annual performance evaluations? Did Barack just turn a blind eye all in the name of politics ?
Many think Rhee’s incredulous claims of raising her former students scoring on the 13th percentile on standardized testing to the 90th percentile in her short lived teaching career were simply pleasing anecdotes that still cannot be substantiated. Rhee by her own admission suffered during her first year and so did her students. It has been reported that in Rhee’s second year she got better. Would Barack Obama have given Rhee an endorsement if he had known that she didn’t afford DC’s probationary teachers and teaching fellows the same opportunity she was given to improve as a teacher? Did the president know that Rhee fired approximately 70 probationary teachers arbitrarily last year without regard to their 'Meets and Exceeds Expectations" annual performance evaluations? Did Barack just turn a blind eye all in the name of politics ?
Would Barack Obama knowingly approve of a so called reformist like Rhee who failed to implement a city-wide mentor program for all new teachers as well as failed to offer regular and consistent assistance to struggling teachers like the peer assistance and review programs provided in the Washington-metro suburbs ?
Does the president actually think it is okay for DC's school chancellor Rhee to sign off on the terminations of 250 DC teachers
even though some teachers were not given annual performance evaluations,
even though some teachers were not rated according to the appropriate curriculum standards ,
even though some teachers were targeted for termination in order to meet a city-wide quota,
even though some teachers had not yet completed their 2 year fellows program
and just because some were probationary teachers ?
I thought that our president believed in the American way of justice and liberty for all. You mean Barack doesn’t support the right to due process and a right to an appeals process for public employees unjustly terminated ?
Some say that Barack was only straddling the fence between the Joel Klein/Michelle Rhee types and labor unions . I’m not so sure because our president’s actions speak louder than words. Is this change we can believe in? Coming Soon to a city near you !
Posted by The Washington Teacher. Quotes courtesy of The Daily Howler.
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