The Lesson of Michelle Rhee

Michelle A. Rhee is the former chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools system of Washington, D.C. From 2007 to her resignation in October of 2010, she aggressively sought to reform the D.C. school system by closing schools, adding early-childhood programs for the gifted and talented, adding programs for art and music classes, adding special education services to District schools, fired several central district administrators and school principals, and passed a contract with teachers that traded weaker tenure protection for higher bonuses.

The results? In the two years that we have data (2008 and 2009), the graduation rates increased by 6%, reading pass rates had increased by 14 percentage points, math pass rates had increased by 17 percentage points, and enrollment decreased by only one percent (which was a slower decline than prior years).

The results? Rhee's approval ratings decreased from 59% to 43% from 2008-2009, parents began complaining, teachers fought her tooth and nail, the media turned on her, political support fell out from under her, her co-workers increasingly threw her under the bus, and the teachers union even went so far as to demand that Rhee apologize for her actions.

The results? Adrian Fenty, the mayor who had nominated her and stood by her lost his re-election bid in the 2010 Democratic primary election, to Vincent Gray, who was a community activist strongly supported by the teachers union. After this, Michelle Rhee resigned from her position, feeling both that the incoming mayor should be able to appoint a new chancellor and that she was doing more harm than good in her current position.

That's the story of Michelle Rhee, boys and girls, and is a good lesson for the challenges that those who want to reform the system faced. She gave more money to good teachers, got better results, cut out the inefficient and wasteful parasites in the educational system, graduated more students, and shook up a culture- and because of that, she and her supporters were punished. The Democrats, the teachers union, and the media had a chance to continue the progress, to give real reform a chance, but instead decided to support the parasites in the central office, support the bad and lazy and unqualified teachers in the system, and punish success. That's what we are up against as teachers, and that is why I blog.

Check out these books on Michelle Rhee: THE BEE EATER: Michelle Rhee Takes on the Nation's Worst School DIstrict and American School Administrators: Michelle Rhee.