Commentary by Reformer Red, December 1, 2008 - 3:29 PM
D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee seems to be dominating the media these days, and she’s making headlines again this week, gracing the cover of TIME Magazine.
While there’s nothing glamorous about firing nearly 300 teachers and principals, Rhee has made more changes within DCPS in one year than most could even dream about over several decades. She’s not your typical cover girl, as TIME points out. She’s been called a “nightmare” but Chancellor Rhee seems okay with that. “Have I rubbed people the wrong way? Definitely. If I changed my style, I might make people a little more comfortable… but I think there’s real danger in acting in a way that makes adults feel better.”
A piece in today’s Washington Post shows that this new style can work, but with folks like AFT boss Randi Weingarten highly critical of this new trend, it is unlikely to catch on without bold leadership from our elected officials.
Tags:
DC,
Michelle Rhee,
Randi Weingarten,
teachers,
Time Magazine,
union
Our View by jallen, October 16, 2008 - 3:15 PM
An Open Letter to Greg Toppo (USA TODAY)
October 16, 2008
Dear Greg,
A huge round of applause to you for covering the education views of the prospective next POTUS. Your coverage of education is almost always on point with a keen distinction between rhetoric and reality. This is why CER once gave you an award for excellence in journalism and has been an avid fan.
But on your candidate coverage this week, it seems you confuse what the candidates believe with what others expect each candidate to believe and hence, there are a couple of phrases which seem loaded in one direction and not another. In the interest of fairness, I’d like to point these assumptions out.
More “Not So Fast”
Tags:
Barack Obama,
charters,
Election 2008,
John McCain,
performance pay,
public schools,
school choice,
teachers,
union,
vouchers
Our View by jallen, October 9, 2008 - 2:34 PM
An Open Letter to Jay Mathews (Washington Post)
Dear Jay,
You usually have it right. In the past when you’ve talked about charters, you’ve correctly noted that the high performing nature of so many has helped education become a reality for so many children without.
This week, however, you missed a bunch of important information when discussing a possible disconnect between how teachers operate in high performing charters and what Michelle Rhee’s performance pay plan would do for teachers in the traditional system.
Let me explain.
First, the teamwork you cite as so vital to successful charter schools - no matter which organization or company you cite - is evolutionary. It is not forced, but it is encouraged, and it is encouraged in a myriad of ways, much of which is left to the teachers themselves to decide.
More “Teamwork”
Tags:
charters,
DC,
Jay Mathews,
Michelle Rhee,
teachers
