Watching Michelle Rhee

by Tom Panarese

categories: Changemaker Profiles, Education Politics, Teacher Unions

Published June 14, 2009 @ 05:47PM PT

For those who follow education, and maybe even for those who simply follow the news, Michelle Rhee's name should be very familiar.  Brought in as the Washington, D.C. schools' superintendent two years ago, she has the job of turning around what has to be one of the most notorious school systems in the country.  She obviously knew this coming in and did so with guns blazing, proposing changes that would clean out the garbage and begin to make D.C. schools the type of place that one would expect in the nation's capital.

Of course, she hasn't exactly made friends with everyone and her noteriety, such as a now-famous (infamous, even?) Time magazine cover story,  has both helped and hindered her quest to make the improvements that the system so desperately needs.  A story on the front page of today's Washington Post reflects on her first two years as superintendent, detailing her successes and setbacks and predicting where her initiatives may take D.C. schools in the future.

Predictably, the story begins with the photo shoot for the Time cover, in which Rhee is in a classroom holding a broom, a shot she says was kind of an afterthought on that day:

Rhee explained that most of the shoot for the Dec. 8 issue involved images of her with children. The idea for the broom, which she gripped while standing stern-faced in front of a blackboard, came up near the end, she said, according to Gray's version of their meeting. She told Gray that it wasn't her first choice for the cover but that the decision wasn't hers. Gray wasn't satisfied.

Thankfully the bulk of the Post's story is not about this cover shoot (which, btw, is right out a recent episode of 30 Rock).  As the next paragraph says, the article recalls and takes measure of what Rhee has done:

In her quest to upend and transform the District's long-broken school system, Rhee has acquired a sometimes-painful education of her own. The lessons, in many respects, tell the story of her tenure as her second school year draws to a close Monday: that money isn't everything; that political and corporate leaders need to be stroked, even if you don't work for them; that the best-intentioned reforms can trigger unintended consequences; and that national celebrity can create trouble at home.

There are many directions you can take analyzing this story because of some of the major events:  Rhee's fight with the AFT, the closing of schools, her attitude towards teachers, the impact charter schools may or may not have on her initiatives ... I could go on.  And I think it's a little too early to pass too much judgment on her because she's only been at the job for a couple of years and that's barely enough time to make a dent in any school district, let alone one like Washington, D.C.

I'll save the argument on those topics for others because what I see in the task Rhee has laid out before her and the reputation she has gained is an example for everyone who is trying to improve the public school system, whether it be on a national, state, or local level.  Washington, D.C.'s school system is a huge, urban system like New York's or Chicago's and it has one of the worst reputations in the country - one that hasn't been helped in recent years by stories like the Cardozo High School mercury spill and shootings near Ballou High School.  Plus, you have the quagmire that is the D.C. city government, which is probably still remembered by some for the setting of the political career and early 1990s crack arrest of Marion Barry, a reputation that is unfortunate considering that Tony Williams and Adrian Fenty have done much to restore the city's image (although having had to apply for a marriage license in D.C., I can say that if you ever have to do any official business with the city gov't, do as much paperwork as you can beforehand and be prepared to wait a while).

This makes it seem like D.C. is unique, like it's a world away from your average local district in the suburbs or a rural community.  But is it?  Rhee has had to deal with playing politics with people who have had power and influence for a lot longer than she has, even if those people have been completely ineffective.   Think about your local school board or administration.  How many people are there because they: a) crawled out of the primordial ooze and founded the place; b) went through the system, graduated, went to college, came back, had 10 kids, and sent all of them through the system; c) ran unopposed for a position and won because the public wasn't paying much attention; d) went to high school/college/grad school or played football with the superintendent/principal; e) all of the above?  Now, how many times have you heard the phrase, "Well, we've always done it this way"?

That's the same type of cronyism that rendered D.C. ineffective for so many years and along with other factors stripped the school system down to the crumbling nightmare it was when Rhee started.  And it's not that those already in power often don't care, it's that they're complacent and it takes people like Rhee who have the cajones to stand up and say, "Wait a second ..." to shake them up and take them out of their comfort zone.  I think she's fully aware that getting D.C. to be an example of what to do right is going to take a very long time and a lot of work, and that she'll probably piss off even more people as she continues to try and change the schools.

Whether or not she's successful, and whether or not she's right, anyone involved in a school district (student, teacher, principal, board member, or parent) should follow Rhee as she continues to reform her city's school system.