Former Washington, D.C., Chancellor Michelle Rhee is wasting no time getting her new organization StudentsFirst up and running.
She just released a policy agenda that is already spurring response from the AFT and NEA.
Rhee says the agenda of StudentsFirst had three main goals: elevating the teaching profession by valuing teachers’ impact on students; empowering parents with real choices and real information; shifting spending taxpayers’ money to get better results for students.
And Rhee says the group will reach those goals by advocating for the following:
✓ Evaluating teachers based on evidence of student results rather than arbitrary judgments, and separating teacher evaluation from the collective bargaining process.
✓ Evaluating principals on their ability to drive student outcomes, and to attract, retain, manage and develop excellent teachers
✓ Supporting all paths that bring excellent teachers and instruction to students
✓ Paying teachers substantially more for effectiveness
✓ Making all staffing decisions based on teachers’ impact on students.
✓ Eliminating tenure, and making teaching a profession based on respect and performance
✓ Creating more high quality, publicly funded school choices
✓ Empowering parents with clear and useful data
✓ Empowering parents to trigger the turnaround of a failing school
✓ Requiring parent consent for students placed with ineffective teachers
✓ Promoting governance structures that prioritize accountability and put students’ interests first
✓ Dispelling the myths about what works and only spending money on policies that advance student achievement
✓ Creating pension and benefit programs responsibly
Among the first respondents to the Rhee agenda was Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers:
Michelle Rhee’s agenda presents a false choice: support students or support teachers. The fact is that neither can succeed unless both are supported. Making schools better places for children to learn also makes them better places for teachers to work.
Improving student learning works best when teachers, administrators and parents work together to transform schools. Collaboration and teamwork, not conflict, will move our schools forward. Make no mistake: The interests of teachers and children are inextricably linked—no matter how hard Rhee tries to separate them.
Rhee’s plan talks about valuing teachers and empowering parents, yet she did quite the opposite as Washington, D.C., schools chancellor. She advocates stripping away the voice of the two groups closest to kids—teachers and parents, who to Rhee are consumers, not front-end, engaged participants. Instead of discussing a comprehensive system to develop great teachers and evaluate them based on both instruction and student learning—a system developed by the AFT and now being used as a template by hundreds of local districts—she reverts to a “my way or the highway” approach by advocating that teacher evaluation not be a subject of collective bargaining. And while we agree that states and school leaders must be budget-conscious in these tough times, careless choices like simply reducing school-based funding, cutting teacher salaries and increasing class sizes diminish the quality of education and exacerbate already high teacher turnover.
Unfortunately, Rhee—despite a new veneer and some wonderful rhetoric—still seems to want to create a narrative of good guys and bad guys, and winners and losers, in education. Preparing our children for school, college and life is too important to be reduced to an oversimplified choice between students and teachers.
And a response came this afternoon from NEA Executive Director John Wilson, who struck a more conciliatory tone:
NEA has long advocated for high standards in the teaching profession, for regular teacher evaluations, and for professional development that improves teachers’ effectiveness. We welcome Rhee to the effort.
Making certain that all students have access to great teachers and to great public schools requires research-based solutions but sadly, Rhee’s entire document lacks facts or research to back up its recommendations. Instead its so-called solutions play to people’s fears rather than promote a positive and collaborative agenda for improving America’s public schools.
Transforming schools requires collaboration of all stakeholders—parents, teacher unions, elected officials and community members. In fact, Rhee need look no further than Indiana, Tennessee and Florida—three states where she says she is working on education issues—to find replicable models of adults working together and truly transforming students’ lives.
NEA members are proud of the work they do to shape the lives of students and the future of this nation. Make no mistake; they put students first each and every day in the classroom. It’s time to work together to identify solutions to our educational challenges. Our students gain nothing from empty rhetoric and divisive solutions.
– From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
150 comments Add your comment
Mikey D
January 10th, 2011
6:55 pm
Separating teacher evaluation from the collective bargaining process…
In other words, neutering the unions. Easy to see what her real goals are.
factseeker
January 10th, 2011
7:00 pm
If she truly wanted to make a difference she would have stayed right where she was. Seems like the continuation of self promotion to me. We can thank Time Magazine for that.
Mikey D
January 10th, 2011
7:03 pm
She had a profit ceiling where she was… Now that she’s become an “expert” and a “consultant”, she can charge market value for her “services” which, ironically, will instruct states and districts on the best ways to reduce the costs of teacher salaries. This pathetic woman is every bit as shameless as Erin Hames.
Sam
January 10th, 2011
7:07 pm
I’d like to make an “impact” to her face
Sam
January 10th, 2011
7:15 pm
Before anyone freaks out, I was just kidding. I had when people use the word “impact” when they’re not talking about something hitting something else. I would like for people to have to go through a mandatory parenting class before they leave the hospital. I think focusing on getting people to parent their children will eliminate a lot of these problems in schools.
Mikey D
January 10th, 2011
7:22 pm
Interesting how all of Rhee’s ridiculous us vs. them, hero and villain rhetoric of blaming teachers is the polar opposite of Dr. Smagorinsky’s excellent essay, published here earlier. Why are vapid self-promoters like Rhee and Hames allowed to drown out the voices of reason so easily? Members of the media should accept some accountability here….
Just wondering...
January 10th, 2011
7:23 pm
✓ Evaluating teachers based on evidence of student results rather than arbitrary judgments, and separating teacher evaluation from the collective bargaining process.
I think teacher evaluations need to be more than just test scores alone. I don’t think things like “professional duties” or “good classroom managment” are arbitrary. I don’t have a problem with test scores being a part of the equation (no more than 20%), IF, and only if, the tests are valid, reliable, and meaningful for the students. As a teacher here in Georgia, I don’t know what collective bargaining is, lol.
✓ Evaluating principals on their ability to drive student outcomes, and to attract, retain, manage and develop excellent teachers
I don’t have a problem with this. Good instructional leaders do this. However, district policies need to be such that they can do these things.
✓ Supporting all paths that bring excellent teachers and instruction to students
As an alternatively certified teacher, I don’t have a problem with this. However, I also think our teacher prep programs need a bit of an overhaul anyway.
✓ Paying teachers substantially more for effectiveness
This is a pipe dream. When one of our candidates for governor was for merit pay as a “cost-saving” measure, that is SCARY SCARY SCARY! When state budgets make or break what district budgets can afford, this is sound and fury signifying nothing (remember the increase in pay for math and scinece teachers that passed? Hahaha).
✓ Making all staffing decisions based on teachers’ impact on students.
This is stupid, as this should already be happening. If it’s not, shame on whomever is responsible.
✓ Eliminating tenure, and making teaching a profession based on respect and performance
Tenure or no tenure, it would be nice if teaching were a profession based on respect and performance. In this political climate, eliminating tenure won’t fix the lack of respect. That being said, I would make it more difficult to obtain tenure, and also make it easier to remove an ineffective teacher who has tenure. Situations like the infamous :rubber rooms” of NYC shouldn’t happen. I still think tenure is needed, however, as a teacher in Georgia, where we have a very weak form of tenure, I don’t ever really see the abuses you sometimes hear about from state with strong unions.
✓ Creating more high quality, publicly funded school choices
I assume she means charters? More choice within a district? More choice outside a distict? Vouchers? More choice would be nice, however, I think we needed to really reevaluate how we fund schools. As long as my property values are tied to my local school’s success, and my tax bill is related to my property value, I’m going to have a problem with vouchers (but then again, my heighborhood school is a good school).
✓ Empowering parents with clear and useful data
I can tell you from my experience, the parents that most need this already don’t look at or understand the data we do have. Parents who do care, and are involved, understand how to read and interpret test scores – they pay attention to reports cards – they look at sites like greatschools.net and the AJC School guide. What other data does she propose? Again – nice sounding words. A recent study said that most parents only care that their children are “happy” – what data does she propose to collect for that?
✓ Empowering parents to trigger the turnaround of a failing school
Have fun storming the castle, kids! Empower them how, and to do what? Bring me the head of the principal on a plate? I hate to say it, but a lot of failing schools have a lot of uninvolved parents – and there is data such as PTA membership that support that.
✓ Requiring parent consent for students placed with ineffective teachers
What parent is going to consent to this? This is just stupid – if a teacher is that ineffective, then they shouldn’t be teaching in the first place.
✓ Promoting governance structures that prioritize accountability and put students’ interests first
Governance for whom? The district? The board? The school? Define students’ interests – cell phones, reality TV, and video games? This is polical educratic, feel-good, mumbo-jumbo gobbledy-gook. She needs to read the article in the Wall Street Journal about Chinese mothers.
✓ Dispelling the myths about what works and only spending money on policies that advance student achievement
I don’t even know what to say about this – especially given the recent research that shows that merit pay tied to test scores may not be effective.
✓ Creating pension and benefit programs responsibly
Neither of these have anything to do with student achievement, and everything to do with good fiscal management and attracting a strong workforce.
I’ll admit it – I’m not a Michelle Rhee fan – I am 100% biased in my opinions. However, I don’t form my opinions lightly. I read a lot about education and policies, both here, across the country, as well as in other countries. I became a teacher through an alternative certification process after working in business. My oldest was in high school before I started teaching, so I have a lot of experience from the parents’ side of the chalk, as well as the teachers. I have worked at a tough school and at a slightly easier (though changing) school – and I have friends who work in the rarefied air of upper SES schools. Lots and lots of empirical evidence…
Nathan Deal Snowmaggeddon
January 10th, 2011
7:28 pm
A business sociopath…..
Dedicatedandtired
January 10th, 2011
7:42 pm
I don’t need more money! I need smaller class sizes. I need parents to quit questioning my judgement and administrative and county support when they do. My students like and respect me. I am a good teacher. My kids score well on tests and the teachers who teach the grade above me tell me my students are the most prepared. I am by all measures set by anyone thus far a valued educator, and I work my butt off. I teach at one of the top 10 public schools in Georgia. So, I have it easy, right? I am ready to leave with both middle fingers flying. The problem here is I need about 10,000 middle fingers to properly salute all the worthy recipients.
HS Public Teacher
January 10th, 2011
7:45 pm
GROAN!
How many times must we go throught this? It is just WRONG to evaluate teaching effectiveness base on student performance of any kind.
I will be happy to agree to this when we also…
Produce a grade for parents based on their children’s performance. I’ll let you pick anything… Parents want their child to play baseball – boom – the parents get a baseball grade. Parents want their child to play piano – boom – parents get a piano grade.
And, if parents “allow” their child to fail, then they must pay a fine of eqivalent to the teacher losing our salary.
Any takers?
HS Public Teacher
January 10th, 2011
7:47 pm
LOL – wanna bet that the Georgia republicans either bring Rhee down here or follow every one of her (mis)steps?
Dedicatedandtired
January 10th, 2011
7:50 pm
The answer to your question, HS Public Teacher, as many times as it takes for the idiots in charge to listen and quit throwing good money after bad!
catlady
January 10th, 2011
7:51 pm
And nothing about evaluating or devising policies to hold the students or parents accountable for their efforts, because it is all about the teachers. This woman has obviously not done a lot of teaching. Sociopath indeed!
For example, I’d like to require a teacher’s signature to accept an ineffective student in his/her class. I’d like to create a path to get me more effective students in my class. You get the drift….
teacher&mom
January 10th, 2011
8:01 pm
Rhee : Education – Palin : Politics
One puts lipstick on a pitbull, the other puts tape on students’ mouths.
Dr. Craig Spinks /Augusta
January 10th, 2011
8:03 pm
Best wishes to Dr. John Barge in his new role as our SOS!
teacher&mom
January 10th, 2011
8:07 pm
Neither one really knows what they are doing, however, they are excellent media manipulators. They have perfected the fine art of sound bites, catchy lines, and chic designer suits.
Anyone want to place bets on how long it will be before Rhee is offered her own reality TV show?
ScienceTeacher671 at gmail.com
January 10th, 2011
8:11 pm
I would argue that (1) poor teachers are the minority and (2) they are hired because principals can’t find “good” teachers for those positions. The reason that you have lower standards for admission to teacher prep programs, alternative certification, etc. is that we usually don’t have enough teachers.
If you raise the bar for becoming a teacher, you’re going to have a teacher shortage. If you increase the demands on the profession much more without some sort of increase in compensation, autonomy, or respect, you’re going to have an even worse teacher shortage because the most qualified teachers will find something else to do.
If you have a teacher shortage, to fill the classrooms you will have to either make the teaching profession more attractive or lower the bar for admission.
Pretty basic market forces. Funny how that free market stuff works.
teacher&mom
January 10th, 2011
8:27 pm
I am NOT a Rhee fan…
But I’m amazed that she can publicly admit to handing her students tape to put over their lips so they would be quiet in hall. She even laughs when she describes how a few students’ lips bled when they took off the tape.
And no one in the media bats and eyelash. No one calls her on the carpet. No one says a word. Instead they take every word she says as the gospel truth.
Why?
In Budget Crises, an Opening for School Reform – Wall Street Journal – BIGJUNCTION.INFO
January 10th, 2011
8:42 pm
[...] frontal attack on the educational status quo. And policy makers are rising to the challenge, …Rhee: We must examine teachers through student lensAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog)all 213 news [...]
oldtimer
January 10th, 2011
8:44 pm
Actually, maybe it is time for something new..NEA and AFT really propose more of the smae..it is not working.
What's best for kids?
January 10th, 2011
8:53 pm
Every time I hear her talk, I feel like I’m in a Charlie Brown movie, and she is the teacher.
Tonya C.
January 10th, 2011
8:54 pm
Oldtimer:
So much of what is not working IS working with some, just not all. There are so many forces at work that have put the education system in the state it is in, but society as a whole is really at fault. We as a country have lost the necessary respect for education, and the students the system is are producing are the fruit of that tree.
Nikole
January 10th, 2011
8:57 pm
How does MRhee have so much power?
Dedicatedandtired
January 10th, 2011
9:00 pm
As soon as we balance student self esteem with students self respect and respect for others,we may have a shot. Problem in the U.S is that our students who are not intrinsically motivated (half of our teenagers, conservative, I know), are not extrinsically motivated by society or family. We could use a little, “you bring shame and dishonor to your family” in our society. That is why the U.S ranks where it does.
Springdale Park Elementary Parent
January 10th, 2011
9:00 pm
Give me Michelle Rhee over Beverly Hall every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Teachers, we will find a way to evaluate you fairly–parents are no more willing to tolerate arbitrary, flimsy teacher evals than you are. But evaluated you will be, and thoroughly, so get used to the idea. It’s coming.
Remember, too, that parents know all the BS you have to put up with, from the moronic make-work to the too-rigid curricula to the disruptive students and their loudmouth do-nothing parents. We know. We’ll insist on reforms all down the list. But videotaping of teachers, close examination of student progress, team evaluations of teachers–all those things are coming. .
Just wondering...
January 10th, 2011
9:03 pm
Dedicatedand tired – you should read the article in the Wall Street Journal about Chinese mothers.
Tonya C.
January 10th, 2011
9:09 pm
Springdale Park Parent:
Please speak for yourself, and not the masses. More parents have NO idea of it takes to educate their child/children than those that do. And this: “But videotaping of teachers, close examination of student progress, team evaluations of teachers–all those things are coming.” is already happening in MANY schools right here in GA.
My husband is a teacher, special ed to be exact. He is a positive black male role model, something sorely missing in many schools. And despite his passion, he will most likely leave the teaching profession within 3-5 years. Teaching is an exhausting, mostly thankless job that requires dedication from the teacher and his/her family. Under these new conditions, not many of the good ones will want to stick around to be the scapegoats for all of education’s ills.
Dedicatedandtired
January 10th, 2011
9:16 pm
Just wondering….Just found it and read it. Extremes are never good, in my opinion,
What Goes Around Comes Around
January 10th, 2011
9:24 pm
@ Sam January 10th, 2011 7:07 pm
YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN THE JERK WHO JUST KILLED 6 PEOPLE IN ARIZONA. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE LATELY TO FIX EDUCATION? AT LEAST SHE IS TRYING TO FIX THIS MESS.
justbrowsing
January 10th, 2011
9:26 pm
@ Tonya C – I agree
Isn’t it interesting that Georgia regards its teachers so highly that it believes they are able to save all children from distressed backgrounds. Even though they themselves have been unable to address the social ills of these same families- even when armed with funded programs that target the specific issues affecting these families. Thanks Georgia for the vote of confidence.
What Goes Around Comes Around
January 10th, 2011
9:32 pm
I am a retired school system employee who worked with teachers and had many friends who were teachers.
A young teacher told me that she got into teaching because she could not find anything else. She came to my office because she was not a good effective teacher and she was causing problems.
Ms. Rhee I applaud you. At least you are trying to help our children to succeed.
ScienceTeacher671 at gmail.com
January 10th, 2011
9:36 pm
What Goes Around: “A young teacher told me that she got into teaching because she could not find anything else. She came to my office because she was not a good effective teacher and she was causing problems.”
And I’m betting she was hired to begin with because they could not find anyone else.
Just wondering...
January 10th, 2011
9:38 pm
Deicatedandtired – I agree about extremes – I’m not 100% in approval of how that mom raised her kids. However, I think too many have done the opposite, and that’s not good either. We need the pendulum to swing back (especially given that our kids are going to be competing with those kids in a global marketplace).
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reality show
January 10th, 2011
10:00 pm
Teacher&Mom: I bet you’re right about the reality show…..I just hope that she will be in a classroom teaching students herself. And I mean a FULL teaching environment–not one or two classes a day, but 5 classes with 30 kids all on different levels. Wonder if she will change her tune?
Tonya C.
January 10th, 2011
10:05 pm
What goes around:
I work in HR. There are many people in this field because they have a degree in it, but have no passion for it. And I aim to bet there are quite a few more percentage-wise than there are teachers like the one you described. But I don’t characterize the profession or make suggestions based on that minority.
Heck, I’ll throw this in. My current salary is the same as a starting teacher in most metro Atlanta schools, and about 10k more than in most rural counties. I don’t even have an Associates Degree. Where is this magical performance money going to come from when the pay is so pitiful right now!
Rural education
January 10th, 2011
10:10 pm
Another expert who has no idea what she is talking about. Why do some think that running every thing “like a business” is what we should always strive for. The goal of a business is to make a profit, should public education be a for profit enterprise?
Toto: exposing the myths
January 10th, 2011
10:32 pm
Parents are transforming schools- it’s called home schooling. They are in direct control of their children’s education and do not rely on other people’s money. There are no “snow days”, unless you want them. If your curriculum, video teacher, tutor, isn’t working, YOU MOVE ON and try something that does work. If the home instructor is lax in discipline, he/she bears the brunt of a disobedient/bratty child. If your child has a food allergy or needs a special diet, NO PROBLEM! If your student spends too much time on Facebook or World of Warcraft, YOU LOCK UP THE KEYBOARD. Problem solved. If that great field trip/vacation is cheapest in October, you go for it!. Perhaps home schooling isn’t for everyone, but it seems to be working for 2 MILLION students! No government help necessary.
Phillipmarlowe
January 10th, 2011
10:32 pm
Let us not forget that Miss Rhee lied on her resume.
She stated that she took her 2nd graders of Harlem park ES (Baltimore, MD) from the 13th percentile on the CTBS to 90% of them at the 90th percentile at the end of 3rd grade.
The CTBS scores proved otherwise.
She claimed that her teaching practices were highlighted by the Wall Street Journal, Hartford Courant, Good Morning America and the Home Show.
Not true, and the Home Show episode was from 1993, after her first year of teaching when she admitted she was a failure. BTW, the Home Show episode was about her school. The is no evidence that she was on the show.
She claims that the test scores at Shaw Middle School went up in 2009 and 2010.
They went down both years.
As someone noted, she is like Sarah Palin-me, me, me.
Why does she lie?
She knows the mainstream press will give her a pass because her claims concern poor black students, whose lives the media knows nothing about, nor cares to find out.
Toss Ms. Downey in with that lot.
To paraphrase General Patton, she knows as much about education as she does fornicating.
Worried about the numbers
January 10th, 2011
10:45 pm
I am very much for empowering parents with real information. But even educated ones don’t know much about child development and how to build skills over the long run. If parents were experts, their children would come to school fully ready to learn and we wouldn’t be in this mess, that’s the bottom line. Teaching is both an art and a science and one must study for it and practice before one becomes an expert.
I buy the ‘rate teachers through students’ eyes’ bit more if it came with ‘rate administrative officials through the eyes of teachers, principals, and parents and pay them on their ability to please and satisfy them’.
Wouldn’t we have some fun with that in Dekalb County right now.
Teacher Reader
January 10th, 2011
11:39 pm
Used to have respect for Rhea, but not any longer. Am tired of hearing about poor teachers-yes they are out there, but until schools stop focusing on teaching to tests and begin focusing on deep, meaningful learning our children will never be able to compete with other children around the world. So glad I left teaching, loved the profession when I was able to teach, but no regrets for getting out. Only wish I did it sooner.
New (formerly future) Teacher
January 10th, 2011
11:44 pm
“…elevating the teaching profession by valuing teachers’ impact on students; empowering parents with real choices and real information; shifting spending taxpayers’ money to get better results for students.”
1. I’ll agree with her first goal. Get the losers out and keep the winners in. Now, how do we decide who is a winner or a loser? Test scores? Okay, standardized nationally or regionally? How do we determine validity? While I agree with Ms. Rhee, she has got to be more specific and have some empirical data for support.
Goal 2 & 3 have much to deal with each other so, here goes:
What Ms. Rhee continually is missing in her mission help students is that a teacher alone can only do so much. Does that mean we shouldn’t try? No, but teachers will continuously be frustrated until parents get involved. There is a reason why parental involvement is reliably linked to student outcomes in spite of the changing definition of “student outcomes”. Teacher involvement is linked as well, but parent and teachers together are a potent mix.
Neither goal 2 or 3 can be met without involved parents. Involved parents can be empowered, and empowered parents can help tip public support in favor of shifting tax money in whichever direction that it needs to go. Two subgoals that she might consider adding to really start making a change: defining minimum parental involvement level for student achievement and finding reliable ways to increase parental involvement in schools. These subgoals are still rather vague but less so than some of hers.
Tonya C.
January 11th, 2011
12:01 am
New Teacher:
Parental involvement can’t be mandated. Even when encouraged and all efforts made to accommodate parents, those who want to be involved will and those who don’t won’t. This is said as an active and educated parent, NOT a teacher or even in my role as the spouse of one. Good schools = good neighborhoods = involved community and parents. Trying to alter these variables or avoid their importance will continue to produce the minimal results we have now.
Pretty presentations and talking points won’t make any change to the system. Michelle Rhee had a chance to test and prove her hypothesis…she failed. It would be in her best interest to shut up until she opens her mind to the fact she doesn’t know it all.
Dedicatedandtired
January 11th, 2011
12:16 am
Just wondering…you and I are on the same page, for some reason, only a portion of my post made it to the blog. To a few of you other folks…parent involvement does not mean parents telling teachers how to do their jobs. Funny, the only parents who question my methods are the ones who are dissatisfied with their childrens’ performance. No culpability on their end, but I get to waste my precious time that should be spent with my family, eating, sleeping, and bathing, making sure some parent doesn’t go above my head ( I am the department chair btw) demanding I am dealt with for having the nerve to actually give a child the grade he / she has earned. Must be poor lesson planning on my part or unfair treatment to kids, who all admit that I am fair and good, or I forgot 8 weeks earlier to dot an I or cross a t.
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B. Killebrew
January 11th, 2011
12:23 am
Michelle Rhee is so cra-cra…
AlreadySheared
January 11th, 2011
12:46 am
After this, I’m going to roll out my plans for a “Soldier-based Army”. This army will allow new soldiers to avoid being placed with “ineffective” NCOs and officers and put the needs of solders first, before accomplishment of Mission.
I am sure that putting our fighting soldiers first will lead to higher-achieving soldiers and more successful military campaigns.
FCS Teacher
January 11th, 2011
12:46 am
Michelle, you got your 15 minutes of fame. Congratulations, now it’s time to disappear.
New teacher
January 11th, 2011
2:06 am
@ Tonya:
While I am generally ambivalent about mandates, perhaps we need one to get parents involved. I’m not talking about calls to the school to moan and gripe about how Johnny’s failing or about how the teacher should teach. Every parent should know about their child’s progress. Already, I’ve called a few parents about my concerns about the lack of progress. The two that returned my phone calls were surprised at this news. One plainly said, “You’ve got time to fix it.” Perhaps it’s because I’m still fresh that I’m hopeful that solutions to the parent/ teacher breakdown will emerge from all the reform talk.
I don’t think Rhee is a complete quack. She’s a TFA alum, which maybe why she has the Superman complex. However, I do agree that she is letting the celebrity get to her. I respect her intent, but she needs do some real thinking about the problems of education and quit spouting the quick talking points.
ScienceTeacher671 at gmail.com
January 11th, 2011
5:51 am
Contrast this with the Chinese mothers. Perhaps if we demanded excellence of our students, the other goals would follow?