Michelle Rhee on vouchers, social promotion and putting kids first
Michelle Rhee speaks to Georgia lawmakers Thursday. Jason Getz jgetz@ajc.com
Former DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee appealed to both ends of the political spectrum today in her visit to the Georgia Capitol, touting vouchers to provide low-income children with options beyond failing neighborhood schools and a strong federal Department of Education to hold schools accountable.
Rhee’s theme throughout her comments was the need to put students first. “We have been putting the system first for 30 years and look where that has gotten us,” she said.
And her new education organization — created she says to counter the influence of teacher unions, textbook publishers and other special interests focused on adult agendas – is called StudentsFirst.
Her take-no-prisoners style of public school management, which left a wake of ill will in Washington and cost her ex boss, Mayor Adrian Fenty, re-election last year, struck a chord with Georgia lawmakers, many of whom believe that the entrenched education bureaucracy in Georgia has been an obstacle to real reform.
As to her own stormy tenure over DC schools where she says she was known as the “Dragon Lady” and “Teacher Terminator,” Rhee said she believed her tough policies would be accepted “if we just produced actual results…I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
The dysfunctions within public education are not an accident, she said. “There are people who benefit by that dysfunction.”
Rhee recalled her own staff’s dismay when she supported the takeover of low-performing traditional schools under her control by independent charter schools that the district would not control. “My goal is not to protect and preserve the system,” she said. “My goal is to make sure every child gets a great education.”
That’s why, she told House members, she supported Washington’s voucher program. If parents did not win the lottery to enable their child to attend one of Washington’s high-achieving charter schools, Rhee says she didn’t feel it was fair to limit them to a failing public school, a school where she would never send her own two daughters. “Then who I am to deny them a $7,500 voucher to send their child to a great Catholic school,” she said.
Asked about social promotion, Rhee said it was a symptom of a culture too concerned about self-esteem. Showing her Tiger mom stripes, she said, “We have become soft in America.”
In South Korea, from where her family hails, Rhee said the 40 children even in a kindergarten class are ranked academically from first to last, and the No. 1 students are always looking over their shoulders to see if someone is gaining on them. That would never be allowed here, she noted.
Rhee said her two daughters “suck in soccer.” But you would never know it because their rooms are full of ribbons, medals and trophies.. “You would think I was raising the next Mia Hamms,” she said. “We are so busy making children feel good about themselves that we are not spending the time teaching them how to do good.”
(I am updating this blog as the day goes on. Check back for more of Rhee’s visit.)
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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162 comments Add your comment
Ann
February 12th, 2011
4:02 pm
@ScienceTeacher671 and @teacher&mom – I never said we were going into the dark ages or that we have not had progress in some areas. Respectully, our opinions of great achievements may not be the same. Some of the examples given are things invented by persons outside of the U.S. – such as the Internet and Cat Scans. My comments were about U.S. public education. And, some examples were invented by people who “dropped out” of education at an early point.
Of course, there have been advances by Americans. It remains to be seen, however, whether the benefits of cat scans will outweigh the risks. Experts now advise that a cat scan is hundreds of times more radiation than an x-ray and they are now discouraging their use except when they are absolutely necessary. New diagnostic testing methods have some positive uses, but also a huge down side that is not being fully addressed yet, although discussions are beginning. There are many tumors, etc., being diagnosed that would have, otherwise, not caused the person any problems during their lifetimes. Yet the stress and follow-up testing required after discovery takes a huge toll on patients’ health that goes beyond the initial issue. Many of the recent medical achievements have been about diagnostic equipment or tweaks in treatment. With all the money and time that we spend on schooling and research, we should have made more progress in curing and preventing disease. Hey, but that’s not where the profits are for corporations, so the emphasis is not on that.
I don’t consider “cell phones” a great achievement. Ipods, dvd’s – these are all different technology from prior ones (such as the 8 tracks mentioned). Is it a great achievement for humanity or an improved consumer product to sell to the masses (and then sell again six months later when the newest model comes out.) I believe cell phones discourage invention and innovation. Invention and innovation requires “time” (quality time, quiet time) to ponder and think. Cell phones are often a constant interruption to that time.
One of the problems with formal schooling, as we now have it, is that kids, adolescents, and young adults lives are consumed by so many hours of schooling, that by the time they finish college, graduate school, etc., their prime years of ideas and innovation have been taken up by lectures and school assignments. It is unlikely that we would have Microsoft Corporation or Apple Computers if either of the founders had stayed in college. They all dropped out very early to follow their passions. We need to find a way for students to follow their passions and have time to explore and innovate. If we had shorter school days, kids would actually have time to think and explore. Our society is afraid of that, however. We must “keep them busy” and out of trouble. It’s in that “free time” that innovations are made, such as the invention of the personal computer.
Mikey D
February 12th, 2011
5:21 pm
@Ann:
“It is not so much a question as to whether Michelle Rhee is “the answer” to school problems or not. The point is, by coming here, she sparked dialogue about the issues and spurred people into thinking more about them. That is the value.”
The problem with Rhee and apparently the politicians who fawn all over her are not interested in dialogue. Our “leaders” are willingly ignoring the other side of the debate. They bring in this woman, who has been proven to be a liar and a fraud, and they take everything she’s offering like it’s manna from heaven. Meanwhile, when was the last time members of our legislature invited a group of teachers to come to the capitol and speak to the joint education committee on their views and beliefs? Dialogue is wonderful, but it’s a two way street. Our “leaders” are absorbing everything that one side is throwing out there, but completely ignoring the other side. I’d love to have dialogue, but unfortunately no one at the state level is interested in what teachers think or believe. Only frauds like Michelle Rhee and Erin Hames.
Ann
February 12th, 2011
5:34 pm
I would suggest that the teachers on the blog who are frustrated about not being heard by the politicians and leaders, find among you someone who can speak well and convey your ideas. Schedule a meeting, gather an audience, and invite Maureen and other media persons to cover it. It may not be easy to pull off, but it can be done. It may take a few teachers to step up as grassroots leaders, if your professional associations in Georgia are not representing your views well enough.
Maureen Downey
February 12th, 2011
5:55 pm
@Ann, A problem seems to be getting lawmakers to follow through. I know that lawmakers have agreed to meet with folks from the blog in the past, but the meetings never materialize, largely because there are many people at the Capitol walking up to legislators and talking to them about these issues. Most of those folks are lobbyists, but there are regular folks who go down as well to grab lawmakers and chat. So, I think legislators feel they are getting lots of input.
Maureen
Sam
February 12th, 2011
6:49 pm
I would LOVE to stop social promotion, but unfortunately I get in trouble if too many kids make Fs! If they fail the EOCT, they shouldn’t pass the class!
ScienceTeacher671
February 12th, 2011
7:09 pm
Ann, I went to a meeting such as you suggest last year. Although we had educators, superintendents and parents from at least 3 school districts, two of the 3 legislators who had confirmed did not show up. IIRC, one called two hours before the event and said he couldn’t make it, and the other never called at all.
Most of them apparently aren’t interested in what teachers have to say, although I must say I received a nice note from my new state Senator just this morning. I’ll be watching him closely.
AJinCobb
February 12th, 2011
10:06 pm
I think it’s unfair to blame a perceived lack of superlative scientific achievements in recent decades on the American education system. The frontiers of knowledge are so much more advanced nowadays that people have to spend more time learning what others have already discovered before they can start working at the leading edge. It’s very different from a couple of hundred years ago when one person could master a much larger portion of the sum total of human knowledge.
Furthermore, scientific progress tends to occur when social conditions are ready for it. It’s not just a product of education. If Americans were falling that much behind, wouldn’t we see the rest of the world making great scientific discoveries? It’s not like the British, Germans, Chinese etc. are hampered by the same education system as we have.
This is not to say that I agree with the claim that scientific progress has been lacking in recent decades. I think Ann is under-valuing recent achievements.
Ann
February 13th, 2011
11:12 am
Many countries are hampered with the same education system problems, meaning the long hours and long years of schooling. Our “schooling” model was not an American idea, but imported from other countries. Maureen had a blog topic just a few months ago that relates to my point about innovation. I don’t remember the exact title, but it was regarding “why kids enter school with a desire for learning, but by sixth grade, many have lost that joy of learning”. Anyone who has kids or is around kids knows the thirst for learning they have in those early years. Schools need to be better at maintaining that love of learning, as too many kids “burn out” on that.
In earlier centuries, people learned how to read and write and think, then moved on to the pursuit of ideas. Now, we feel we have to teach them for many, many years. If you count preschool, k-12, undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, it is at least 25 years for many scientists, engineers, doctors. By the time they finish this “schooling”, they are starting families, have financial obligations, and less time to pursue “ideas”. You can find examples that are exceptions, with innovations. I think there was another blog topic in recent months about college and how little is learned between the freshman and senior years. I believe we are limiting innovation with the long years of schooling. It doesn’t mean we don’t have some innovation, but not as much as we could otherwise. We are “occupying” too much of those prime years with hours and hours of assignments and homework. We all know about Thomas Edison’s inventions and that he had over 1000 patents and created General Electric. He dropped out of elementary school and traveled on his own at that point. Today, we view dropouts only as “failures” and we are afraid to let our kids take risks.
Mikey D
February 13th, 2011
1:23 pm
@Ann:
If you’ll send me your email address I would be happy to provide for you the occasions, including dates, when I have reached out to politicians at the state level. I have kept those records. There have been dozens of attempts to secure a meeting or call of some sort. As of now, I have had one email returned from my local representative thanking me for my input, but also not following through or taking me up on my invitation to meet and talk. I have had a few emails returned from Ed Lindsay promising me a conference call, but as of yet the call has not materialized. And, I have dozens of calls and emails that have never been acknowledged or returned.
You are completely missing my point when you say teachers should get a meeting with these politicians and have the media cover it. I’m trying to tell you that I have been trying for two years to do just that. THEY DON’T WANT TO MEET WITH TEACHERS AND THEY DON’T CARE WHAT TEACHERS HAVE TO SAY. Maybe in your world it’s a simple thing to just pick up the phone and schedule a meeting with someone who would rather ignore you and pretend you’re not there. But in the real world such an invitation has to be acknowledged and accepted by the other party. If you’ve got any great ideas about how to make these politicians start caring about what we think, then I’m all ears. But simply saying teachers should get a meeting scheduled is like me saying the federal government should just balance the budget. It’s easy to say, not so easy to do.
Patrick Crabtree
February 13th, 2011
1:54 pm
@Mickey and Ann. I have gone down to the legislature as a taxpayer and as a teacher who happens to be a GAE member. They call me a lobbyist, too. So politicians think one cannot think for himself. They assume their agenda is the voters agenda. Or, they are trying to usurp our voting rights just as Hitler did. (Comment was intended, to me it is that serious)
j nes
February 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
The unfamiliarity with Rhee from some of you people indicates you have no business posting on an education blog. Please do your homework.
Mikey D
February 14th, 2011
8:36 pm
@j nes:
Rhee made outrageous claims about gains her students made. Those claims have since been proven to be false. The woman is a liar.
Anything else we need to be familiar about?