The Answer Sheet: d.c. schools


Posted at 12:16 PM ET, 05/01/2013

Does what happened in 2008 still matter in 2013?
By Valerie Strauss
Why should we keep trying to figure out what happened in D.C. Public Schools in 2008?

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:16 PM ET, 05/01/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools and Cheating

Posted at 10:11 AM ET, 04/14/2013

Probe of past D.C. test cheating called 'impractical' (update)
By Valerie Strauss
The D.C. Council's Education Committee will discuss the standardized test cheating scandal at a previously scheduled hearing on Thursday that, ironically, was intended to be about about test security .

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:11 AM ET, 04/14/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Better Late Than Never, D.C. Schools, Michelle Rhee, Standardized Tests, Test Cheating

Posted at 12:16 PM ET, 04/12/2013

Why not subpoena everyone in D.C. cheating scandal -- Rhee included? (update)
By Valerie Strauss
You don't investigate criminal activity by going in and asking, "Did you cheat? Are you sure you didn't cheat?" Everyone should have to testify under oath, including Michelle Rhee.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:16 PM ET, 04/12/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Cheating on Tests, D.C. Schools, New Memo Surfaces

Posted at 01:18 PM ET, 01/29/2011

Does Kaya Henderson want to run D.C. schools?
By Valerie Strauss
It just may be that Kaya Henderson, the interim chancellor of D.C. schools who was tapped to succeed Michelle Rhee, doesn’t want the job permanently.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:18 PM ET, 01/29/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  arne duncan, d.c. schools, d.c. superintendent, kaya henderson, michelle rhee

Posted at 12:35 PM ET, 01/21/2011

Say it isn’t so on IMPACT, Mayor Gray
By Valerie Strauss
Here’s why I was so disappointed to a plan by D.C. schools officials to have the flawed IMPACT teacher evaluation system reviewed by a Harvard think tank.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:35 PM ET, 01/21/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. schools, edulabs, harvard research, harvard thinktank, harvard university, mayor gray, mayor vincent gray, merit pay for teachers, michelle rhee, performance pay, teacher assessment, teacher evaluation

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 01/19/2011

Is Rhee's key D.C. reform being tossed?
By Valerie Strauss
While Michelle Rhee is busy trying to build up a national organization to take on the teachers unions, back in Washington D.C., where she was chancellor for 3 1/2 years, the new mayor may be on the road to taking apart her signature reform.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 01/19/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  IMPACT, IMPACT evaluation system, IMPACT teacher evaluation, d.c. schools, kaya henderson, mayor vincent gray, michelle rhee, school reform, teacher assessment, teacher evaluation, vincent gray

Posted at 05:47 PM ET, 01/13/2011

Should Duncan have plugged Henderson for D.C. schools boss?
By Valerie Strauss
If Education Secretary Arne Duncan were sitting in the editorial board of The New York Times talking about education, do you think he would put in a plug for a specific candidate to be chancellor of the city's public schools?

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:47 PM ET, 01/13/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  arne duncan, d.c. schools, d.c. schools chancellor, education secretary arne duncan, kaya henderson, mayor gray, mayor vincent gray, vincent gray

Posted at 04:25 PM ET, 12/15/2010

What Rhee wrought
By Valerie Strauss
Anyone who thinks that Michelle Rhee was a whiz as chancellor of D.C. public schools and should be heading a national "reform" movement ought to read about a high school she attempted to “transform” in the nation’s capital.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:25 PM ET, 12/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. schools, dunbar, dunbar high, dunbar high school, friends of bedford, michelle rhee, rhee, school reform, school transformation, transformation schools

Posted at 01:02 PM ET, 12/03/2010

What is Michelle Rhee up to in Florida?
By Valerie Strauss
What is Michelle Rhee up to by taking an unpaid, advisory position on the education transition team of Florida Gov.-elect Rick Scott?

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:02 PM ET, 12/03/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Educational leadership | Tags:  bush and rhee, florida schools, jeb bush, michelle rhee, rhee and education, rhee and florida, rhee in florida, rick scott, steven colbert, the colbert report, washington d.c. schools

Posted at 10:30 AM ET, 12/02/2010

Rhee, Ackerman and 'cultural competence' in urban reform
By Valerie Strauss
Are any school superintendents who helicopter into big cities for a few years "culturally competent" to do the job well?

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:30 AM ET, 12/02/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  arlene ackerman, michelle rhee, philadelphia schools, public schools, school reform, the notebook, washington d.c. schools

Posted at 11:30 AM ET, 11/06/2010

How Bill Maher got D.C. school reform wrong
By Valerie Strauss
The myth-making about the course of D.C. school reform and why Mayor Adrian Fenty was voted out of office in the nation’s capital continued last night, this time on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher.”

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:30 AM ET, 11/06/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  adrian fenty, bill maher, d.c. schools, hbo, mayor fenty, michelle rhee, real time with bill maher, school reform, the wall street journal, the washington post

Posted at 03:30 PM ET, 11/02/2010

What Michelle Rhee did in D.C.: Point by point
By Valerie Strauss
Here's a final critique of Michelle Rhee's legacy as chancellor of D.C. public schools, point by point, by a former D.C. schools student and teacher.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:30 PM ET, 11/02/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. schools, diane ravitch, michelle rhee, naep, rhee's legacy, standardized tests

Posted at 09:57 AM ET, 10/29/2010

What Rhee's successor should do first
By Valerie Strauss
Michelle Rhee rather gracelessly delivered a parting shot to teachers on her way out of the building, telling them to watch their backs because the teacher evaluation system that she created, IMPACT, can tell who’s good and who’s not. Unfortunately, that’s not quite accurate. It's an unfair system open for abuse and Rhee's successor should move to fix it. Now.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:57 AM ET, 10/29/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  IMPACT, d.c. schools, kaya henderson, michelle rhee, performance pay, teach assessment, teacher evaluation, teacher preparation

Posted at 10:41 AM ET, 10/21/2010

Kudos for D.C. school meal program but hold applause for Congress
By Valerie Strauss
D.C. public schools officials deserve an ovation for a new program to feed dinner to about 10,000 students in an effort to help improve childhood nutrition and ensure that kids don’t go hungry. But let's hold the applause for Congress.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:41 AM ET, 10/21/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. schools, dinners at school, food stamps, healthy meals, hunger, michelle rhee, nutrition, obama administration, school breakfast, school dinners, school lunch, school meals, school nutrition act

Posted at 01:41 PM ET, 10/14/2010

Michelle Rhee's greatest hits
By Valerie Strauss
Here are some of the most memorable things that Michelle Rhee said during her tenure as chancellor of Washington D.C. schools. I think my favorite is the one about taping students' mouths shut.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:41 PM ET, 10/14/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. schools, greatest hits, michelle rhee, rhee, rhee quits, rhee's greatest hits, rhee's tenure, school reform

Posted at 05:30 AM ET, 10/13/2010

Rhee’s big legacy: Being a whirlwind
By Valerie Strauss
She came in like a whirlwind, kicking up dust wherever she went, and now, Michelle Rhee, all-powerful chancellor of D.C. public schools, is leaving after three years, securing her place in the history of D.C. public education as, well, mostly a whirlwind.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:30 AM ET, 10/13/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. schools, michelle rhee, michelle rhee quits, michelle rhee resigns, reformer quits, reformers, rhee leaving, rhee quits, rhee resigns, school reform

Posted at 01:30 PM ET, 09/23/2010

Ravitch: Why Fenty, Rhee really lost
By Valerie Strauss
Diane Ravitch, writing about Mayor Adrian Fenty's loss, says: "Journalists attributed Fenty’s loss to the power of the teachers’ union, but such an explanation implies that black voters, even in the privacy of the voting booth, lack the capacity to make an informed choice. When the Tea Party wins a race, journalists don’t write about who controlled their vote, but about a voter revolt; they acknowledge that those who turned out to vote had made a conscious decision."

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:30 PM ET, 09/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch | Tags:  D.C. schools, Diane Ravitch, adrian fenty, bill perkins, democrats for education reform, dfer, fenty loses, gray rhee, gray rhee summit, michelle rhee, school reform, tea party, teacher unions, vincent gray

Posted at 01:02 PM ET, 09/21/2010

Oprah and her warrior woman, Michelle Rhee
By Valerie Strauss
When Oprah Winfrey aired “Waiting For Superman - The Movie That Can Transform America’s Schools,” on her television show, viewers should have realized that they were watching an entertainment show with a show woman -- not an educator -- as host. Guests Michelle Rhee, Bill Gates and Davis Guggenheim all played their parts, not letting facts get in the way.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:02 PM ET, 09/21/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  bill gates, bill gates and oprah, d.c. schools, davis guggenheim, guggenheim film, michelle rhee, michelle rhee and oprah winfrey, oprah, oprah and gates and rhee, oprah and rhee, oprah show, oprah winfrey, rhee on oprah, school reform and rhee, waiting for superman, waiting for superman and rhee, will rhee go?, will rhee stay?

Posted at 04:00 PM ET, 09/16/2010

Why 'Waiting for Superman' premiere was chilling
By Valerie Strauss
Something chilling happened at the Washington D.C. premiere of "Waiting for Superman" that involved Michelle Rhee and the A-list audience.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:00 PM ET, 09/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  adrian fenty, al franken, arne duncan, charter schools, d.c. schools, david axelrod, fenty and gray, george miller, melody barnes, michelle rhee, movie premiere, obama and refoms, obama reform, president obama and school reform, research and education, research on charter schools, rhee and gray, superman film, superman premiere, teachers and unions, vincent gray, waiting for superman, what will rhee do?, when will rhee leave?, who will replace rhee

Posted at 10:33 PM ET, 09/15/2010

Is that so, Chancellor Rhee?
By Valerie Strauss
So, it turns out, the problem with school reforms in D.C. -- which contributed to the defeat of D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in the Democratic primary -- wasn’t that some of them were punitive and nonsensical. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said in an interview today that the people just didn’t get it. It’s the people’s fault.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:33 PM ET, 09/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  adrian fenty, d.c. schools, gray and fenty, is reform dead?, michelle rhee, msnbc, rhee, rhee and blame, rhee interview, school reform, vincent gray, will rhee stay

Posted at 08:48 PM ET, 09/15/2010

Rhee should stay or go, not be a lame duck
By Valerie Strauss
Oh no. Two D.C. Council members are essentially during Vincent Gray, the man expected to be Washington D.C.’s next mayor, to turn D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee into a lame duck.

By Valerie Strauss  |  08:48 PM ET, 09/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. election, d.c. schools, d.c. vote, gray and rhee, gray wins, is rhee leaving, is rhee staying, michelle rhee, vincent gray

Posted at 06:40 AM ET, 09/15/2010

What Gray, Rhee should do now for D.C. schools
By Valerie Strauss
D.C. school kids and parents and teachers don’t need uncertainty about who is going to be in charge of the system. That means Vincent Gray and Michelle Rhee have to figure out quickly if they can work together or not.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:40 AM ET, 09/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. school reform, fenty loses, gray and rhee, gray wins, is rhee leaving, michelle rhee, rhee and fenty, rhee and gray, what now for d.c. schools, will rhee leave?

Posted at 01:02 PM ET, 09/12/2010

If Rhee leaves ... if Rhee stays
By Valerie Strauss
If D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee leaves, the schools won't crumble. If she stays, and there is a good argument to be made for consistency in leadership, she should broaden her view of how to evaluate teachers and schools.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:02 PM ET, 09/12/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  IMPACT, NAEP, Rhee and IMPACT, d.c. school reform, d.c. schools, fenty and gray, future of D.C. schools, michelle rhee, rhee and fenty

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 09/09/2010

Rhee in D.C.: The myth of the heroic leader
By Valerie Strauss
A former superintendent and Stanford professor emeritus writes that the heroic view of superintendents breaking china in order to build a better district for students—an image loved by media and the public—is a sure-fire recipe for disappointment and cynicism over turning around failing schools.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 09/09/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  fenty and rhee, larry cuban, michelle rhee, michelle rhee and adrian fenty, rhee and d.c. schools, will rhee stay or go?

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 09/07/2010

The (D.C.) Odyssey, starring Rhee and Fenty
By Valerie Strauss
Sam Chaltain explains how D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and his schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee, have been on a journey befitting Homer's Odyssey: "From the start, Fenty and Rhee have behaved as strangers in a strange land. In Fenty’s case, it was by turning a tin ear to many of the core supporters who had been most essential to his victory in 2006. With Rhee, it was by repeatedly making public comments that demonized the group most essential to her efforts – the city’s teachers."

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 09/07/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Sam Chaltain, Sam Chaltain, Sam Chaltain | Tags:  andrew rotherham and washington post, d.c. mayoral primary, d.c. schools, fenty and grey, fenty and race, rhee and fenty, will rhee stay or go?

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 08/30/2010

Education implications of D.C. mayoral primary
By Valerie Strauss
Frederick Hess looks at the three education takeaways from The Washington Post poll showing D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty behind his challenger in the Democratic primary.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 08/30/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  adrian fenty, d.c. mayor, d.c. mayor's race, d.c. public schools, d.c. schools and rhee, fenty and rhee. mayor's race, fenty poll, frederick hess, mayor's poll, michelle rhee, rick hess, washington post poll, will rhee stay?

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 08/18/2010

Should Rhee stay or go?
By Valerie Strauss
Educator Sam Chaltain looks at the pros and cons of Rhee staying as D.C. schools chief as a decisive election approaches.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:00 AM ET, 08/18/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. election, d.c. schools, michelle rhee, rhee and d.c. schools, rhee and fenty, sam chaltain

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 08/05/2010

Accountability in DCPS: Details from teacher's IMPACT report
By Valerie Strauss
Aaron Pallas, an education and sociology professor and a statistician who critiqued DCPS's IMPACT teacher evaluation system last week, responds to critics of that post and looks at new data from a teacher's report as he argues that DCPS continues to publicly misrepresent IMPACT's evaluation methods.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 08/05/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  IMPACT and d.c., d.c. teacher evaluations, d.c. teachers, dc schools and teachers, how to evaluate teachers, value added evaluations

Posted at 10:30 AM ET, 07/28/2010

Were some D.C. teachers fired based on flawed calculations?
By Valerie Strauss
A professor of sociology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, argues that D.C. Public Schools botched the calculations that were used to decide to fire some of the 241 teachers let go last week.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:30 AM ET, 07/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  DC CAS, IMPACT evaluation system, d.c. public schools and teachers, d.c. schools, d.c. teachers fired, how rhee fired teachers, rhee and d.c. and fire and teachers, rhee fires teachers, value added and teachers, why rhee fired teachers

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/16/2010

A parody: Baseball phenom to run D.C. schools
By Valerie Strauss
Here's a news parody that manages to include D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Washington Nationals pitcher Stephene Strasburg, and LeBron James.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 07/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  d.c. schools, lebron james, michelle rhee, news parody, parody on d.c. schools, reforming d.c. schools, rhee and fenty, stephen strasburg

Posted at 04:30 PM ET, 07/13/2010

Rhee’s problem with D.C.’s new test scores
By Valerie Strauss
D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has a problem, and it’s not the fact that elementary school standardized test scores just went down (at, it is worth noting, a bad time for Mayor Adrian Fenty, who appointed her and is seeking re-election).

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:30 PM ET, 07/13/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  CAS scores in d.c., d.c. CAS, d.c. schools, d.c. standardized tests, d.c. test scores down, d.c. test scores mixed, d.c. test scores rise, fairtest, michelle rhee and reform, monty neill, rhee and test scores, tmichscho

Posted at 04:30 AM ET, 07/01/2010

Why Rhee's mayoral comments are troubling
By Valerie Strauss
D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee's all-but-direct threat to quit if Fenty loses to D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray in September’s Democratic Party raises a troubling question about her priorities, not to mention her reluctance to admit that she might not have all the answers to fixing D.C. schools.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:30 AM ET, 07/01/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  michelle rhee and d.c. mayor, michelle rhee and fenty, michelle rhee and vincent gray, rhee and d.c. mayor, rhee and d.c. schools, rhee and fenty and gray, rhee and quit, rhee's threat to quit

Posted at 01:58 PM ET, 06/17/2010

Randi Weingarten: Rhee is wrong
By Valerie Strauss
The teachers union president whom D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee highly praised in an op-ed article this week -- the one in which she tells New York schools boss Joel Klein that he has a lot to learn from hr -- is taking strong issue with Rhee’s advice to Klein.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:58 PM ET, 06/17/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  aft president randi weingarten, d.c. schools chancellor michelle rhee, d.c. teachers contract, michelle rhee and joel klein, randi weingarten and michelle rhee, rhee and klein, rhee gives advice to klein, rhee op-ed, weingarten and rhee, weingarten op-ed

Posted at 07:31 PM ET, 05/20/2010

D.C.'s NAEP scores: Don't get excited
By Valerie Strauss
To hear all the crowing about rising standardized test scores in D.C. public schools, you might think it was the first time that this had happened in the District and that Chancellor Michelle Rhee has worked some sort of minor miracle. It isn’t so.

By Valerie Strauss  |  07:31 PM ET, 05/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  D.C. schools and NAEP, D.C. scores rise, Michelle rhee, NAEP scores, TUDA and D.C., TUDA scores, rhee and schools, rhee and scores

Posted at 06:16 PM ET, 04/28/2010

Yes and no on D.C. teachers contract funding
By Valerie Strauss
Yes, the contract that D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee negotiated with the Washington Teachers Union should be approved. But no, the city should not allow itself to be beholden to private foundations who have offered to donate $64.5 million to help pay for teachers raises.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:16 PM ET, 04/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  Chancellor Michelle Rhee, D.C. schools, D.C. teachers, D.C. teachers contract, d.c. teachers contract, foundations and teachers contract, private foundations and D.C. teachers contract, rhee and contract, rhee and gandi and contract, teachers contract, teachers contract and D.C., teachers contract in trouble

Posted at 11:00 PM ET, 04/16/2010

Rhee and the confounding mess in D.C. schools
By Valerie Strauss
Somebody has to intervene fast to figure out who is going to be paid what, and how, in D.C. schools before the budgeting process becomes a comic farce. Perhaps it already is.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:00 PM ET, 04/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  chancellor rhee and budget, d.c. schools and budget, d.c. schools and rhee, gandhi's letter, gandhi's letter to rhee, michelle rhee, rhee and budget, rhee and gandhi

Posted at 04:48 PM ET, 04/13/2010

Rhee back in trouble with D.C. teachers
By Valerie Strauss
It would be best for D.C. kids if Michelle Rhee’s reform effort actually works in improving schools. It’s just hard to see how that is going to happen when she keeps landing herself in situations that only increase people’s mistrust of her.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:48 PM ET, 04/13/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  Chancellor Michelle Rhee, D.C. schools, D.C. schools and budget, D.C. teacher firings and Rhee, D.C. teachers, D.C. teachers and Rhee, D.C. teachers contract, Rhee and D.C. Council, Rhee and D.C. teachers, Rhee and controversy, teacher layoffs and D.C.

Posted at 09:29 AM ET, 04/07/2010

The lesson in Rhee’s deal with the WTU
By Valerie Strauss
There is a great lesson in the proposed pact struck by D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and the Washingotn Teachers Union. And no, it is not that people will take desperate measures to shore up their positions before an election.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:29 AM ET, 04/07/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  Chancellor Michelle Rhee, D.C. schools, D.C. teachers, D.C. teachers union, Rhee makes deal, teachers and Rhee

Posted at 01:10 PM ET, 03/09/2010

Should PETA be protesting at elementary schools?
By Valerie Strauss
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans a protest against a circus at a D.C. elementary school, complete with a person in an elephant suit with a bandage around its head. Is this any way to teach kids about the treatment of animals?

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:10 PM ET, 03/09/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  D.C. schools, PETA, circus

Posted at 03:15 PM ET, 01/26/2010

Rhee still perplexing
By Valerie Strauss
Now that we know why D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee told a magazine that some laid off teachers had had sex with children and hit them too, I’m still perplexed. I wonder why Rhee didn’t tell District residents about this when the layoffs happened last October. I wonder why she didn’t try to explain herself immediately when the controversy over her magazine comments first became public within the last week.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:15 PM ET, 01/26/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. schools chancellor michelle rhee

Posted at 01:27 PM ET, 11/18/2009

Why can't kids eat in class if they are hungry?
By Valerie Strauss
Here is the story of one mother whose son attended a D.C. middle school and often got hungry in the late morning before his scheduled lunch, which was close to 1 p.m. He was not, however, allowed to eat. Read what she wrote, and then tell us if your children can eat in school.... "When should our kids be allowed to eat? Is five hours too long for kids to go without any food at all?

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:27 PM ET, 11/18/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Community Colleges, Community Colleges, Community Colleges | Tags:  D.C. schools, eating in class

Posted at 03:00 PM ET, 11/16/2009

School meals: the breakfast sugar overload
By Valerie Strauss
The first thing that jumped out at me about today’s Washington Post story about kids in D.C. schools eating federally funded breakfasts was “sugar.” How much sugar was in the breakfast given to fourth-grader Alex Brown to consume before school?... Way too much.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:00 PM ET, 11/16/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  breakfast, d.c. schools

Posted at 12:10 PM ET, 10/31/2009

Enough feuding! It's time for a D.C. schools summit
By Valerie Strauss
I just may scream if I hear one more person invoke what is “best for the kids” in the growing conflict between D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and her critics....It’s time for someone to make a high-level intervention and put a stop to this feuding. I’d vote for the man who hired Rhee in the first place and made her more powerful than previous schools chief. That would be Mayor Adrian Fenty.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:10 PM ET, 10/31/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  D.C. Schools, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee

Posted at 04:44 PM ET, 10/02/2009

What's Going On In D.C.?
By Valerie Strauss
It sounds like a great plot to a movie for kids: A security company that provides guards to public schools goes bankrupt overnight. Anxiety and confusion rule the day when kids go to school and discover that about 300 guards aren’t there. Some kids even get sent home because nobody can monitor the entrances! What fun! But, as we know, this did just happen in Washington D.C. And once again we find ourselves asking: Who in the city could or should have foreseen this and why didn’t they?

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:44 PM ET, 10/02/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. Schools Chanceller Michelle Rhee, D.C. schools

Posted at 01:27 PM ET, 09/25/2009

The Power of Magic (Johnson)
By Washington Post editors
I have long questioned the value of motivational speakers who tell young people to stay in school and stay out of jail. Kids often slump in their chairs and use the time to catch up on their sleep. But then this morning I watched about 850 students--all minorities--at a high school about a mile from the White House sit at rapt attention for more than an hour as Magic Johnson talked about dreams, the importance of education, sex, responsibility and perseverance.

By Washington Post editors  |  01:27 PM ET, 09/25/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  DC schools, Magic Johnson

Posted at 01:44 PM ET, 09/22/2009

A Troubling Trend in D.C. Schools
By Washington Post Editors
Reporters like to declare a trend when they see at least three examples of the same phenomenon. Based on the rules of trends, The Answer Sheet sees a troubling trend involving D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and what seems to...

By Washington Post Editors  |  01:44 PM ET, 09/22/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  d.c. schools, mayor adrian fenty, michelle rhee

Posted at 05:20 PM ET, 09/17/2009

The Same Story in D.C.
By Valerie Strauss
Here we go again: The D.C. school system starts the new year with high hopes, and in just a few weeks questions are raised about suspicious erasures on standardized test scores, and, now, there are budget problems that may force teacher layoffs. So who in the city government could have and should have foreseen this financial situation in time to stop principals from filling teacher vacancies this past summer and making other decisions that may now have to be reversed?

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:20 PM ET, 09/17/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools | Tags:  chancellor michelle a. rhee, d.c. schools, mayor adrian fenty

Posted at 11:55 AM ET, 09/11/2009

P.S.: Who Watched Obama's Back-to-School Speech
By Valerie Strauss
My colleague Nick Anderson on the national schools beat offers a postscript to the flap over President Obama's back-to-school speech: There was much buzz beforehand about whether it was appropriate to show students the speech that Obama gave Tuesday at...

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:55 AM ET, 09/11/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Civics Education, Civics Education, Civics Education | Tags:  Arlington Public Schools, Calvert County Schools, D.C. schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Howard County schools, Montgomery County Schools, P.G. Schools, President Obama, back-to-school, education speech

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 09/08/2009

CHECKING IT OUT: What's a ‘highly skilled’ teacher in D.C.?
By Valerie Strauss
Back in the day at Everglades Elementary School in Miami, I had a fifth-grade teacher named Berry Shaw. She was known as the second toughest--read that, second meanest--teacher in the place, and I quaked on the first day of class....

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 09/08/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  D.C. schools, Highly Skilled Teachers, Michelle Rhee, Teachers