The Answer Sheet: rhee and d.c. schools


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 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 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 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 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 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 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