Rhee Seeks Authority to Terminate Employees

Joslyn N. Williams, president of the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO, predicted that the union "probably won't stand on the sidelines" if the council is asked to suspend union contracts.

"This is a question of political will and political power," Williams said. "That's what it boils down to."

It is not clear whether Rhee has begun to identify employees who would be targeted for termination, although she has removed Allen Chin, longtime director of the D.C. school system's athletics program.

In the meantime, two auditing firms hired by the city are examining the school system's finances and operations. Their findings, due next month, are expected to offer a road map for the restructuring efforts.

The government sources said Rhee is acting quickly in part because she has been trying to recruit high-level managers to replace Janey's top deputies. Several of her top candidates have told her they will join her staff only if they will be allowed to remove under-performing staffers, the sources said.

Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), a strong ally of the labor unions, said Rhee mentioned her restructuring plans during a recent meeting but did not go into detail.

"I'm trying to get an honest perception about what the obstacles would be," Thomas said. "We talked about labor union roles. I want to ask her about issues of [the] rights of employees who are fired. Where would they go? What would they do? How would people in the system be evaluated? All of those are issues of ongoing conversations."

So far, Rhee has followed a pattern typical of new leaders brought in to act as "change agents," said Sheila L. Margolis, an Atlanta-based consultant who has worked on workplace issues for dozens of governments and private companies. Rhee is assembling a senior staff and is assessing employees.

Her challenge, Margolis said, is to not discard talented employees as she enacts major changes.

"The question is, is there any thread of positive energy that she could sustain as she goes forward in a new direction?" said Margolis, who is not working with the D.C. government. "If you can find that, the change is not as radical."

Meanwhile, the District's new Office of the State Superintendent of Education made available yesterday its proposed transition plan for public scrutiny. The plan describes how the educational roles now performed by a variety of other groups and agencies will be shifted to the new body, which was set up under this year's Public Education Reform Amendment Act.

In its draft plan, the agency said its essential areas of policy concern would include early-childhood education; educator quality; preparation for post-secondary education; and early, family and adult literacy.

Areas for action would include efforts to revamp special education, to improve the District's access to federal grants and to bring about more effective use of data to guide educational performance and policy.

Citing problems including low academic performance levels in most schools and poor service delivery for special-needs students, the agency said it intended "to ensure that dramatic improvements in student achievement occur."

Fenty and other officials will hold a public discussion of the plan tomorrow from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Burrville Elementary School on Division Avenue NE.

Staff writers Theola Labb? and Martin Weil contributed to this report.