Better or Worse, It's Rhee's School System Now

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A Look Back at Michelle Rhee's First Year as Chancellor of D.C. Schools

In 2007, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty appointed Michelle A. Rhee as the chancellor of D.C. Public Schools. Critics have questioned Rhee's qualifications and her aggressive revamp of the troubled school system.

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She sat through day-long council hearings to make her case for gaining firing authority over the central office. "She wouldn't get up and go to the bathroom because Gray wouldn't go to the bathroom," the source said.

Rhee has also faced criticism over the firing of principals. Principals, who work on year-to-year contracts, said they were led to believe that their employment would be based on student test scores and evaluations. But Rhee used other criteria -- parent and teacher comments and reviews from her staff -- which were not shared with principals, said Francisco Millet, a former instructional superintendent serving as a liaison between Rhee and a cluster of schools. (Millet resigned in June to move back to Dallas.)

"She never sat with them and said, 'This is your evaluation. This is what I expect of you,' " Millet added. "Principals were upset by that."

The 'Cow Pen'

Rhee, 38, works very long hours, juggling the job with her duties as a divorced mother of two young daughters. It's not unusual for her to work until 3 a.m., answering e-mail. She responded to 95,000 messages in her first year.

Her staff has to remind her to stop and eat. Deputy Chancellor Kaya Henderson recently bought her a treadmill so she can get exercise.

Rhee is in campaign mode constantly, giving what amounts to stump speeches across the nation about her challenges. She talks about low achievement, the need for schools chiefs to have the kind of power she does, and the need to oust incompetent employees. Rhee described to a national technology group gathered in downtown Washington a hapless teacher who couldn't keep her students engaged.

"She started flicking the lights," Rhee said, deadpanning while flipping her hand up and down to mimic the teacher's motion. In a slow monotone, Rhee mocked the teacher's befuddlement: " 'Everybody, be quiet. Ten, nine, eight -- I'm waaaaiting.' I could see the kids say, 'We're waiting, too -- for something to happen.' "

Her base of operations is on the ninth floor of the central office on North Capitol Street. Rhee's staff has dubbed the large office "the cow pen." The space resembles Fenty's open-office "bullpen" and reflects striking differences between her and former superintendent Clifford B. Janey.

She moved in her personal assistant, press secretary and scheduling assistant, transforming Janey's executive suite into a situation room. A wall on which Janey displayed student artwork has a flat-screen TV that blares council hearings.

Rhee has assembled a senior staff of more than 20 employees, people who, like her, are aggressive, action-oriented and work late. "She pushes hard. 'Cannot be done' is not an answer," a source said.

A bulletin board next to her desk displays a drawing by one of her daughters, both of whom attend a public school, Oyster-Adams Bilingual in Northwest. The drawing shows the girls, Rhee and her former husband, Kevin Huffman, standing on "Mt. Rhee."

"Because I'm a working mother and I can see firsthand how these policies and procedures we have play out, it gives me a different sense of urgency in my work everyday," said Rhee while riding in the back of a school-issued sport-utility vehicle, a daughter's teddy bear beside her.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.