Can Obama Help Rhee?

But she won't compromise on the notion that every student can learn to read, write and do math; that their ability to do so should be measured; and that if they're not learning, it's not their fault -- it's the schools'. Which brings you to the second reason it may all depend on Obama. Rhee recently pleaded with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's staff that No Child Left Behind, the much-maligned pro-accountability federal law, not be gutted. It is, she says, "one of the most powerful tools we have in this district to drive serious education reform."

Kennedy has been a supporter, but ultimately Obama's attitude is likely to matter more, and no one knows where he will come down. Unlike Rhee, he is a conciliator, and he navigated the campaign without defining himself clearly as pro- or anti-reform.

But Kati Haycock, president of the nonprofit Education Trust, says Obama is "absolutely unequivocal on, 'Don't tell me black kids can't learn.' It comes directly from his gut." So maybe he will sympathize with Rhee's conclusion that patience, tact and compromise are inappropriate when half your kids or more never graduate from high school.

Recently, she recounted at the Aspen Institute forum, a man approached her, spitting mad about her experiment to pay some middle school students for good behavior and good grades. "It is a sad day," he said, "when we are paying kids to be doing something they should be doing anyway."

"No," Rhee replied, " yesterday was a sad day, when only 8 percent of our eighth-graders were at grade level for math, and we weren't really doing anything about it."

Not really doing anything, it's safe to say, won't be one of the options Rhee is considering.

fredhiatt@washpost.com