Rhee's Silent Treatment

I e-mailed Rhee and asked her to specify her complaints about Turque. I also asked whether she wants Turque replaced on the education beat and why she would talk with Mathews and not him. She referred me to her spokeswoman, Jennifer Calloway, who said Rhee doesn't want to "rehash" the past.

Rather, she noted that Rhee had recently received a call from Craig Timberg, who will soon take over as the Post editor in charge of D.C. schools coverage, in which he suggested they get together. Timberg confirmed that they plan to meet soon "to see if we can get things on a better footing." Calloway said Rhee "feels we are set up to move in a really positive way."

Rhee's reaction to The Post's coverage strikes me as petty and thin-skinned -- and perhaps calculated. She has been uncommonly cooperative with national media reporters who parachute in for big-picture profiles. But she has been overly sensitive when Turque, and Post education reporters before him, have pursued more granular coverage that is so essential to local readers.

Brauchli said there are no plans to replace Turque, calling him a "terrific education reporter."

"I think she should talk to him," he said of Rhee. "But I also think she's within her rights to choose not to."

If she doesn't, he said, "we'll find ways to get the information" from her staff and other sources.

I think The Post has the right approach. It should recommit to the same aggressive, accurate and balanced coverage it would afford any public official. And it should listen to Rhee's concerns about coverage.

With the future of D.C. public schools hanging in the balance, taxpayers have a large stake in the outcome. Students have a bigger one.

Andrew Alexander can be reached at 202-334-7582 or at ombudsman@washpost.com. For daily updates, read the Omblog .