With the ousting of D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, so went reform. Rhee explains where thinks she failed (not necessarily in closing bad schools and not necessarily by failing to reach consensus):
“Still, I could have done a better job of communicating. I did a particularly bad job letting the many good teachers know that I considered them to be the most important part of the equation. I should have said to the effective teachers, “You don’t have anything to worry about. My job is to make your life better, offer you more support, and pay you more.”
and of all the people whose interest (who would have thought people are self-interested?) can get in the way:
“Policymakers, school-district administrators, and school boards who are beholden to special interests have created a bureaucracy that is focused on the adults instead of the students.”
Unions, adults, moneyed interests are getting in the way (no more politicization please). Her suggested solution for the present:
“The common thread in all of these communications was that these courageous people felt alone in battling the bureaucracy. They want help and advocates. There are enough people out there who understand and believe that kids deserve better, but until now, there has been no organization for them. We’ll ask people across the country to join StudentsFirst.”
Let’s hope it can get off the ground, and ultimately stays true to its mission, and recognizes when it’s needed no more, or needs to change.
Also On This Site: From Reason.Tv: ‘NBC’s Education Summit-Joe Trippi, Michelle Rhee & More’…From The Washington Post: ‘D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee To Announce Resignation Wednesday’
Robert Samuelson Via Real Clear Politics: ‘Why School Reform Fails’…From The Bellevue Reporter-Walter Backstrom’s: ‘Educational Progress And The Liberal Plantation’
and more broadly and philosophically: Review-A Review Of Martha Nussbaum’s ‘Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education.’…From The Access Resource Network: Phillip Johnson’s “Daniel Dennett’s Dangerous Idea’…Repost-From Scientific Blogging: The Humanities Are In Crisis-Science Is Not
