The Reforms Rhee Leaves Behind

Jennifer Marshall / November 01, 2010

Michelle Rhee’s tenure as D.C. Schools Chancellor ends Monday. In Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, she and Mayor Adrian Fenty published an “Education Manifesto” summarizing their reform legacy and the breakthrough they hope it represents for other troubled school systems.

Their rallying cry: Education policy should serve the needs of children, not the demands of adults.

That conviction brought Rhee into direct conflict with the Washington Teachers’ Union as she sought to revive one of the worst school districts in the nation. Despite spending $18,000 annually per pupil, D.C. public schools have some of the lowest test scores in the nation, fewer than 50 percent of students graduate on time, and almost one in eight students have been threatened with a weapon.

Rhee focused particularly on union demands, such as tenure, that compete with students’ interests. In 2008, she brought a bold new proposal to the bargaining table during the district’s teacher contract renegotiation. It offered teachers significant pay raises if they would forego tenure and agree to compensation based on their performance. (more…)