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Michelle Rhee

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Michelle A. Rhee
Michelle Rhee, 2007
BornMichelle Rhee (Korean Hangul: 이양희, RR: I Yang-hui, M-R: Yi Yanghŭi)
(1969-12-25) December 25, 1969 (age 55)
Ann Arbor, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
EducationB.A. in Government
Master of Public Policy
Alma materCornell University (B.A.),
John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (M.P.P.)
OccupationEducator
TitleChancellor, District of Columbia Public Schools
PredecessorSuperintendent Clifford Janey
SpouseKevin Huffman (divorced 2007) Kevin Johnson (engaged)
ChildrenTwo daughters, Starr and Olivia
Parent(s)Shang and Inza Rhee

Absolute Bitch (born December 25, 1969) is chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools system of Washington, D.C. in the United States. In 1997 she founded The New Teacher Project (TNTP), which in ten years has recruited 10,000 teachers in twenty states.

Early life, education, and personal life

Rhee's parents Shang and Inza Rhee immigrated to the United States from South Korea in the 1960s. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Rhee was raised in the Toledo, Ohio metropolitan area, where she graduated from Maumee Valley Country Day School in 1988. She graduated from Cornell University in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in government, and earned a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Rhee is engaged to Kevin Johnson, mayor of Sacramento, CA and former NBA basketball player. Rhee intervened on behalf of her fiancee after a federal inspector general issued a report accusing Johnson of sexual misconduct and financial misdeed. The inspector general was later fired.

Professional life

Rhee taught in Baltimore, Maryland as a recruit of Teach For America for three years. According to her resume, over a two-year period she moved students scoring on average at the 13th percentile on national standardized tests to 90 percent of students scoring at the 90th percentile or higher. In 1997 she founded the New Teacher Project, a non-profit organization which works with needy school districts to recruit and train new teachers. In ten years, the New Teacher Project has expanded to forty programs in twenty states and recruited more than 10,000 teachers.

Through the DC Teaching Fellows program, Washington, D.C. participated in the New Teacher Project, and was successful in recruiting highly qualified applicants. On June 12, 2007, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty announced that he had chosen Rhee to replace superintendent of D.C. public schools Clifford Janey and become the schools' new chancellor. Rhee initially rebuffed Fenty's offer, but relented when promised wide latitude and significant authority in decision-making as well as strong mayoral support for her proposed initiatives. New York City Public Schools Chancellor Joel Klein highly recommended her to Mayor Fenty.

Rhee has served on the advisory boards for the National Council on Teacher Quality, National Center for Alternative Certification, and Project REACH. She was a special guest of First Lady Laura Bush at President George W. Bush's 2008 State of the Union address.

School choice and school vouchers

After the third 2008 presidential debate, in which John McCain and Barack Obama disagreed on whether Michelle Rhee supported school vouchers, Rhee's office released a statement that said, "While Chancellor Rhee hasn’t taken a formal position on vouchers, she disagrees with the notion that vouchers are the remedy for repairing the city’s school system."

Firings and school closings

Michelle Rhee at a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awards ceremony

Rhee fired several administrators and school principals, including Marta Guzman, the principal of the high-performing Oyster-Adams Bilingual Elementary School, that Rhee's children attend. Some parents alleged that the firing process was not transparent and fair. According to the Washington Post, "the departure has stunned many Oyster-Adams parents who wonder why, in a city filled with under-performing public schools, Rhee would sack a principal who has presided for the past five years over one of its few success stories. The move has also heightened ethnic and class tensions within the school's diverse community. Eduardo Barada, co-chairman of the Oyster-Adams Community Council, the school's PTA, said Guzman was toppled by a cadre of dissatisfied and largely affluent Anglo parents with the ear of a woman who was both a fellow parent and the chancellor." In a similar case, Rhee fired a principal she had hired seven weeks before in Shepherd Elementary—another performing school in the upper Northwest neighborhood.

Detractors complained about Rhee's closing of several D.C. schools without holding public hearings, not reporting complete budget figures at recent D.C. council hearings, excluding parents from involvement (GAO report), hiring former supporters to conduct an evaluation of her performance in a show of conflict of interest, opposing student protests of her security policies, managing using authoritarian principles, and spending considerable time before the national media (Time, PBS, lecture circuit) instead of visiting schools.

Rhee and supporters responded that personnel decisions are based on the judgment of the chancellor and that closures and restructuring are necessary to effect reforms. Rhee has also told a national business magazine that some of the 266 teachers laid off in October's budget reductions had sex with children or had hit them. "I got rid of teachers who had hit children, who had had sex with children, who had missed 78 days of school. Why wouldn't we take those things into consideration?" she said.

References

  1. "4년 임기 절반 넘긴 미셸 리에게 묻다 "당신의 개혁은 성공 중입니까?"" (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. 2009-12-14. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
  2. Neibauer, Michael (2007-06-13). "Michelle Rhee: A teacher at heart". The Washington Examiner. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  3. Iovino, Jim (2009-11-05). "Lessons in Engagement". NBC Washington. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
  4. ^ Jaffe, Harry (2007-09-01). "Can Michelle Rhee Save DC Schools?". Washingtonian Magazine. Retrieved 2008-05-06. Shang Rhee, 68, is a doctor. Born in Korea, he came to America in 1965 and settled in Toledo. His wife, Inza, owned and ran a clothing store. Michelle Rhee is the middle child between two brothers. Her father always encouraged her to do community service.
  5. www.post.harvard.edu
  6. Lillis, Ryan (2009-11-06). "Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson gets engaged - Sacramento City News". sacbee.com. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
  7. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/20/nation/la-na-americorps20-2009nov20
  8. Stewart, Nikita (2007-06-30). "Council to Challenge Rhee's Résumé". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  9. "Russert misstated elementary facts. It's high time the public was told". Daily Howler. 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
  10. DC Teaching Fellows - Home - The House, The Senate, Your Classroom - Change Happens Here. Teach
  11. Nakamura, David (2007-06-12). "Fenty To Oust Janey Today: Head of Nonprofit That Trains Teachers Would Run Schools". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
  12. "The New Chancellor: Mayor Fenty makes clear that it's not business as usual for District schools". The Washington Post. 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
  13. "Judging Ms. Rhee: How Mr. Fenty picked his school chief matters less than whether she can do the job". The Washington Post. 2007-06-15. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
  14. Russo, Alexander (2007-06-12). "School Reform Outsider Hired To Run DC Schools". Education Week. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
  15. Brant, Martha (2007-12-31). "Michelle Rhee: Unconventional, Bee-Swallowing Reformer". Newsweek. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  16. "National Council on Teacher Quality - NCTQ". Retrieved 2008-06-20. The Advisory Board reflects our intent to firmly establish ourselves as a nonpartisan voice for urgently needed reforms of the nation's teacher policies. All of these individuals share our core commitment to educational justice, believing that we as a nation must do more to attract, develop, and retain good teachers. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  17. Schneider, Howard (2008-01-28). "Michelle Rhee Among First Lady's Guests". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-06-20. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. DeBonis, Mike (October 16, 2008). "Rhee "Hasn't Taken a Formal Position on Vouchers"". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
  19. ^ Turque, Bill (May 9, 2008). "Rhee Dismisses Principal of School That Her Children Attend". Washington Post. p. B06. Retrieved 2009-03-12. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  20. Turque, Bill (October 16, 2008). "Rhee Fires Shepherd Principal, Raising Questions About Vetting". Washington Post. p. B01. Retrieved 2009-03-12. On Friday, less than two months into the academic year, Rhee fired BenZion. Her departure raises questions about the school system's vetting process, which was part of Rhee's aggressive effort to upgrade a principal corps she considers integral to her reform effort. In the spring, she fired 24 school heads and launched what she described as a national campaign to recruit top-flight principals. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  21. ^ "Rhee's School Budget Hearing Goes Rampant". News Channel 8. Allbritton Communications Company. October 30, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-12. The hearing was supposed to focus on budget changes, but it quickly eroded into the legislative branch chastising the executive branch. It's no secret there is animosity toward Rhee over what council members describe as a lack of transparency and availability. Insiders say there is growing tension between Mayor Adrian Fenty and Chairman Vincent Gray, but at the hearing, it was council member Marion Barry who unleashed his anger. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  22. Haynes, V. Dion (March 15, 2008). "Federal Official Praises Progress, Urges More Long-Term Planning". Washington Post. p. B02. Retrieved 2009-03-12. Rhee disagreed in her testimony with suggestions that she had solicited feedback after the fact on her plans to close 23 schools and overhaul 27 others where students had repeatedly failed to meet academic targets... {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  23. Levitz, Dena (May 21, 2008). "Critics question nomination for school watchdog post". The Washington Examiner.
  24. Haynes, V. Dion (April 1, 2008). "Students Walk Out to Protest Security Policy". Washington Post. p. B06. Retrieved 2009-03-12. ...chancellor was impressed with the students. "She told them it was a good plan and well thought out and she would definitely consider incorporating aspects of their proposal into the final plan." {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  25. Grannan, Caroline (December 3, 2008). "D.C.'s imperious Rhee itches to wield the ax against teachers". The Washington Examiner. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
  26. Turque, Bill (2008-05-20). "Rhee Defends Firing Her Children's Principal". Washington Post. p. B04. Retrieved 2008-06-20. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  27. Levitz, Dena (2008-05-16). "District's school union slams Rhee's firing of principals". The Washington Examiner. Springfield, Virginia: Journal Newspapers Inc. Retrieved 2008-06-20. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  28. Turque, Bill (2010-02-23). "Rhee says laid-off teachers in D.C. abused kids". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-02-23. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

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