Do you think Rhee would stay under Gray?

[Anonymous]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2010/06/rhee_praises_mayor_says_she_do.html

I heard this Rhee interview this morning on WAMU, and I thought she all but said she would not stay for a Gray administration, even if Gray would keep her (which is unknown).

Thoughts? Does this influence how you'll vote? For me, my main issue is buildings for charter schools, and on that Gray gets my vote, as Fenty prefers that buildings go to developers/ cronies. So Rhee does not actually factor in to the first level criterion for my vote.

[Anonymous]

My suspicion that she'd be gone is why I'm campaigning for Gray.

[Anonymous]

i don't think she would stay and i don't think gray would keep her anyway. gray gets my vote for this reason and for many others.

i do wonder whether gabe klein from DDOT would stay--he is really progressive and made some great improvements in urban planning and transportation here. but i guess that is a conversation for another forum.

[Anonymous]

I think Rhee will end of staying even with Grey. But I am voting Fenty to make sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i don't think she would stay and i don't think gray would keep her anyway. gray gets my vote for this reason and for many others.

i do wonder whether gabe klein from DDOT would stay--he is really progressive and made some great improvements in urban planning and transportation here. but i guess that is a conversation for another forum.

Totally agree re Klein -- easily the best part of the Fenty administration. I'll cry if and when he's replaced with an AAA stooge.

[Anonymous]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/

[Anonymous]

All you Grey voters are naive. Whatever works. When the city shuts down, and we can't get our mail, the schools slide back to the bottom rung of the nation's ladder, the city govt balloons again etc, you'll remember that having a touchy feely mayor is no substitute for a manager type that just wants to get the job done.

[Anonymous]

While I haven't made a decision regarding who I will vote for, I don't believe all Grey voters are naive as the pp wrote. Many don't like the way Fenty has decided to make decisions or the fact that most of his decisions seem to involve bringing in outsiders. Personally, I have no problem with Fenty's croneyism--it happens all the time. But his selection of Rhee to run the school system was a mistake. She may have been a great choice as COO of the schools, but she has demonstrated a lack of understanding of how inner city schools operate effectively and should have never been put completely in charge. Consistently changing school leadership, bringing in young teachers who cannot manage a classroom and being a bully don't bring long lasting change. The academic changes were put in place by her predecesor. As a DCPS parent, I see the benefit of keeping her--frequent changes of the guard are a huge problem. But her attitude (which I think was promoted by Fenty) needs an adjustment.

[Anonymous]

ITA

You new arrivals don't know how bad it could get. We've been there, seen it, lived through it. You won't want to go back to those bad old days. So what if Fenty doesn't do the Electric Slide with you?

[Anonymous]

I'm voting for Fenty so Rhee stays. Otherwise, our days in the District are numbered. Rhee is not perfect but I can't go back to the way it was and certainly don't want my children in the old DC mindset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I haven't made a decision regarding who I will vote for, I don't believe all Grey voters are naive as the pp wrote. Many don't like the way Fenty has decided to make decisions or the fact that most of his decisions seem to involve bringing in outsiders. Personally, I have no problem with Fenty's croneyism--it happens all the time. But his selection of Rhee to run the school system was a mistake. She may have been a great choice as COO of the schools, but she has demonstrated a lack of understanding of how inner city schools operate effectively and should have never been put completely in charge. Consistently changing school leadership, bringing in young teachers who cannot manage a classroom and being a bully don't bring long lasting change. The academic changes were put in place by her predecesor. As a DCPS parent, I see the benefit of keeping her--frequent changes of the guard are a huge problem. But her attitude (which I think was promoted by Fenty) needs an adjustment.

Poster, I don't want to get personal, but that attitude that you have is the mindset that ruined the city, bankrupted DC and had us under Congressional supervision. Your code words like "outsiders" and "young teachers" are code for WHITE non-native DC residents. Your way the Gray way DOES NOT WORK. It produces the highest number of adult illiterates, the highest murder rates, high number of people that leach off of the few working taxpayer etc etc. I'm glad Rhee is union busting, DC teaches need to be held accountable for failures in their classrooms.

People don't want to work for hard, they want the city to "give them a job". In other words they want the government to "create" jobs not the private sector, which means bloating up the govt with non=needed positions for lazy people. Prepare for higher taxes, longer lines at the DMV, worse roads and more.

[Anonymous]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/06/more_tests_on_the_way.html#comments

Rhee plans on spending more money on more testing. More testing?! The DC CAS results are easy to manipulate and not entirely reliable. She has done nothing to address the current curriculum and standards, which clearly need to be addressed. Let's wait and see who wins the contract for the next round of testing. A Washington Post owned company perhaps? I am a DCPS parent and I will vote for Gray. I also plan to follow any parents who plan to keep their kids home on testing days. Enough is enough.

[Anonymous]

DCPS parent here for going on 9 years. Things are, even thought it's hard to believe, worse than ever under Rhee.

As for the rebuilt infrastructure falling apart if Fenty left? Um, doubt it. The stuff that works in DC now is a credit to Anthony Williams. Fenty promised to fix the schools and all I see is a lot of churn, drama and an ever widening achievement gap.

Am I excited by Gray? No, but I'll vote for him though, because it seems the only chance to get Rhee out.

And yes, I'll keep my kids home on test days too.

[Anonymous]

Poster, I don't want to get personal, but that attitude that you have is the mindset that ruined the city, bankrupted DC and had us under Congressional supervision. Your code words like "outsiders" and "young teachers" are code for WHITE non-native DC residents. Your way the Gray way DOES NOT WORK. It produces the highest number of adult illiterates, the highest murder rates, high number of people that leach off of the few working taxpayer etc etc. I'm glad Rhee is union busting, DC teaches need to be held accountable for failures in their classrooms.

People don't want to work for hard, they want the city to "give them a job". In other words they want the government to "create" jobs not the private sector, which means bloating up the govt with non=needed positions for lazy people. Prepare for higher taxes, longer lines at the DMV, worse roads and more.

Actually, you are being personal because I was a DCPS teacher, married a DCPS teacher whose mother was a DCPS teacher. Outsitders doesn't simply mean 'white', but it could. It depends on the who the person is. I don't think its necessary to travel all over the country to find outstanding talent to run the city; tlent that has already invested in the city becausethey chose to live here, purchase homes here, send their children to school here. And young teachers means young teachers, Teach for America teachers, anybody who didn't go to school to be a teacher, but now thinks they know how to teach because they were trained during the summer.

No professional who does their job wants to keep people who don't. It makes the job more difficult for everyone. I'm not sure what Gray way you are referring to that leads to adult illiterate, high murder rates and tax leaches, but perhaps you could provide more information, since you clearly think that unions and the government are the cause for poverty.

And I am not a native DC resident, neither is my husband. We chose to make DC our home, we didn't have to do it in order to get a job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/06/more_tests_on_the_way.html#comments

Rhee plans on spending more money on more testing. More testing?! The DC CAS results are easy to manipulate and not entirely reliable. She has done nothing to address the current curriculum and standards, which clearly need to be addressed. Let's wait and see who wins the contract for the next round of testing. A Washington Post owned company perhaps? I am a DCPS parent and I will vote for Gray. I also plan to follow any parents who plan to keep their kids home on testing days. Enough is enough.

I don't honestly think the curriculum is the problem here. There are many reasons that DCPS students often underperform on standardized tests, but its not the curriculum/standards (which are available online).

As for testing--more testing is a joke. I teach in Montgomery County and consistently see test scores demonstrating 'proficiency' but my students can't think their way out of a paper bag. They expect you to feed them the answers or make everything multiple choice like it is on the tests they have been taught to pass. And Heaven forbid you don't give little Michelle an 'A' because her writing and analytical skills are weak. I don't want my child be tested tested tested to death. I want him to learn useful information and skills.