School Reform Mtg 7/31 w/DCPS head of change mgmt

[Anonymous]

Got this from another listserv. Anyone have experience with this group or planning to attend this meeting? I'd never heard of it before. They have some sort of petition about school reform. (Please excuse any ignorance on my part. I'm new parent to DCPS.)

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DC School Reform Now meeting this
Thursday, July 31st at 6:30pm, at the Cleveland Park Library, 3310
Connecticut Avenue, NW (cross street is Macomb, one block SW of the
Cleveland Park Metro).

Our guest speaker Abigail Smith, chief of transition management for
DCPS under Rhee, will address the group on the progress of education
reform in DCPS and map out plans for the reforms moving forward.
Please come with questions as this will be an open discussion.

If you're interested in getting more involved in our school reform
efforts, you will have an opportunity to discuss that too.

Agenda:

6:30pm: Open discussion with Abigail Smith, Chief of Transition
Management for DCPS
7:30pm: Overview of DC School Reform Now's specific policy goals
7:45pm: Action items for DC School Reform Now members to help support
the education reform agenda
8:00pm: Meeting concludes

RSVP to [e-mail].

[jsteele]

DC School Reform Now looks to be little more than an astroturf effort backed by Rhee and Fenty. The website suggests its basically a one-woman organization. There are school reform advocates of all stripes in DC and none of the well-known personalties look to be affiliated with the organization. Furthermore, the organization is supported by a PR firm that has closed ties to Fenty. How many grassroots websites do you know of that are produced by PR firms?

All that said, the speaker at this meeting, Abby Smith, is a friend for whom I have the greatest respect. She was among the earliest members of the DCUM Mailing List and her commitment to DC's schools cannot be questioned. But, given her job, she can be expected to firmly toe the Rhee/Fenty line. So, what this meeting is really about is drumming up support for Rhee and Fenty.