Rhee laid off teachers who were sleeping with students or hitting them, so she says.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Devil's Advocate. What if she was referring to people she got rid before the Oct RIF? In my dream world that's what she meant. Problem is, she's also implied there were likely mistakes with good staff being RIFed by vengeful or misinformed principals. Which is also horrible for kids. But as a taxpayer I don't want another council meeting circus that doesn't get anywhere. (Other than finding out the DCPS CFO wasn't actually the DCPS CFO.) As a parent, I want someone to come in and referee the BS. What happened to Schmoke? Or at least get a decent PR function for DCPS like Catania said. Any Spin Doctors out there willing to work for free?

I don't know how we can *not* have a circus at this point, and I also find it troubling.

But I also think that this could well be the last straw for some of DCPS's best teachers (both current and potential new hires). I think that Rhee's statement will make it harder for RIF'd teachers to find new employment. And if I had any kind of choice between teaching at DCPS, where the Chancellor can make random remarks that slander 200+ former teachers, and another district, I'd stay far, far away from DCPS.

I agree that it's the job of DCPS to educate children, not make teachers happy. And yet I don't see how teachers can teach well if they really don't want to be where they are--and Rhee keeps doing things that I think would make it very hard for teachers to feel like DCPS is a place worth staying. Those who are skilled will go somewhere else. Those who are mediocre will stay.

(And yes, I know that I just maligned teachers who stay on into the Rhee years. Oops.)

[Anonymous]

Teaching is a job that requires a tremendous amount of personal responsibility. To be a good teacher means taking work home with you, coming early, and staying late. When morale is low teachers are like everybody else, they want to get off of work as soon as they can and go home and not think about it. One thing I learned the hard way is that when a teacher is under stress, the students feel stress too. It makes it hard to have a productive and welcoming classroom where students can learn effectively. However, about skilled teachers leaving and mediocre ones staying--I find that one's ability to leave a district is usually not related to skill, but to youth. IF you're a career DC teacher, you're probably out of luck.

[Anonymous]

21:33 here. Thanks for clarifying that, 22:26, and for giving additional perspective on how kids suffer when teachers are suffering. I do think that new teacher recruiting will be hurt by Rhee's recent actions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, I cannot believe the vitriol against Rhee and Fenty on this anonymous board. Or maybe I can. I'm not a blind Rhee supporter, or Fenty, but at least they are making some progress against the entrenched layers of crap that DCPS has become over the past decades. Schools are getting better, and I support that.

Now this quote - it is a doozy. But wow. Knee jerk reaction, much? I think it says a lot about posters here to see the immediate fire Rhee support Gray reaction.

I don't support Gray. I do think the firings/layoffs were handled poorly. But let's get rid of the only semi-effective people who have made any dent in the crap that is DCPS? Are you all that blind or that crazy or that wedded to the status quo of crap?

But it's not entirely clear that Michelle Rhee has been the driving force behind all those improvements. I'm sure some of the improvements are due to her efforts. However, a number of improvements were planned under Dr. Janey and Rhee should not be taking credit for them.

But it's also important to recognize the impact that gentrification has had on the school system. Some of the improvements have come from middle class people not moving out of the city once they have kids. In Capitol Hill, there are several schools which in recent years have had an influx of middle class kids which means greater parent involvement. (I'm not dissing poor and working class parents here -- Just saying that middle class people feel entitled to better service and are willing to demand it while poor people generally don't know what the schools should be offering. I have direct experience of this with a kid I'm tutoring.) Now it's perfectly possible that Rhee put principals in place that wouldn't have been there before (but now that I think of it at least one of the good ones predated her) but in terms of the demand for improvement -- the changing demographics of the District have also been a factor. (I'm guessing it didn't make a difference but I also wonder whether increases in test scores are due in some cases to these changing demographics rather than improved teaching.)

Personally, while Fenty felt that Janey was moving too slowly, I'd rather have him back. I felt that DCPS was moving in the right direction and the man seemed more capable of building support for the changes he wanted to see in the system, rather than unnecessarily sowing discord.

I fail to see any improvements in the educational opportunities offered by our schools since Rhee became chancellor. The only focus of our leadership is on raising test scores. Testing has become unbiquitous and relentless. The curriculum we offer continues to be mediocre. Many of our schools are going through tremendous turmoil under new prinicipals who haven't a clue of how to run a school. Teachers are required to use a rigid formula for teaching spelled out in a new, extremely punitive evaluation instrument. What's getting better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teaching is a job that requires a tremendous amount of personal responsibility. To be a good teacher means taking work home with you, coming early, and staying late. When morale is low teachers are like everybody else, they want to get off of work as soon as they can and go home and not think about it. One thing I learned the hard way is that when a teacher is under stress, the students feel stress too. It makes it hard to have a productive and welcoming classroom where students can learn effectively. However, about skilled teachers leaving and mediocre ones staying--I find that one's ability to leave a district is usually not related to skill, but to youth. IF you're a career DC teacher, you're probably out of luck.

Even young teachers may find it difficult to transfer. Many teachers have invested substantial amounts of money to become certified to teach in DC. Not all districts offer reciprocity. Becoming certified to teach in another state can be costly and time-consuming. Additionally, our neighboring districts are going through budget cuts. Not a great time to be looking for a transfer.

[jsteele]

Tom Sherwood of NBC4 managed to get Michelle Rhee to talk to him last night. Here is his account:

"She told us that one teacher had been on administrative leave for sexual misconduct and that the teacher had been fired as part of the budget purge.

She said six other teachers had served suspensions for various corporal punishment violations. They, too, were included in the list of teachers fired for budget reasons.

Two teachers who had been suspended for unauthorized absences also were on the list."

So, remembering that 266 teachers were RIF'd and this list adds up to nine, let's parse the words a bit:

1) One teacher was on administrative leave for sexual misconduct. Was this misconduct with a student? If so, why doesn't the union know about it? There is a rumor going around about a teacher caught having sex with a janitor. Was that this teacher? If so, it doesn't support Rhee's Fast Company allegation about a teacher having sex with students. If the misconduct was with a student, then one would guess that this was an allegation that was being investigated given that there is no indication that the teacher has been charged with a crime. In that case, Rhee's accusation seems premature. This is the most problematic of Rhee's charges and the one that I think she will have the most difficulty explaining.

2) Six teachers "had" served suspensions for various corporal punishment violations. How long ago "had" these suspensions been served? If the violations were significant, why were the teachers allowed to return to the classroom? If they violations were not significant, why did Rhee bring it up? How many teachers who have served such suspensions remain on staff?

3) Two teachers had been suspended for unauthorized absences. Similar to the corporal punishment cases, were they currently suspended or were these things that occurred some time ago? How many teachers with similar records remain on staff?

Rhee has admitted that some good teachers were also caught in the RIF. How many? Is it possible that the number exceeds nine? The real problem here is that Rhee attempted to justify her RIF (something that she has attributed solely to budget cuts) by tarnishing the reputations of 266 teachers due to issues with 9 of them. I continue to believe that it is likely that she flat out lied with her accusation of a teacher having sex with students.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a basher or booster of Rhee, but I don't think she maliciously lies. Just personal opinion. She thinks she's doing the right thing.

BUT, the shocking lack of thoughtfulness and maturity when she speaks could be HURTING reform efforts more than helping at this stage. (If this is how she speaks, I can only imagine what might be lurking in her email.)

In 2007 her strategy of getting the issue of DC education inequity front and center in national media made total sense. Attention must be paid. And when I've seen and spoken with her in school and with educators, she didn't come across at all like she does in interviews. She and her team gained my confidence.

But "any publicity is good publicity" is a deeply flawed strategy for a mayor with serious transparency issues and a chancellor who doesn't have any accountability. (I know, I know...it's ultimately about the kids.)

More turbulence in DCPS we don't need. I'm fine with having her keep the job, which is NOT media relations, so long as she is chaperoned by a lawyer wherever she goes.

[Anonymous]

More turbulence in DCPS we don't need. I'm fine with having her keep the job, which is NOT media relations, so long as she is chaperoned by a lawyer wherever she goes.



Okay, please help me understand your support. Rhee is paid a salary of $275,000 annually plus bonuses. She imported her top aides and pays them 1.6 million per annum plus any bonuses. Now, you suggest that the city retain a lawyer to chaperone her wherever Rhee goes so that she cannot frack up. Brilliant, another DCPS disaster with the taxpayers footing an unnecessary expense. How much should the city pay her chaperone, another $200,000, $250,000, $300,000, why stop there. DC taxpayers are used to taking up unmentionable body parts where DCPS is concerned. Oh, BTW--those salaries do not include the benefits each employee receives which usu. amounts to 50-60% of one's salary.

[Anonymous]

that should read "taking it up the ..." as the unmentionable body parts.

[Anonymous]

"Lack of thoughtfulness and maturity..."

That pretty much sums in up for me. For all the changes the city has gone thru, the matter of tone is still important in our city, to our students, to our parents, to our teachers and administrators. She does not understand this !! [ others in this administration as well, but that is a different thread for another time ].

Great organizations become so because of leaders who exhibit personal humility and professional resolve (to borrow an observation). While it is important to get the "right" people in and the "wrong" people out, cultures of remarkable organizations transform over time. They are not swapped out like the offense and defense in a football game. Remarkable organizations are described as family-like in the best way. See today's money.cnn.com articles on best places to work and Collins' book Good to Great.

Ms. Rhee may have professional resolve, but she misses in so many other leadership attributes that fundamentally do not make her a transformative leader.

[jsteele]

Here is Rhee's statement to Council Members:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2010/01/26/michelle-rhee-explains-fast-company-quote/

It's a fuller version of what she said to Tom Sherwood and most of what I said about that above still applies. One new point is that she says the "sexual misconduct" incident was referred to the police. It will be interesting to hear what the police have to say about this case.

I hope that this episode does not end with this letter. The Council should still pursue it further as there are a number of unanswered questions. It's a sad reality that such endeavors are left to the Council, but unfortunately, our "accountability mayor" has little interest in accountability.

[Anonymous]

I wish she were a female version of Arne Duncan. He's a class act.

Here's her letter to the Council.

http://www.wtop.com/docs/rhee_letter.pdf

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain to me what "some time ago" means. Is she talking about three years ago, three months ago, three weeks ago, three days ago prior to RIF. In her statement to Fast she implied that there were many teachers sleeping with students and or hitting students. Now we find that it is one student who had been accused of sleeping with a student and a couple accused of the corporal punishment. You know why the corporal punishment does not hold up for me. Well, approximately two years ago, a teacher, maybe assistant principal, was terminated on the spot when the male teacher struck back at a student who struck the teacher first. This occurred at Eastern HS I believe. There were obvious witnesses and the the man was booted out immediately. Therefore, I doubt very seriously that a teacher administering corporal punishment was retained for a long period of time and RIFFed with rights of first return upon openings. Nope, this does not pass the smell test.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know how Catania lines up with this mess. I used to really respect this man. I had hoped he would run for mayor one day, but he is really disappointing me. He votes just like Muriel Bowser, yes Fenty, whatever you say Fenty, just tell me how you want me to vote Fenty. I am trying to figure out what happened to his tough independent streak.

[jsteele]

Okay, this is an outrage. I didn't notice until now, but the Washington Post ran an editorial about Rhee's comments today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012503736.html

While the editorial mildly chastises Rhee (saying she should be more careful with her words), most of it is spent attacking the Council and the WTU.

What is most disturbing is the implication that Rhee, who has refused to talk to the Council or the Post's education reporter, took time to talk to the Post's editors. This continues a trend of the Post's editors acting as Rhee's PR team. All the way back to when Fenty first chose Rhee, the Post got exclusive access to her before the choice was announced. Indeed, her selection was announced in a Post article with an accompanying editorial (laudable of course). When Fenty and Rhee refused to disclose how Fenty's son's were able to gain entry as out of bounds students to a choice school, it was a Post editorial that provided the only explanation (obviously based on information provided by Fenty/Rhee). When the Council refused to approve the nomination of Ximena Hartsock, Rhee emailed the Post editorial board to let them know how to spin the story. Now, the Post editors are scooping their own education reporter and framing a story to be pro-Rhee.

I get criticized all the time for being "biased". But, I run an obscure website and post in forums that virtually nobody reads. Does anyone but me feel that the relationship between the editors of a major national newspaper and Rhee is entirely too cozy? And, when the Post's editors routinely allow their news reporters to be ignored in favor of exculpatory editorials, aren't they failing to fully report the news to the Post's customers? No wonder so many people are so supportive of Rhee? The Post feeds them nothing but a steady diet of Rhee press releases.