it's such an obvious question though. "Mr. Kihn, what's so good about Washington International School?" Why do you favor it for your children?

Don't know his story yet...we were in a Charter and just went private after the bottom fell out. If anything, he should be able to see that DCPCSB needs more authority. Parents have really no recourse with charter issues. DCPS parents have plenty.

Anonymous wrote:The WaPo article says his kids attend Washington International School - not DCI.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/bowser-taps-new-deputy-mayor-for-education-from-outside-dc-schools/2018/09/24/9a7dfa04-c03e-11e8-90c9-23f963eea204_story.html?utm_term=.0c0878ddc31b

Looks like they had bad info at first and later changed the article.

It is remarkable how little confidence the District's leaders have in the public education system, as evidenced by their choices for their children.

Anonymous wrote:The WaPo article says his kids attend Washington International School - not DCI.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/bowser-taps-new-deputy-mayor-for-education-from-outside-dc-schools/2018/09/24/9a7dfa04-c03e-11e8-90c9-23f963eea204_story.html?utm_term=.0c0878ddc31b

Surely - there is a qualified person who has their child enrolled in a public school. I'm tired of people not having skin in the game!!!!

Anonymous wrote:The WaPo article says his kids attend Washington International School - not DCI.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/bowser-taps-new-deputy-mayor-for-education-from-outside-dc-schools/2018/09/24/9a7dfa04-c03e-11e8-90c9-23f963eea204_story.html?utm_term=.0c0878ddc31b

lol

Anonymous wrote:The WaPo article says his kids attend Washington International School - not DCI.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/bowser-taps-new-deputy-mayor-for-education-from-outside-dc-schools/2018/09/24/9a7dfa04-c03e-11e8-90c9-23f963eea204_story.html?utm_term=.0c0878ddc31b

Great - private school!

The WaPo article says his kids attend Washington International School - not DCI.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/bowser-taps-new-deputy-mayor-for-education-from-outside-dc-schools/2018/09/24/9a7dfa04-c03e-11e8-90c9-23f963eea204_story.html?utm_term=.0c0878ddc31b

I have kids in a charter (not necessarily forever - they're still young and I'm also open to application DCPS HSs) and I don't like the idea of a DME with this attitude:

"In his essay, Khin called for traditional public school districts to forgo trying to be all things to all people and to “specialize” by focusing on the “hardest-to-serve” students. He wrote that charter schools, like magnets and other special admission schools, could more-or-less manage themselves." (source: https://wamu.org/story/18/09/25/bowser-picks-former-consultant-deputy-mayor-education/)

Why does a DME have to have kids in DCPS? Almost half of DC kids are in charters. DCPS gets a chancellor, so it seems fair for the DME to have charter ties.

Under Bowser it's become clear that a marker of identification with the PCS system is required. Not that I necessarily disagree. But it will be easy to criticize him at critical points when you have "he closed Phila schools" and "he avoided integration and taking part in DCPS for his own kids" cards sitting right there on the table.

Anonymous wrote:Kihn track record is that he's staunchly pro-charter, not sure that's going to help DC right now. We have enough decent charters. It's our in-boundary schools that need enhanced inputs and leadership, particularly middle schools.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/04/13/a-vision-for-the-k-12-urban-school.html

yeah no kidding - as a McKinsey partner, I am sure he is well schooled in how to divert public funding to the private sector in the name of "innovation."

Anonymous wrote:Kihn track record is that he's staunchly pro-charter, not sure that's going to help DC right now. We have enough decent charters. It's our in-boundary schools that need enhanced inputs and leadership, particularly middle schools.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/04/13/a-vision-for-the-k-12-urban-school.html

Thanks for the article. Seems like he is fine with HRCS continuing to shirk the responsibility of educating the hard-to-serve.

Kihn track record is that he's staunchly pro-charter, not sure that's going to help DC right now. We have enough decent charters. It's our in-boundary schools that need enhanced inputs and leadership, particularly middle schools.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/04/13/a-vision-for-the-k-12-urban-school.html

Sounds like progress. Apparently, the guy did a decent job in Philly, has kids at DCI, degrees from Yale and Columbia Teachers College, and taught MS and HS English various places, like NYC, Ireland and South Africa. DC could do worse.

From the Post:

Education
Bowser taps new deputy mayor for education from outside D.C. schools

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser has chosen an education consultant, Paul Kihn, as her top education adviser. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
By Perry Stein
September 25 at 9:30 AM
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced Tuesday that a private sector education consultant who occupied a top school system post in Philadelphia will serve as the District’s deputy mayor for education — one of the most powerful education jobs in the city.

Paul Kihn is expected to begin in the mayor’s administration Monday. The deputy mayor serves as Bowser’s main education adviser, with responsibility for overseeing polices that stretch across the traditional public and charter school sectors.

Kihn succeeds Jennifer Niles, who resigned in February after revelations that she helped the school system’s chancellor at the time skirt the competitive lottery so his daughter could transfer to a high school with a long waiting list.

Ahnna Smith has served as interim deputy mayor for education since February. Bowser said she offered Smith a position as a senior adviser in her administration and expects Smith to stay on.

ADVERTISEMENT

Bowser applauded Kihn’s work in the private and public sectors in turning around troubled schools.

“He brings with him a wide array of experiences,” Bowser said.

Kihn starts his job as D.C.’s traditional and public charter schools reel from controversies and setbacks. A citywide investigation uncovered that one-third of graduates from the traditional system in 2017 received their diplomas in violation of city law, undermining the city’s boast that graduation rates were rising. A few prominent charter schools have shut down because of poor performance or financial troubles, including Democracy Prep. And the District’s traditional public school system has been leaderless since Antwan Wilson resigned over the lottery scandal.

In an interview Monday evening, Bowser appeared confident in Kihn’s ability to bring stability to the schools. She said she selected him because she believes he will help rebuild trust between families and the schools by ensuring information on graduation rates and test scores is reliable.

ADVERTISING

Following the graduation scandal, critics argued that because the mayor has so much power over the education system, it became easier to present data in the best light — even if it didn’t always accurately reflect challenges still confronting the system.

The D.C. Council is considering a measure that would establish an independent education research initiative in the D.C. auditor’s office — a measure Bowser said she opposes. Another proposal would make the state superintendent of education, whose office oversees the traditional and charter public school networks, more independent from the mayor. Now, the state superintendent reports directly to the mayor.

“Paul brings a great strength in helping us look at data integrity,” Bowser said. “The first thing that Paul said he would bring is helping rebuild trust between students and parents in the quality of data that we are sharing.”


Kihn worked as a public schoolteacher in New York for three years. He later became a partner in the education division of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Kihn said Monday he could not reveal his clients at the firm, but he worked with school districts, state agencies and education philanthropies throughout the country. He said he tackled diverse challenges, including financial and organizational matters. Kihn said he also addressed graduation rates, attendance issues and charter school affairs.

“I served over a dozen school districts,” Kihn said. “Districts came to us with their most in­trac­table challenges.”

From 2012 to 2015, Kihn was deputy superintendent at the School District of Philadelphia. At the time, the cash-strapped system’s enrollment was plunging. Kihn was a top school official when the city closed 10?percent of the public schools and laid off thousands of employees — a decision met with widespread backlash. But the school system has become more stable since these cuts.

After leaving the Philadelphia system, Kihn returned to consulting.

He lives in the District and his children attend D.C. International School, a foreign language immersion charter school in Northwest Washington.