I read a great article today in the December 13, 2010 issue of Newsweek. Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of the D.C. public school system wrote a very candid article about her achievements and challenges in turning around a chronically low performing district. It was refreshing to read that she initially told her future boss that he wouldn't want to hire her because she would do what was right for the city's children, that it would upset the status quo, and she would become a political problem. I am glad he hired her anyway, because during her tenure, D.C. went from being the worst performing on the NAEP exam, to leading the nation in gains in 4th and 8th grade reading and math. For the first time in 41 years, the trend of declining enrollment reversed as families began choosing D.C. public schools again. She also writes in an honest and straightforward manner about things she could have done differently during her tenure. This is a woman who believes in doing what is right for our kids, and is willing to do what it takes to get it done. She states that when working for change, we cannot shy away from conflict. Ms. Rhee left her post in D.C. voluntarily and has founded StudentsFirst (http://www.studentsfirst.org/ ). The home page of the website reads:
"The movement begins with you. To truly transform education in America, to create a system that puts students’ needs first, we need parents, teachers, administrators, politicians, and citizens from across the country to come together, recognize the problems in our system, and have the guts to overcome them."
This is a non-partisan organization that has unlimited potential to initiate and sustain long term change in our schools. I hope that you will visit this website. This is really exciting stuff!
http://www.studentsfirst.org/
