Controversial education reformer eyeing N.J.?
BY RAJU CHEBIUM • COURIER-POST WASHINGTON BUREAU • OCTOBER 18, 2010
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WASHINGTON — Could the nation's best-known and most controversial education reformer be headed to New Jersey?
Michelle Rhee, who recently resigned as schools chancellor in Washington, D.C., is being talked up as a potential candidate for New Jersey education commissioner or Newark school superintendent after she leaves her current job on Oct. 31.
Gov. Chris Christie is a fan of hers and Newark Mayor Cory Booker is her friend. Both have top education jobs to fill.
Right now, the official word is that Rhee isn't in the running for either job.
"We don't have any comment except to say that the governor admires what Michelle Rhee accomplished in the D.C. schools and wishes her well," Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said in an e-mail.
And Booker spokeswoman Anne Torres said in an e-mail that "at this moment in time, there are no plans to talk to Ms. Rhee about the position."
Christie fired his education commissioner, Bret Schundler, in August after the state failed to win a $400