As maverick school chiefs leave, will their changes stay?
By Sarah Butrymowicz and Sarah Garland | The Hechinger Report
NEW YORK — The recent resignations of high-profile school chiefs Joel Klein in New York and Michelle Rhee in Washington, D.C., raise questions about the future of education reform at a time when school districts across the U.S. are adopting policies the two icons of change pioneered.
Klein stepped down on Tuesday after eight years at the helm of the nation's largest school system, while Rhee left Washington last month after District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty lost his re-election bid. Klein and Rhee have championed holding teachers and principals accountable for student performance, weakening union protections and closing down failing schools.
Klein called his overhauls "the most far-reaching" in the country at a conference Wednesday in New York. "If (school change) is not controversial, it's going to be meaningless."
Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said that what happens next will depend on replacements for the two leaders and the agenda of the mayors who hire
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