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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Michelle Rhee on Joel Klein and Cathie Black | The New York Observer

Michelle Rhee on Joel Klein and Cathie Black | The New York Observer

Michelle Rhee on Joel Klein and Cathie Black

November 9, 2010 | 10:07 p.m

In the very few minutes between the news leaking out that Chancellor Joel Klein would be leaving the city's Department of Education, and the subsequent press conference announcing his replacement, speculation quite naturally centered on former D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee.

Rhee resigned her D.C. post last month, and one day later, the New York Post—run by Bloomberg's friend, Rupert Murdoch, who Klein will join at News Corp.—editorialized that New York's schools needed her, calling Rhee's very name "a byword for reform—and for resisting the pernicious influence of teachers unions."

In D.C., Rhee pushed aggressively for the kinds of reforms Mayor Bloomberg has championed, likedispensing with automatic tenure and focusing on student performance. Rhee also said she spoke