Former Chancellor of the D.C. Public School System Michelle Rhee addresses an audience at the Harvard Education School. Rhee kept the tone lighthearted, citing a need to confront issues regarding educational reform rather than "sugar-coat" them.
Michelle A. Rhee, former chancellor of the District of Columbia public schools, engaged with a packed auditorium last night, fielding questions, reflecting on her personal life, and elaborating on her polarizing views on education in urban America.
Rhee—who received a master’s of public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School in 1997—shared her experiences with a struggling school system and discussed the leadership tactics she used to make changes in the D.C. schools, during a talk at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Telling anecdotes that mustered hearty laughs from her audience, Rhee recounted her foray into the superintendent’s role three years ago. At the time, there was nothing that she would have liked to do less than be an urban superintendent, she said.
Rhee, who was 37 when she became chancellor, started the job facing skepticism from the
