Whatever happened to…?: MICHELLE RHEE NAMED TO FLORIDA GOV.-ELECT’S EDUCATION TRANSITION TEAM
BY SEAN CAVANAGH | ED WEEK STATE EDWATCH | HTTP://BIT.LY/GDU4OC
December 2, 2010 10:35 PM - Incoming Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday named 18 members of his transition team on education, and one name jumps off the page: Michelle Rhee.
Rhee, the hard-charging former chancellor of the District of Columbia school system, was selected by the Republican governor-in-waiting to join a transition team that Scott says will help him "find innovative ways to create a new education system for a new economy."
The former chancellor resigned from her D.C. job in October after her boss, Adrian Fenty, was defeated in the city's Democratic mayoral primary. Speculation promptly ensued about where she would land in her next position. Some suggested she be named schools chief in New Jersey by Republican Gov. Chris Christie. Other scuttlebutt centered on her heading to Florida, to work for Scott.
Of course, Florida has an education commissioner, Eric Smith, who has won praise in education circles. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a Republican widely respected by members of his party for his school policies, recently agreed to support Smith and a group of other state schools chiefs in their efforts to press for school choice and