Ex-Washington, DC schools chief escalates campaign against public education
By Fred Mazelis
26 January 2011
When Michelle Rhee, the chancellor of the Washington, DC school system since 2007, resigned abruptly last October, some suggested she had suffered a major reverse in her campaign for school “reform.” Rhee left her job soon after the lopsided primary election defeat of Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, who had strongly backed her policies, including the firing of hundreds of teachers and principals, opposition to teacher tenure and support for privately run charter schools.
The primary election was widely seen as a referendum on Rhee’s performance, and it no doubt reflected growing dissatisfaction and anger among parents as well as teachers. It quickly became clear, however, that it will take far more than an election that substitutes one big business politician for another to defeat the attacks on public education for which Rhee has