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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Rhee's successor escapes her shadow; challenges remain

Rhee's successor escapes her shadow; challenges remain

Rhee's successor escapes her shadow; challenges remain

By Bill Turque
Saturday, January 29, 2011

A picture of Michelle A. Rhee, from a recent Newsweek cover, hangs above Interim Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson's desk. It shows her outspoken mentor and friend seated at an old-style classroom desk, smiling.

"It's the Michelle Rhee I know," Henderson said, "and it reminds me of how far we've come on education reform."

Yet, as she seeks to build on Rhee's accomplishments, Henderson faces challenges as daunting as the ones her predecessor did when she arrived in 2007. Some are as basic as seeing through a controversial new teacher evaluation system, managing severe budgetary pressures and finally developing citywide curriculums for reading, math and other