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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

State senators pass a teacher effectiveness bill with blessing of Rhee’s group: Are they trying to irk teachers? | Get Schooled

State senators pass a teacher effectiveness bill with blessing of Rhee’s group: Are they trying to irk teachers? | Get Schooled:

State senators pass a teacher effectiveness bill with blessing of Rhee’s group: Are they trying to irk teachers?

I am perplexed why the first official state press release on an education reform bill out of the Georgia Senate quotes an official from StudentsFirst, the education advocacy group created by former Washington school chancellor Michelle Rhee.

While Rhee has fans in Georgia and the Legislature, she has alienated teachers with what they consider her “blame the teacher” posture. (Rhee would argue that she doesn’t blame teachers for all that’s wrong with schools, but that states have to end the practice of treating all teachers as equivalent and do more to root out bad teachers and reward good ones.)

The release announces that the Senate today passed Senate Bill 184, which requires school