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Saturday, April 7, 2012

In the Aftermath of Hurricane Michelle Embattled D.C. School District Has A New Vibe : NPR

Embattled D.C. School District Has A New Vibe : NPR:


Embattled D.C. School District Has A New Vibe


A year and a half after Washington, D.C., and its hard-charging school chancellor Michelle Rhee
parted ways, there are troubling questions about the reforms and policies she left in place. As
NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports, new chancellor Kaya Henderson is trying to build the trust and
goodwill she'll need to go forward with her own plans.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. A year and a half after Washington,
D.C. and its hard-charging school chancellor Michelle Rhee parted ways, the policies that earned
her national attention as a tough visionary reformer are under scrutiny. The teachers' union wants
to revoke a performance evaluation policy that had been presented as a national model. A
cheating scandal has cast doubt on D.C.'s impressive gains in test scores. And as NPR's Claudio
Sanchez reports, the new chancellor, Kaya Henderson, is trying to build the trust and goodwill she'll
need to go forward with her own plans.

CLAUDIO SANCHEZ, BYLINE: Nathan Saunders, president of Washington, D.C.'s teachers' union