The lessons in Michelle Rhee’s misguided leadership
Regarding Richard Whitmire’s Aug. 5 Local Opinions piece, “What if Rhee had stayed?”:
Mr. Whitmire missed the point in his expression of nostalgia for former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee. Whatever opinions one might have about Ms. Rhee’s impact, she unnecessarily created the dynamics of her own demise.
Mr. Whitmire suggested that “kinder and gentler” is incompatible with Ms. Rhee’s scorched-earth approach to school reform and that the D.C. public schools would look different if Ms. Rhee had stayed. Well, we will never know because Ms. Rhee wasuninterested in bringing along her public.
No matter how good the ideas and intention, a major part of leading is to build consensus, engage the community and sell the public on the need for change. After all, without the public, there can be no public education. Had Ms. Rhee understood that, she could have