Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s right turn
The school-reform advocate touts her "bipartisan" bona fides, but more and more of her allies are conservatives
Nov. 6 was a good day for Michelle Rhee. The former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor, through her organization StudentsFirst, poured money into state-level campaigns nationwide, winning 86 of 105 races and flipping a net 33 seats to advocates of so-called school reform, a movement that advocates expanding privately run public charter schools, weakening teachers’ unions, increasing the weight of high-stakes standardized tests and, in some cases, using taxpayer dollars to fund private tuition through vouchers as the keys to improving public education.
Rhee makes a point of applauding “leaders in both parties and across the ideological spectrum” because her own political success — and the success of school reform — depends upon the bipartisan reputation she has fashioned. But 90 of the 105 candidates backed by StudentsFirst were Republicans, including Tea Party enthusiasts and staunch abortion opponents. And Rhee’s above-the-fray bona fides have come under heavy fire as progressives and teachers unions increasingly cast the school reform movement, which has become virtually synonymous with Rhee’s name, as politically conservative and corporate-funded.
Rhee, who did not respond to an interview request, is an adept fundraiser and organization builder. In October 2010, she was nudged out after a stormy tenure as the head of D.C.’s public schools (she closed dozens of failing schools, fired more than 1,000 teachers and principals, and went toe-to-toe with unions over issues like