Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee: Debate Still Rages Over Her Tenure in D.C. Schools
Michelle Rhee's record as chancellor of the District of Columbia public schools remains contentious, and her leadership style polarizing, more than two years after she resigned and left the nation's capital.
That record—which gets rehashed often amid larger debates about what strategies hold the most promise for turning around a low-achieving public school system—is about to get a fresh examination next week. John Merrow, the veteran education reporter who closely chronicled Rhee's three-plus turbulent years running the District's long-troubled public schools in a series of broadcasts on PBS NewsHour, will be back on the air Jan. 8 with an hour-long Frontline piece on Rhee. It will "examine her legacy in Washington, D.C., including her battles with the teachers' union and her handling of a cheating scandal in the District."
Rhee has hardly disappeared from the education sphere. The StudentsFirst organization she founded soon after leaving the chancellor's job quickly established itself as one of the most influential shapers of education policies that Rhee touts, such as reducing collective