MN Doesn’t Need a Lesson from Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee - MN2020 Hindsight:
MN Doesn’t Need a Lesson from Failed DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee
Infamous education reform architect Michelle Rhee is coming to town, at the strange behest of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. She will be the keynote speaker at the Chamber’s February 6Education Summit.The title of Rhee’s address is important: “Creating a Sense of Urgency for Education Reform.” Manufacturing a crisis, or sense of urgency, in order to push through desired solutions is nothing new. Many, in fact, consider the 1983 “Nation at Risk” report, said to have launched current education reform movements, a classic example of creating a crisis to whet an appetite for reform.
And what are some of the solutions we can expect to hear from Rhee, former Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak, and other Education Summit presenters?
One: Bad teachers are holding students back. Firing teachers and doing away with teacher tenure were key aspects of Rhee’s short-lived work as Chancellor of the Washington D.C. public schools, under the premise that the D.C. schools were rife with “ineffective” teachers. While Rhee herself is no longer in charge of any school or teachers, directly, she is still promoting the firing and de-unionization of teachers as a national solution.
Two: Data from standardized tests tell us everything we need to know, including the fact that some people will cheat on tests in order to win money, praise, and quick results. Rhee was incharge of the