Michelle Rhee-branded, But Still Promoting Crap
If I had to choose one individual for the title of Most Polarizing Educationist, that person would certainly be Michelle Rhee.
(You know– educationist– the genuine article, like the Rolexx watch or Louis Wuitton handbag.)
Though Rhee has received much press in venues including Time, the Harvard Political Review, the Washington Post, and the New York Times for being “polarizing,” the problem with being polarizing is that those with influence might like to read about you and talk about you, but because they are mindful of their own career climbing (as many educationists and politicians tend to be), they won’t want to be closely identified with you.
Sure, in your only year as the single teacher in the classroom, you might tape children’s mouths and cause them to bleed– and later joke about it to a group of first-year teachers– and never be called to answer for such behavior. Or, you couldstart your own Teach for America-styled nonprofit and be catapulted into the spotlight as– of all things– a chancellor of schools. But then, things become more complicated as you deliver on your No Excuses, Fire the Teachers Who Don’t Deliver Pre-determined Test Score Gains in a manner that warrants criminal investigation– and no serious investigation happens, even years later. And you might even follow-up that “polarizing” stint as chancellor by starting your second nonprofitand brag that it will raise one billion dollars in its first year.
But then, not only does that billion not even come close to materializing; your Michelle Rhee-branded, But Still Promoting Crap | deutsch29: