Jacques: Reformer fired for suggesting radical change
Greg Harris, the state director of StudentsFirst in Ohio, decided to weigh in on the Detroit school reform debate. And now he’s the former state director.
Harris got fired for a guest piece he wrote for The Detroit News last Friday. Apparently, he hadn’t received permission from his counterpart at the StudentsFirst Michigan office before writing the piece that struck a raw nerve with some of the key players in the Detroit school turnaround.
Firing Harris seems over the top. After all, he had spent some time in Detroit in 2011 as the interim director of Excellent Schools Detroit, so his perspective was valid.
In addition, while Harris’ ideas were provocative, they were well-reasoned. He suggested that Detroit Public Schools be converted to an all-charter district for financial and academic reasons. This is a concept that has worked in New Orleans, following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of city schools in 2005. And a growing number of cities are relying more heavily on charter schools.
Yet some thought Harris’ opinions were too radical, including top officials within StudentsFirst, the education reform organization founded by former Washington, D.C., school chief Michelle Rhee.
“Our team in Michigan has worked tirelessly for policies that will make Detroit schools better and only our team members in Michigan are qualified to discuss these important issues,” Tim Melton, StudentsFirst vice president of legislative affairs wrote in a news release, which also stated Harris was fired. Melton has Michigan ties, having served several terms in the state House prior to taking this national job.
But maybe radical is just what Detroit needs.
It’s also the approach Rhee took. She formed the organization in 2010 as a way to help states push through important legislative changes to boost teacher performance and school accountability. Rhee is also an advocate of charter schools, although she stops short of saying they are the only option.
A few years ago, Rhee wrote a book about her work with StudentsFirst, as well as her time as chancellor of Washington, D.C. public schools. She titled her book “Radical.”
Rhee has never been afraid of pushing against the education establishment and Education reformer fired for suggesting radical change:
