Kaya Henderson’s Calendar: Fundraising, Fundraising, and More Fundraising
On a given day in the course of running the 47,000-student D.C. Public Schools system, Chancellor Kaya Henderson could be handing out iPads, reading to elementary school kids, or haggling with a councilmember.
But running one of the country’s most-watched public school systems means something else, too: hitting up a group of well-heeled donors for cash and ideas. Like her controversial predecessor, Michelle Rhee, Henderson has found her way onto the circuit of private groups hoping to influence the District’s public schools.
Using the Freedom of Information Act, LL obtained Henderson’s calendar between January 2013 and August 2015 to see who’s working with the chancellor behind the scenes. It turns out that while Henderson has avoided becoming a Rhee-style lightning rod in the education wars, she shares with her predecessor many of the same backers in the world of school reform.
Unlike Rhee, Henderson doesn’t have a documentary like Waiting for Superman to make her a star amongst education wonks. Still, she has kept up Rhee’s jet-setting schedule.
Like any good local District political figure, Henderson uses the Old Ebbitt Grill like a second office, but she’s just as likely to be headed to Croatia or China. Henderson has made it to big-deal conferences like the Allen & Co. Sun Valley confab, where she talked schools with bigwigs whom one attendee described as “100 percent of the one percent.”
Henderson hasn’t shrunk from the public profile established by her predecessor. In 2013, according to her calendar, she received media training help from Vince Gray’s 2010 campaign adviser Mo Elleithee. She meets with celebrities like politico Donna Brazile and basketball star Magic Johnson.
Henderson has also been talking to Catharine Bellinger, now the head of the Democrats for Education Reform D.C. political action committee aimed at pushing reform-minded candidates in the District. DFER has been staunchly pro-charter and anti-teachers union.
Another carry-over from the previous administration: Rhee herself, who occasionally schedules phone calls with Henderson. Ex-mayor and Rhee patron Adrian Fenty made his own meeting with Henderson back in 2013, on behalf of an education technology company he was working for.
Despite trips to conferences as far away as Turkey, Henderson doesn’t have to leave the District to call up wealthy donors with big ideas about DCPS. Kaya Henderson’s Calendar: Fundraising, Fundraising, and More Fundraising - Loose Lips: