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Sunday, November 20, 2016

Pete Tucker: The Coverups of the Rhee-Henderson Era in DC | Diane Ravitch's blog

Pete Tucker: The Coverups of the Rhee-Henderson Era in DC | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Pete Tucker: The Coverups of the Rhee-Henderson Era in DC


Pete Tucker, an independent journal is in DC,criticizes The Washington Post for its failure to cover the scandals of the Rhee-Henderson era.
Tucker writes in HuffingtonPost that the Washington Post has a long history of giving favorable treatment to Rhee (I would add,more in their editorials than their news pages).
Tucker is disturbed that the Post swept the latest scandal under the rug.
“The newspaper’s latest effort comes on the heels of Henderson being censured for soliciting donations from city contractors, including one accused of serving kids spoiled food and stealing millions. (That contractor, Chartwells, reached a settlement with the District in 2015, agreeing to pay the school system $19.4 million.)
“The donations Henderson secured were directed to the DC Public Education Fund, which she controlled. (The Post also contributed to the fund but failed to disclose that.)
AP’s Ben Nuckols broke the story in April. The Post then followed up with their story, tucked away on page B4 of the Metro section.
“This week’s story–on Henderson being censured by D.C.’s ethics board — was even harder to find. “The WP buried the story on the Obituaries Page B6!!!!” former DCPS guidance counselor Sheila Gill-Mebane wrote on Facebook.
“The Post’s story wasn’t just hard to find. While other news outlets highlighted the censure in their headlines (“Former DC Schools Chief Censured Over Ethics,” read one), the Post kept it in smaller script.
“This is just the latest example of the Post downplaying the Rhee/Henderson era’s serious shortcomings and scandals, which have included: widespread cheating on standardized tests; the widening of an already vast achievement gap; shortchanging ‘at risk’ students; and lead in schools’ water.”
Rhee was interviewed by Donald Trump for the position as Secretary of Education. Some of Trump’s allies oppose Rhee because she supports the Common Core, which Trump vowed to eliminate, but also because she would insist on testing and accountability for charters and voucher schools.


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