It was a glorious affair at the Kennedy Center Monday night when 662 of the best public school teachers in Washington, DC were recognized for their achievements. College professor and vice-presidential wife Jill Biden, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman and Meet the Press moderator David Gregory were among the luminaries paying tribute to teachers rated "highly effective" under the contentious evaluation system established by now former schools chancellor Michelle Rhee.
Entitled "Standing Ovation for D.C. Teachers," the long-scheduled event also became a farewell for the 40-year-old Rhee, the crusading educator featured prominently in the Waiting for 'Superman' documentary of reformers and failing urban schools. After three plus years leading the DC schools -- closing underpopulated schools, dismissing over 100 teachers, slimming a bloated bureaucracy -- Rhee resigned after her patron, outgoing DC mayor Adrian Fenty, lost his bid for re-election in the September Democratic party
