Michelle Rhee – Chancellor, District of Columbia Public Schools
“I am relatively young. I’m a Korean-American. I’ve never done this job before."
To some, Michelle Rhee may not seem like the logical choice to head one of the country’s worst performing school districts, but to Mayor Fenty, she was the perfect choice. Fenty says that “she was someone who really had the skills, talent, and energy to do the job.”
Michelle Rhee was born in Toledo, Ohio. Her mother ran a clothing store and her father is a doctor who encouraged her to do community service. She graduated from Cornell University in 1992 with a degree in Government and holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
After leaving Cornell, Rhee decided to become a teacher with the Teach-for-America program. In 1992 she taught at Harlem Park Elementary School in Baltimore for three years where she learned first hand about the challenges teachers face in rough schools. She admits that during her first year, she was unable to keep control of the classroom and that she “did not do right by the kids”. But over the summer she worked hard to develop her lesson plan and the next fall she combined classes with another teacher. Together they taught the same children for two years and significantly raised student achievement.
By 1997, Rhee founded The New Teacher Project (TNTP). The company has recruited, trained and placed over 23,000 teachers in difficult to staff schools across the country. When Mayor Fenty met Ms. Rhee she was still with TNTP and had no plans to leave, but after talking with the mayor about his plans for school reform, she accepted the job. (Episodes 1 - 6)
Arlene Ackerman – Superintendent, Philadelphia Public Schools
“I think we make often an assumption in a very naive way that when you enter a broken school system, that the people are broken who work there.”
Arlene Ackerman knows how difficult Michelle Rhee’s job is. From 1998-2000, the former classroom teacher and principal was superintendent of the DC Public Schools: what she calls “the toughest job I’ve ever had.” Like Rhee, Ackerman saw inefficiency in the DCPS Central Office as a major obstacle; she dealt with the issue by forcing each central office worker to reapply for their job.
Ackerman’s most oft-cited accomplishment in Washington is the weighted student formula, which allocates funding on a per-student basis. Ackerman also brought the weighted student formula to San Francisco, where she led the schools from 2000-2006. Ackerman’s next challenge? Heading the public schools in Philadelphia. She’ll be replacing Paul Vallas, the current superintendent of the Recovery School District in New Orleans. (Episode 2)
Willie H. Bennett – Principal, Hart Middle School
“Until we deal with what's happening in the community, it's probably going to spill over into the schools.”
Principal Willie Bennett has worked at Hart Middle School in Southeast Washington for 10 years, but he has no idea what the school will look like come Fall. That's because Hart is one of the 27 schools that Michelle Rhee must radically change in a process No Child Left Behind calls "restructuring." Bennett, himself a native Washingtonian and a product of DC's public schools, worries that Rhee doesn't understand the challenges facing Hart--including a bitter neighborhood turf war--well enough to make the right decision.
Bennett began working with DC's youth while an undergraduate at Howard University. He has volunteered extensively with the Boys and Girls Club and coaches varsity football at his alma mater, Dunbar High School. In May, Bennett learned that he will not return to Hart as principal next year (Episode 5)
Michael Casserly – Executive Director, Council of the Great City Schools
“I always worry about people being set up as saviors and then later on being crucified when they fall from grace.”
When Michael Casserly learned that Michelle Rhee had accepted the position of Chancellor of the DC Schools, he was surprised – but not for the reason you might think. Casserly served on the board of Rhee’s non-profit, The New Teacher Project, and knew that she knew how challenging the job would be. “She’s got to raise the academic performance of the kids in the school system; she’s got to clean up the finance system and close the internal control problems. She’s got to help fix the buildings; she’s got to overhaul the personnel and Human Resource system of the school district. She’s got to help recapture and regain the public’s confidence in the public schools,” Casserly told us with a gleam in his eye. “So, other than that, it ought to be a cakewalk.”
Casserly is well versed in the challenges of running large urban school systems. For over 30 years, he’s worked at the Council of the Great City Schools – a coalition of the nation’s 66 largest urban public school systems which aims to promote urban education through legislation, research, and the media. (Episode 1)
Lynne Gober – Principal, Anacostia Senior High School
“Restore the respect.”
Principal Gober’s feels that everything from the actual building to the resources available, to the heart of the school has been neglected and that in order for students to have enough pride in themselves to be able to achieve, that they must first learn respect. Ms. Gober was born and raised in Washington DC, attended Washington, DC public schools and is the proud graduate of McKinley High School. She served in the military where she honed her skills as a leader and has taught in DC for 14 years. She became the Assistant Principal at Anacostia in March of 2007 then assumed the role of Principal in Sept 2008. (Episode 2)
Adrian Fenty - Mayor
“This is the capitol of the United States of America. We shouldn’t have the worst schools system, we should have the best.”
Michelle Rhee says that in one of her first meetings with Mayor Fenty, she asked him what he would risk to turn Washington, DC’s public schools around. After hearing his answer – “Everything” – she decided to take the job. It’s safe to say that Fenty, who took office in January 2007, is staking his political reputation on his bid to reform the DC public school system. Following in the footsteps of other big city mayors in New York, Boston, and Chicago, Fenty fought for and earned total control of the public schools. Since June, responsibility for one of the worst urban school districts in the country has rested solely on his shoulders.
35 at the time of his election, Fenty is the second youngest mayor of an major American city. Prior to taking office, Fenty represented Ward 4 on DC’s City Council, making fighting crime a key part of his agenda. He’s a Washington, DC native who himself attended DC Public Schools. (Episodes 1 - 4)
Joel Klein – Chancellor, NYC Public Schools
“I think Michelle gets what needs to be done. If you don’t understand that, I don’t think you can get the work done.”
Joel Klein not only recommended Michelle Rhee for her job, but he and the New York City School System continue to served as a model of reform for both Chancellor Rhee and Mayor Fenty. Back in December, 2006, when Fenty was considering taking control of the school district, he and members of the DC City Council took a field trip to New York to observe a school system that had been under mayoral control for four years. One month later, Fenty officially became mayor and the following day he fired the superintendent of schools, took control of the school system, and announced Michelle Rhee as his choice for chancellor.
New York could be viewed as a testing ground for big city school reform and is it very likely that successful reform strategies in NY are likely to be seen in DC. (Episode 1)
Mary Levy – Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
“You can have a person with a great deal of power and fully benevolent intentions who makes some serious mistakes that set the system back.”
Attorney Mary Levy has reason to be skeptical of Michelle Rhee. Since her children enrolled in DC Public Schools in 1975, Levy has seen many superintendents come and go, and test scores in the District remain among the lowest in the nation. Levy describes herself as someone who “studies the DC public schools for a living”: since 1980 she has worked with Parents United for the DC Public Schools as a public school advocate, researcher and analyst, helping the organization fight for educational equality. She was formerly a partner at Rauh, Lichtman, Levy, & Turner, where she practiced civil litigation in school finance, labor law, civil rights, and constitutional law. In 1990, she joined the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. (Episode 6)
William Lockridge – DC State Board of Education
“It takes more than one year for you to come into a school district and look at the problems and assess the problems and begin to make a change.”
William Lockridge is wary of Michelle Rhee's ambitious reform plans. Lockridge has worked to improve DC public schools for over 20 years, including a 10 year stint on DC's elected school board, and to his mind, it simply takes more time to effect massive change than Michelle Rhee imagines. But he says that if Rhee opens schools on time in the fall -- taking into account the 27 schools she has to radically change and the 23 more she plans to close -- then he'll be a believer.
Lockridge has served as a teacher, wrestling coach, PTA president, President of the Ward 8 Democrats, and, until the mayoral takeover in 2007, representative to DC's elected school board. He now serves on DC's State Board of Education. (Episode 5)
George Parker – President, Washington Teachers’ Union
“There are many who feel that they can transform education by simply focusing on children and supporting children. You have to support those who interact daily with children - our teachers - if you’re going to get the results.”
George Parker taught junior high for 18 years before becoming president of the Washington Teachers’ Union in 2005. He inherits a system with markedly different challenges than his predecessors had. In 2003, an audit revealed that then president Barbara Bullock had, along with two other officers, looted more than $5 million from the union. In addition to regaining the trust of his constituency, he’s got to negotiate a new contract with Chancellor Michelle Rhee, who reports to the mayor, not an elected school board as in years past. Rhee has made it clear that she wants to make it easier to fire ineffective teachers.
Parker says that he welcomes, even invites, widespread reform in DCPS, but challenges the notion that the Teachers’ Union has inhibited success. “I think the biggest downside for students in D.C. public schools is the number of superintendents we’ve had just in the last ten years,” Parker told us in December 2007. “I think for the union has probably been one of the only consistencies within the lives of our children and our teachers over the last ten years.” (Episodes 1 - 4)
Susan Schaeffler – Executive Director, KIPP DC
“I don't want to be like the fifth best charter school. I want to be the best charter school. I want to be the absolute model of excellence.”
Like Michelle Rhee, Susan Schaeffler began her career in public education as one of the first Teach for America corps members, spending three years teaching in Baltimore City Schools. But unlike DC's schools chancellor, Schaeffler has spent almost her entire career working directly in the classroom or in schools administration, and now oversees four Washington, DC public charter schools. Schaeffler says she'll probably remain in charter schools for her entire career -- because traditional, district run schools often don't give principals or teachers "the power to lead." In DC, 27% of school-aged children now attend public charter schools.
Schaeffler founded the first KIPP DC school in 2001. KIPP: Key Academy has earned praise from President George Bush, the Washington Post, and former Education Secretary Rod Paige. In 2005, Schaeffler became CEO of KIPP DC, and the organization is growing fast -- next year, Schaeffler will oversee seven schools. (Episode 5)
Darrin Slade – Principal, Ronald H. Brown Middle School
“You could send me to any school and I think we'll be able to improve and turn around the school as far as discipline and management. But that instructional piece has always been the biggest challenge.”
As principal of Ronald H. Brown Middle School, Darrin Slade sees his duty as twofold: (1) keep the school safe so that teachers can do their jobs, and (2), make sure that teachers are providing adequate instruction. He's promised Michelle Rhee to increase standardized test scores at Ron Brown -- where just 25% of students are proficient in reading -- by 10% by year's end. Slade, himself a former classroom teacher who at 27 became the youngest administrator in Baltimore City Schools, has been a principal in Washington since 2002. He says he welcomes Rhee's style and demands -- and hopes to return to Ron Brown for a fourth year. (Episode 8)
Harry "Tommy" Thomas, Jr. – DC City Councilmember
“You have to get people to buy into the concept that you’re trying to present to them. You can’t have people feelin’ that they were unfairly treated.”
Councilmember Harry Thomas, jr represents Washington, DC’s Ward 5, which will lose 7 schools (more than any other Ward in DC) under Michelle Rhee’s plan to reorganize the district. Upon learning the news, Thomas immediately scheduled a community meeting which drew hundreds ; it’s a grassroots-style of leadership that’s been a hallmark of his short tenure in office.
Before his election to the Council in November 2006 – to the seat previously held by his father – Thomas worked as the Vice President for Public Affairs under the Public Benefits Corporation, and held several positions with the Democratic Party. He’s a graduate of DC Public Schools, and the son of a DC Public School Principal. As a sign of faith in Michelle Rhee, Thomas enrolled his own children in DC Public Schools this fall – but as Rhee’s plans to close schools and reorganize the District’s Central Office unfolded, Thomas became one of her most outspoken opponents. (Episode 3)
Iris Toyer – Parent, Attorney, Activist
“She has been given the message that she answers to the Mayor. And so she doesn't have to necessarily worry about what parents say.”
Iris Toyer has a child and two grandchildren currently enrolled in DC Public Schools, and she intends to make sure that she, and other parents, have a voice in the future of the district's schools. Toyer, a former member of the DC Board of Education and founding member of Parents United for the DC Public Schools, argues that communities are an essential part of schools -- and that Rhee is compromising her efforts by neglecting to adequately involve the community. She now serves on the steering committee of DC VOICE, an education activism organization. (Episode 6)
Michael Usdan – Senior Fellow, The Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL)
“Educators . . . are moving in a way that they think is right for the kids.”
Michael Usdan has been working in education for almost 40 years and has seen many school improvement systems come and go. He gave us his perspective of what Mayor Control means for a city like DC.
Mr. Usdan was a member of the school board from 1969 to 1974. He was Connecticut’s Commissioner of Higher Education from 1978 through 1981 and from 1981 through 2001, served as President of the IEL, an organization based in Washington, DC that builds the capacity of individuals and organizations in education to work together. In the spring he will be releasing a book entitled “The Transformation of Great American School Districts: How Big Cities Are Reshaping Public Education” The book will have a chapter about the DC public Schools System. (Episode 3)
