Michelle Rhee Starts Educational Advocacy Firms Against The Adversaries Of School Reform

After recently being tossed out of office as her boss - Mayor Fenty lost former Washington DC schools chief Michelle Rhee has a new mission.

She started a new organization called "studentsfirst.org".  The goal of the organization is to raise campaign funds for politicians that are in support of school reform.   In her view this translates into those politicians that are on record in seeing the power of the teachers unions as a force against change.

I think that Ms Rhee is on to something.

If you read the analysis of the debate that took place in Washington DC around education and the "authoritarian mayor" we see that some people were rubbed the wrong way in being told that the way that things had been done in the past has lead to the train wreck that was called "The DC Public Schools".  As is the case in so many instances people feel more comfortable in blaming others for the problems that they suffer than the notion that their theories might be complicit in with the problems.

Most importantly if you listen to the arguments heard in Washington DC as well as Newark (see Brick City documentary) you'll come to understand that some people see municipal government as a "jobs program".  The legacy of graft and the spoils system rendered a practice of political patronage that the system of economic productivity could not sustain.

My personal opinion is that some people have contented themselves to the fact that there are always going to be poor people who will have low educational attainment.   IF the system that is built up around them under the auspices of education can be more effective at producing jobs for residents than it is known for producing academic excellence - at least they have obtained some measure of benefit.

To a large extent "management by results" is a threat to this system of patronage.   It has the audacity to ask people to stand accountable for the results.   The one problem that I have with Ms Rhee's plans is that I don't hear enough focus upon the PARENTS and other adults within the eco-system of the community.  If the teachers unions were shut down tomorrow and the other adults in the community were not asked to do anything different no changes would be seen in the academic results.

Without balance Ms Rhee risks erecting yet another franchise within the "American Political Domain" while the "Community Cultural Consciousness & Competency Development Domain" suffers from benign neglect.

Wall Street Journal

Former Washington, D.C., schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee launched a national advocacy group Monday to support political candidates and school districts that embrace substantial changes in public education.

Through the group, StudentsFirst, Ms. Rhee hopes to raise $1 billion to dole out to political candidates who support her policies and to local school districts that adopt the group's prescriptions, such as linking teacher tenure to student test scores.

"We are trying to shift the balance of power in the education landscape away from the powerful groups who want to keep the status quo," Ms. Rhee said in an interview, referring to organizations such as teachers unions. "We are going to be the group that is advocating on behalf of kids."