DCist: Michelle Rhee Makes Time

miss bee

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:28:36 -0500

didn't you people read Roald Dahl as a child? it's those pointy black shoes that are a dead giveaway to her witchness.

the new demographers

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:01:35 -0500

McCain's education plan "emphasizes school choice, alternative teacher certification, teacher performance pay, bonuses for teachers who work in high-need schools, and greater school-level decision making authority." That certainly sounds like Rhee. I admit I haven't bothered to read Obama's education plan, but I have (finally!) been reading The Audacity of Hope, and right there on page 162 he says "In exchange for more money, teachers need to become more accountable for their performance--and school districts need to have greater ability to get rid of ineffective teachers." This comes right after his advocating for alternative teacher certification and right before chastising teachers' unions for intractability. What exactly was Rhee terrified of again?

gmail

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:41:21 -0500

I'd invite Kristin to describe a front cover that could be deemed 100% free of sexism.

DE

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:31:48 -0500

schoolma'am = schoolmarm

Rukasu

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:58:10 -0500

Don't you mean schoolmarm?

alexalexalex

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:46:25 -0500

When Time asked her to pose for that cheesy broom shot, why did she agree?

monkeyrotica

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:00:37 -0500

Cut her some slack. DCPS have been in steady decline since Brown v. Board of Education, and accelerated decline under two Barry and one Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly Whatthef**keverhernameis administrations. It''ll probably take another fifty years before the temple is cleansed of the moneychangers. And by then, all the Chinese and Indian immigrants will have gentrified ALL the white people out of Shaw and "the plan" will have reached fruition.

sophiagrrl

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:14:03 -0500

Did anyone else get the impression that Rhee barely gave Time any time at all. There are a few brief quotes, a lot of information we've already read on other sources and a lot of background on the DC schools. I don't get a clear impression that she is seeking celebrity status or buttering up even the media (as some critics seem to think). And as to, "Has she actually fixed anything yet?" - It's true she has made more changes in less time than almost any school chief in history and most of those changes make completely sound sense (closing redundant schools and cleaning out an historically abyssmal teacher-pool). But demolition is faster and easier than building. I can rip out the ugly in my basement in an evening but it'll take 2-4X that time, plus more effort!, to build something better. To all the folks who complain, get off your arses and get to work. She can't teach every kid, inspire every parent, change every lightbulb. Where are the parent groups organizing to SUPPORT schools and change? The harder she pulls to improve, the heavier the weight of folks who fear the changes she brings. We gotta turn that around.

goodspirits

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:20:55 -0500

I think the Time article reveals how Rhee's top down, mean spirited and dictatorial approach has serious weaknesses. Why does she feel like she needs to treat people- parents, teachers, elected officials, funders, community members, etc- with such disdain? I really don't understand how people can applaud this approach. We should demand that Rhee treat all people like decent human beings. Her contemptuous manner towards just about everyone is unproductive and should not be tolerated.

TSOL

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:36:12 -0500

"And yet her high profile does not afford her much respect." Here's how the math works: Woman + ethnic minority + noble profession + government job = halo of media respect (usually). ...unless you add the secret negative ingredient: + votes Republican In which case, lack of respect and possible sexist, racist editorial comment/cartoons are sure to follow. The flip side to this formula is that voting correctly will subtract even the worst sins from a white male Democrat's equation! Like: + former KKK member + left 28-year old woman to drown ...etc.

turkeyrotica

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:30:00 -0500

Look up the definition of butterface, and I think you'll find that Time cover image next to it.

kelly5612

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:12:21 -0500

"Frowning like a specter," mocking people in a "drippy, grating voice" to a national journalist, failing to smile or nod, reading her BlackBerry when people talk to her, walking out of meetings held for her benefit without a word of explanation... That's an unusual way to mount a charm campaign...wait, "charm offensive." Interesting choice of words.

sweth

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:03:55 -0500

Fisher was only partially right about Rhee on vouchers: he was basing his conclusion on a quote from her saying that she wouldn't oppose any plan that increased choice for parents, and so by extension Fisher concluded she was pro-vouchers. Rhee has since clarified that while she doesn't actively oppose vouchers, she "disagrees ... that vouchers are the remedy for repairing the city’s school system". (quote from the City Paper article.) (Whether McCain or Obama was right about her stance is all an issue of semantics: if you take not opposing X to be the same as supporting X, then McCain was right, but if you take a preference for A over B to not supporting B, then Obama was right.)

cyrinaldi

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:56:37 -0500

broom + choice of wardrobe (facial expression) = :( i mean just weeks after halloween? it DOES make her seem like a witch. and if she's fixing something, couldn't she write like an equation on the board or like make sure the kids show up for class? that room seems so sterile and she looks about ready to do some serious damage with that broom. but i wouldn't trade places with her - time cover or not. they've had decorated u.s. army generals try to shape up the schools and they've quit, calling efforts futile. getting congress to move is too hard. by design, the system is doomed. the deck is stacked against her, but for the sake of d.c.'s schools, its kids and the future, everyone should really be rooting for her.

downtown rez

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:34:38 -0500

The broom seems an appropriate "cleaning house" analogy. I support what Rhee's doing. Someone needed to step up- too much opportunity and too many lives have already been wasted. But the challenge is difficult enough without external forces getting involved, and this sort of additional national exposure will certainly broaden and intensify the conflict with the national union. I guess I'm trying to say that, even though the article reads as favorable to Rhee, I'm not sure the article will be be favorable to Rhee or, by extension, to DC kids. Then again, this was probably inevitable when the local wouldn't even bring the contract to the members for a vote.

ortsed

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:54:29 -0500

Why is she this famous? Has she actually fixed anything yet? Seems like a lot of posturing for someone without much to stand on. This article in the City Paper seems to be a good overview of her hype outside the DC area.

no_more_caffeine

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:25:56 -0500

I'd hit it. After a case of Natty Boh.

TheCounter

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:12:54 -0500

I have two points to make. I'm sure a lot of other people are thinking the first one, while the second one might be limited to my odd way of thinking. 1) The Washington Post couldn't even write its own article about this? They had to use an article from the Associated Press? Lame. 2) Holding that broom and wearing such a dark outfit, my crappy monitor makes it look like Rhee is wearing a witch's costume. Or maybe she is wearing a witch's outfit, not costume, because she is a witch?

HCE

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:58:25 -0500

The inclusion of the broom on the cover photo is indeed puzzling, when it's quite possible that she does not know how to operate one.