Photo by mofo

Howdy, District Of! Today, the Washington Post notes a story about District schools czar Michelle Rhee, who told a national trade magazine that some of the hundreds of teachers fired in October budget reductions had sexually and physically abused their students. Now, this might sound like an odd justification for budget reductions. One would think that any time a teacher molests a child, that teacher’s employment is immediately jeopardized. But the problems facing D.C. public schools can hardly be understated! Scrutiny at the start of the fiscal year is one start for addressing these issues.

“I got rid of teachers who had hit children, who had had sex with children, who had missed 78 days of school. Why wouldn’t we take those things into consideration?” Rhee told Fast Company. Indeed! It is altogether better for schools to not employ teachers who hit children or have sex with them. A schools czar absolutely must into consideration whether a teacher is breaking the law when considering teaching assignments. Pruning out teachers who abuse students physically and sexually could take place more than once a fiscal cycle — possibly even quarterly.

Predictably, the Washington Teachers Union has challenged Rhee’s assertion that their ranks include such perverts and villains. They would say that! A predictable maneuver for an organization that has hurled outrageous accusations at Rhee. The Post notes that Rhee was in fact responding to a union allegation that she “contrived the budget crunch to circumvent seniority rules and rid the system of older teachers.” First these teachers beat on the students, then they beat on Rhee.

Unfortunately, Rhee declined to address requests from the Washington Post for the specific numbers of teachers who struck or had sex with their students. But Fast Company has some numbers: improved math test results for fourth and eighth graders. Plus fewer child molesters and child beaters. What’s not to like?