AP Photo/Susan WalshD.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee didn’t fare very well in the latest Washington Post poll, either. Just as Mayor Adrian Fenty’s approval rating has dropped way down to 42 percent (compared to 72 percent after his first year), Rhee’s approval numbers have sunk to 43 percent (compared to 60 percent in 2008).
Once again, the difference between blacks and whites is striking. Among white residents, 66 percent say they approve of the job Rhee is doing, while only 28 percent of African Americans do. And parents with children in D.C. public schools have basically reversed themselves on Rhee. In 2008, 54 percent of DCPS parent approved of her, but now 54 percent disapprove.
The poll comes on the heels on Rhee’s most recent public relations debacle, which found her scrambling to explain why she bragged to Fast Company magazine that some of the 266 teachers she fired in October under a RIF could possibly have been fired for cause, including at least one who had been accused of having sex with a student.
Strikingly, Rhee’s tenure does appear to have fostered greater satisfaction with the city’s school system than in previous years. For example, the quality and availability of instructional materials is now viewed as a big problem by far fewer parents, going down to 48 percent (before it was 67 percent). Much like Fenty, however, Rhee doesn’t seem to be getting much credit personally for any perceived improvements.
