This week marks the beginning of a series of meetings between teachers and officials from The Washington Teachers’ Union meant to clarify the much-discussed performance pay plan at the center of the ongoing teachers’ contract negotiations. D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has said that initial coverage of the proposal included some incorrect details, and promised to speak with union members during a Q&A at each meeting, telling the Post she plans to offer, “some solace…

A Post editorial today notes that the most effective action Mayor Adrian Fenty has taken since assuming control of the D.C. public schools a little less than a year ago was to bring schools chancellor Michelle Rhee on board, remarking, “Michelle A. Rhee has done more in months to reshape the system than her predecessors did in years.” However, the editorial also cautions that it will be some time before any true achievement growth takes…

With a little over a month remaining in the school year, things aren’t slowing down for Michelle Rhee. Never mind that the D.C. Schools Chancellor is being named in what looks to be a time-consuming vanity lawsuit by Washington Teachers’ Union vice-president Nathan Saunders, or that City Council Chair Vincent Gray is messing with her budget. The woman has work to do. As we mentioned this morning, Rhee has begun the process of notifying many…

D.C. Public Schools and New York City Public Schools have a lot in common – both are large, expensive, chronically low-performing systems that have recently come into seasons of serious reform under mayoral control. Both are also currently wrapped up in brewing controversies over excessed teachers, and it’s not pretty in either town. Basically, an excessed teacher is a teacher within a district but without a job, and due to the upcoming closings of 23…

The Washington Teachers Union (WTU) has been getting a lot of attention lately, much of it a result of the growing rift between WTU president George Parker and vice-president Nathan Saunders. First, there was the ruckus when Saunders, who has long-accused Parker for being “too cozy” with D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, vocally encouraged teachers to reject Rhee’s new program providing transition bonuses for up to 700 teachers at schools slated for closing or re-structuring….