Despite Rhee’s missteps, her egalitarian vision for schools inspires
From its birth in 1790, the District has inspired grand visions of a more perfect union among diverse peoples. Even the landscape has been infused with our common striving; a design by French architect Pierre L’Enfant intended “principally to connect each part of the city,” as he put it, “by making the real distance less from place to place.”
On the eve of Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the District, I’d like to revisit one of the more compelling visions of what a city of knitted souls might look like. The question for voters: How do we get there?
From a commentary by D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee that appeared in the Feb. 8 issue of Spotlight on Poverty and Education:
Apparently the voters of Washington, DC don’t like Rhee and they ought to know. They just handed her champion, Mayor Fenty a well deserved electoral pasting on Tuesday night.
As Professor James Horn concluded, The Business Roundtable’s version of “reform” lost. A good thing since they don’t know anything about education.
Hopefully Ms. Rhee is sent packing soon.
Her package of reforms has little scientific backing from the educational research base.