D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee was uncharacteristically silent after her first meeting with presumptive Mayor-elect Vincent Gray, who said they covered every educational topic minus one: whether Rhee would leave.
Gray answered when Rhee was asked if she had reconsidered statements that she could not work for a boss who gave her less freedom than Mayor Adrian Fenty. “I don’t think we went that far in the discussion,” Gray said. “We will have those conversations at later discussions, but we did not talk about Chancellor Rhee staying or going; we talked about the state of education.”
Rhee, who stood yards away from Gray as he addressed reporters at the John A. Wilson Building Thursday afternoon, said she had “absolutely no comment.”
Gray said the chancellor and he had “a philosophical discussion also about how she views and how I view moving forward,” but that “there were no apologies in there” by Rhee or Gray for recent unfavorable remarks.
The D.C. Council chairman said he will not make any personnel decisions until after the Nov. 2 general election and that he and Rhee will meet again in the next three weeks.
Gray said he had not given thought to who would replace Rhee should she resign, and he said Rhee did not indicate whether she would like to stay or leave.
Rhee campaigned as a private citizen for Fenty, who hired her in 2007 to reform the District’s poorly performing public schools. Fenty allowed the chancellor to fire about 240 teachers rated highly ineffective on their evaluations, leading the angry teacher’s union to endorse Gray.
Gray said earlier this week that he would consider rehiring some of the teachers whom Rhee let go for budgetary reasons. Throughout Rhee’s tenure, Gray criticized her autocratic leadership role.
The day after Gray defeated Fenty, Rhee called the primary results “devastating” for D.C. schoolchildren. She backpedaled, saying Gray’s victory would be devastating only if he stunted school reforms.
Political consultant Chuck Thies said Rhee “didn’t need to be told she wouldn’t be making any statements.”
“Any time in the past two or three weeks that Rhee has opened her mouth, she’s put her foot in it,” Thies said. “Another off-the-cuff remark like ‘devastating’ could be costly for her.”
But Chad Aldeman, policy analyst at independent think-tank Education Sector, thought the meeting’s indecision was a bad sign in itself. “It says neither one of them is willing to affirm deeper commitment to making sure the relationship works.”
