A few weeks ago there was all this useless speculation that President-elect Barack Obama might pick D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee as his education secretary.
Our local school czar was the flavor of the month for the national media. Cover of Time magazine. Articles in the Atlantic and the New York Times. Clips on CBS. Wishful thinking on the part of her few detractors had her moving up and out.
Never happened, of course. She squelched the rumors. Who would elevate someone to education secretary who had run a small, urban school system for less than a year?
Instead, Obama settled on Michelle Rhee’s mirror image: Chicago school chief executive Arne Duncan. It was almost as if he had nominated Rhee.
Facing stiff opposition from jilted neighborhoods, Duncan closed failing schools; same for Rhee.
Against public school ideologues, Duncan favored public charter schools, called for greater funding and saw their proliferation; same for Rhee.
Duncan advocates paying kids for attending class and getting good grades; sound familiar?
He supports the federal No Child Left Behind law that has allowed him to reorganize failing schools; ditto for Rhee.
And challenging the fundamental dogma of teachers unions, Duncan pushed through a merit pay plan for teachers; same for Rhee, in principle; Duncan has been successful in working with the unions, while Rhee is in a stalemate.
Duncan is known for preaching “tough accountability,” and he is adamant that good teachers can raise the achievement of any child, regardless of the student’s upbringing or environment.
These lines are taken right out of Rhee’s playbook. Or did she borrow from him?
By choosing Duncan, Obama gives a boost to Rhee, undercuts the Washington Teachers’ Union and lends a hand to Mayor Adrian Fenty, who has banked his political future on graduating college-bound students rather than delinquents from D.C. schools. It could tip the scales toward Rhee’s reform efforts at a crucial moment.
I have been able to ascertain only that Rhee knows Duncan through national education circles; they are not close – yet. But I would bet the ranch that Duncan will take Rhee’s calls, visit local schools, and back her up in her crusade to attract great teachers into D.C.’s public schools.
Rhee might also learn a few things from Duncan. He’s been chief executive of the Chicago school system for seven years. He started when Mayor Richard Daley, frustrated with the Windy City’s lousy schools, shut down the school board and took control. Sound familiar?
What Rhee has been attempting to do for less than a year, Duncan has achieved after seven. Part of Duncan’s success has been his ability to bring the teachers unions into his arms without bringing them to their knees.
Perhaps, when Duncan and Rhee conspire, he can give her a few pointers.
