There I was, sitting at my computer, prepared to riff on local elections.
Challengers to incumbent D.C. Council members are beginning to line up. Jeff Smith, head of DC Voice and a former school board member, announced last week that he will take on Ward 1’s Jim Graham. Just as I was pulling together a comparison between those two, describing the tension-filled dynamics sure to surface during the campaign — race, class, old Washington versus gentrifiers, ethics and integrity in government — I got misdirected.
Blame at-large Councilman Michael Brown.
Monday, during a budget oversight hearing of D.C. Public Schools, he asked witnesses if they had seen any evidence that Chancellor Michelle Rhee “[had] changed her governing style.” That was the opening volley of an attack in which he asserted, as he has before, “We need to reform the reform. Clearly this is not working.”
Brown accused Rhee of not being inclusive, “calling teachers out of their names and going outside [the city] talking bad about our teachers. That reflects bad on our students and our city.”
In Rhee’s defense, I refer to that old adage goes: If the shoe fits, wear it.
Certainly she’s made a few mistakes, including offering artless comments. I haven’t agreed with several decisions — not the least of which is reassigning Patrick Pope, current principal at Rose L. Hardy Middle School, to a yet-to-be-built performing arts magnet program; I am a fan of both the principal and the institution he has almost single-handedly created, stabilized and grew to become a true gem among city schools.
Still, Rhee inspires. She is a government official with enormous passion and determination. It’s also refreshing that she speaks candidly in an environment where some elected officials, bureaucrats and civic leaders often and deliberately misinform the public while playing harmful political games — like those in which Brown engaged earlier this week.
Truth told, District residents and others who care about creating a high-quality system of public education should celebrate Rhee. As someone who has tracked schools since 1986, I have seen children in this city endure far too many school leaders who were timid, lacked a sense of urgency, or weren’t prepared to fight a bloated, constipated bureaucracy and its enablers whose prime concern was protecting or amassing territory.
Rhee is no miracle worker. Changing a once highly dysfunctional system that for years has produced some of the worst results in the country can’t occur overnight or even in three years. There remains much to do.
But there are indisputable signs of progress: Students’ test scores are improving and the teaching corps is becoming more professional, for example. Most people who care about children and their education might shout hallelujah — unless of course there are other considerations.
“People need to understand elections have consequences,” Brown said, telegraphing his aspirations while testing what could be a slogan for the mayoral campaign he’s contemplating.
Jonetta Rose Barras, hosts of WPFW’s “D.C. Politics with Jonetta,” can be reached at [email protected].
