The future of dramatic school reform begun by D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee could be in jeopardy, not from the teachers union or the city council members with whom she has tangled, but because of past personal relations.
Already embroiled in fierce local battles over a recent round of teacher firings, Rhee is now facing allegations that she helped cover up charges of sexual misconduct against her now-fiancé Kevin Johnson, mayor of Sacramento, Calif.
A congressional Joint Staff Report by two ranking Republicans, which details Rhee’s involvement in the matter, was first reported by The Washington Examiner Friday morning. And just as anger and protest over the school layoffs was beginning to subside, some of her detractors saw a new opportunity to pounce.
“It’ll be the elephant in the room,” said Councilman Harry Thomas, D-Ward 5, one of Rhee’s most vitriolic opponents in recent weeks. “It’ll put questions in people’s minds about her credibility and her ethics in general.”
Rhee, speaking through a spokeswoman, said that the report “rehashes old allegations that have long since been dismissed and deemed meritless by local and federal law enforcement officials.”
But Candi Peterson, who sits on the board of trustees for the Washington Teachers Union and who helped organize multiple protests against Rhee over recent teacher firings, said that Rhee’s “ship is sinking.”
“If this had come up by itself, people might have said “what the hell,” Peterson said. “But because it’s coming on the tail of everything else – the layoffs, the mayor’s contract issues, it’s starting to paint another picture.”
The question now is what picture will become the dominant image in the mind of D.C. voters — that of an autocrat tainted by scandal, or that of an uncompromising reformer with results to stand by.
That picture is clouded by the new revelations.
The congressional report examined the White House’s June firing of Gerald Walpin, U.S. inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service. In August 2008, Walpin called for “criminal and civil prosecution” of Johnson and his partner at their Sacramento community organization, St. HOPE Academy. Johnson, an ally of President Obama, was suspected of misusing Americorps dollars – and volunteers. Walpin was fired in the spring of 2009, prompting the congressional inquiry into whether his dismissal was politically motivated.
No charges have been filed related to allegations against Johnson, his colleagues, or Rhee.
St. HOPE employee Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez told IG office investigators that Rhee, who also worked with St. HOPE at the time, was informed that Johnson had made sexual advances toward an employee. Rhee said she was “making this her number one priority, and she would take care of the situation,” Wong-Hernandez said.
Soon afterward, Wong-Hernandez said that Johnson’s lawyer had contacted the victim and that all was smoothed out. Wong-Hernandez retired over the school’s handling of the incident, according to the report.
The congressional report quotes the young woman as saying the attorney “basically asked me to keep quiet,” and that Johnson offered her $1,000 a month for the duration of her time with St. Hope. Once investigators learned about that, the report says, they had “reasonable suspicions about potential hush money payments and witness tampering at a federally funded entity.”
In Rhee’s two and a half years at the helm, standardized test scores have gone up all over the city, including on the NAEP, or Nation’s Report Card, where D.C. public school students made more progress in math last year than students in any other state.
Her “detractors may use [the allegations] as another part of their case for why she’s unfair, but I don’t see it as having relevance on her philosophy or approach or management of the school system,” said Jeff Smith, executive director of community advocacy group D.C. Voice.
“Reform is not always analogous with positivity,” Smith said, adding that whatever happens with Rhee, city residents are the ones who own the changes, good or bad.
