Days after her blistering encounter at Hardy Middle School in Ward 2’s Georgetown, where she announced the removal of Principal Patrick Pope, D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee isn’t buckling. She compared the situation to other controversial episodes during her tenure.
“It’s like the school closings. They are going to have to live through it to realize this is not as catastrophic as they think,” she said.
Rhee has said Pope will help create a citywide performing arts middle school. His supporters don’t believe the chancellor. They have claimed he’s being removed because some whites, interested in enrolling their children in Hardy, want a more traditional academic school and new leadership.
No doubt the chancellor’s position has been strengthened by results released this week of the 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment. According to the federal Education Department, DCPS in 2009 was the only urban system in the study to grow by five scale-points in both grades.
“We grew significantly whereas other districts remained pretty flat,” Rhee said. “That, for us, speaks pretty loudly.”
Still, the city is below national averages of 239 for fourth-graders and 282 for eight-graders. On the 500-point scale, DCPS students scored 220 and 251, respectively.
Still, Hardy parents are determined to keep Pope and their integrated arts curriculum.
“I fully expect when school opens next fall that Patrick Pope will be the principal,” Hardy parent Keenan Keller told me, declining to offer details.
Rhee is unfazed. Parents and officials fought unsuccessfully against her effort to close schools. The Washington Teachers’ Union tried to stop termination of more than 200 teachers. A D.C. Superior Court judge ruled against the union.
But race and class differentiate the Hardy scrimmage. The principal is white; most of the students are black and live outside Georgetown. Many of the critics are white and reside in tony parts of Ward 2.
Helen Hagerty, one of a handful of whites whose children have attended the school and who lives within Hardy’s boundary, said Pope’s critics have “shot themselves in the foot.” She said the incoming, “unseasoned” principal, Dana Nerenberg, may have to contend with massive staff departures at Hardy while learning the details of that school’s program and starting a special education program at Hyde-Addison, an elementary school she also will lead.
“It’s really quite stunning what [Rhee] is doing,” Hagerty added.
Rhee won’t back down. She and Nerenberg have attempted to allay fears. It’s possible, they said, to have both a traditional academic program desired by Pope’s critics and the integrated arts curriculum.
“It’s my intent to possibly extend the [arts] program,” Nerenberg told me, adding that she’s “dedicated to ensuring a quality education for all children,” regardless of where they live.
Hardy parents are unmoved. But achievements announced this week may, once again, give the chancellor the upper hand.
If DCPS’ progress stalls, however, Rhee’s let-them-eat-cake style won’t continue to play well; she could find herself looking for new employment.
Jonetta Rose Barras, host of WPFW’s “D.C. Politics With Jonetta,” can be reached at [email protected].
