For more than two years, headlines have focused on D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s work as a wrecking ball and not on the reforms she has built upon the cleared ground.
At the end of her first year on the job, she closed more than 20 schools, replaced nearly 40 principals, and axed more than 100 central office workers.
This fall, she gave principals the go-ahead to fire more than 200 teachers based on performance, not tenure, and nearly 200 more school staff members – clerical workers, custodians, classroom aides.
Rhee has yet to come to an agreement with the teachers union over a contract more than two years delayed. The school board and the city council have proven powerless to stop her actions. And the only person who could rein her in – Mayor Adrian Fenty – has offered only unqualified support.
But amid the wreckage, she has begun to rebuild.
In July, she announced that 13 neighborhood schools across the city won a share of private grant funds to become “catalyst” schools with a special focus on arts, world cultures, or science and technology.
Another six schools, including long-failing Anacostia and Dunbar senior highs, were singled out for a complete revamp of teachers and staff and put under new leadership.
August saw the introduction of a comprehensive framework describing exactly what good teaching looks like. The lack of such a tool led in the past to countless disagreements over who taught well and who didn’t.
With the framework, Rhee hopes to be able to reward teachers who perform well, and get rid of those who don’t.
And for those who are hoping to improve, Rhee recently hired dozens of “master teachers” to observe and work with classroom teachers to make them better.
“Education is an issue of capital,” said Mary Siddall, a Rhee backer, public school parent, and board member at D.C. School Reform Now. “Nothing will move forward until you get good people in, and give those people power.”
