Michelle Rhee said Wednesday she did not know if she would stay on as D.C. schools chancellor as residents and education analysts debated her future after Mayor Adrian Fenty lost his bid for re-election to Council Chairman Vincent Gray.
Rhee, who was hired by Fenty, has said she could not work for a mayor who granted her less freedom and campaigned for Fenty as a private citizen; meanwhile, Gray has criticized Rhee’s reforms, such as school closures and mass layoffs of underperforming teachers.
In an MSNBC interview Wednesday, Rhee acknowledged that her polarizing reforms cost Fenty the election. “I do feel somewhat bad and guilty,” she said, noting that many have said they would vote against Fenty “because he was closing down schools or he was firing teachers.”
Rhee did not say if she would stay on or if Gray would ask her to. “Obviously [Tuesday] was a significant change in direction, and it’s going to require me sitting down with Mayor Fenty, with the chairman, and lots of other people to determine what’s right for the school district and for our kids,” she said.
Gray told reporters that he had called Rhee Wednesday morning and left a message. “I’m sure we’ll speak soon,” he said.
Analysts said they would be surprised if Rhee stayed. “Fenty stood behind her at all times, and I don’t see that same working relationship with the next mayor,” said Chad Aldeman, policy analyst at the Education Sector, independent education policy think tank.
Russ Whitehurst, director of the Brookings Institution’s Brown Center of Education Policy, said Rhee had the upper hand: “Gray has more to lose. Rhee has many options available to her, some that may seem more attractive than working in the District.”
One such option: Moving closer to her fiance, Sacramento’s Mayor Kevin Johnson, Whitehurst said.
Neal McCluskey, educational analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, said, “My first guess is she’ll move to California,” but speculated that Rhee would work for the Department of Education. “She was admired by the Obama administration and could very well be offered a job.”
Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton said he was not aware of any such conversations.
