Skeptics question future of system’s overhaul
The woman chosen to lead D.C. public schools after high-profile reformist Michelle Rhee announced her resignation Wednesday pledged her commitment to the overhauls that have improved the city’s chronically troubled schools over the past three years.
But skeptics say Deputy Chancellor Kaya Henderson cannot match the results of Rhee — whose reform efforts landed her on the cover of Time Magazine and in the documentary “Waiting for ‘Superman’ ” — and that school reform efforts will suffer.
Henderson was the first person Rhee appointed after she assumed her post in 2007. Referring to Rhee as “my friend, my mentor, my partner,” Henderson said the D.C. Public Schools management team would stay on “as we focus on continuing the progress.”
Rhee will step down by the end of October, while Henderson transitions to interim chancellor.
“We have planned it that all of the reforms can continue as planned,” Rhee said, including implementation of the teachers’ contract, the Impact evaluation system and improvements to special education.
Presumptive Mayor-elect Vincent Gray said Henderson’s appointment was his idea. “We can provide the stability and the continuity that our children need and deserve at this critical time,” said Gray, who added he looked forward to Henderson “reaching out and forging a real relationship with the community.”
Rhee’s future as chancellor diminished rapidly after Gray defeated Mayor Adrian Fenty in the Democratic mayoral primary last month. Rhee campaigned as a private citizen for Fenty and called the primary results “devastating” for D.C.’s students.
Gray has long criticized Rhee’s take-no-prisoners approach and said school reform “had to be about more than one person.”
Rhee called Henderson “an absolutely unbelievable candidate. I have the utmost confidence in her ability to lead.”
Unlike Rhee, Henderson has a strong rapport with the teachers’ union; President George Parker said Henderson was his chief liaison while negotiating the June contract that eliminated tenure and allowed Rhee to fire 241 teachers, most of whom were rated ineffective in the Impact evaluations.
“I have respect for [Henderson],” said Parker, who found Rhee to be “cold” at times. “Kaya is more collaborative in her approach [than Rhee] and takes a more humanistic approach.”
But that good-cop approach could send the wrong message about the administration’s commitment to reform, said Michael Perilli, vice president of nonprofit think tank Fordham Institute. “Someone wants to get rid of a teacher, somebody sees that the books aren’t being delivered on time, or the food service working out — is there going to be that bias toward action seen under Michelle? Will there be a sense of urgency, which is critical to turn around a system like ours?”
Cherita Whiting, chairwoman of the Ward 4 Education Council who worked with Henderson on the panel through 2008, said she found her appointment “absolutely shocking.”
“I haven’t seen her do anything in the three-and-a-half years she’s been here,” Whiting said. “I don’t think she can even attempt to fill Michelle Rhee’s shoes.”
Rhee could receive severance pay up to 24 weeks, which comes to $127,000 at her annual salary of $275,000, plus accrued time off and health care.
Rhee said she will take some time off, but return to education reform. “There is a tremendous amount of work to be done across the nation. Lots of communities want to push these reforms forward.”
