President Obama apparently has no regrets about not being more vocal in backing Mayor Adrian Fenty’s re-election campaign now that it means the District is losing schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.
The school reform movement Rhee has come to represent is a key aspect of Obama’s education policy. Reporters questioned White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday on whether Obama felt he should have done more to support Fenty — and thereby Rhee — in the mayor’s re-election bid. Obama has yet to personally congratulate D.C. Council Chairman Vince Gray on his victory in the Democratic primary.
“I don’t think the president has any regrets about not getting involved in a mayoral race,” Gibbs said during the White House morning gaggle.
He later added: “So look, obviously, the important work of people like Michelle Rhee and Arne Duncan and others has to — has to — continue regardless of the outcome of elections because we understand the fundamental place that education plays in creating the jobs of tomorrow and creating a foundation for new industries and new technologies, and keeping us at the forefront of economic competitiveness.”
