When Mayor Adrian Fenty lost his re-election bid last month, Michelle Rhee, who had come to symbolize his administration to many voters, did not mince words in assessing the outcome.
“I do feel somewhat bad and guilty,” she said, noting that many voted against Fenty after becoming convinced that he was “closing down schools or he was firing teachers.”
Rhee was an early, high-stakes appointment by Fenty, and the mayor invested extensive political capital in her crusade to incentivize teacher performance. Rhee’s aggressive pursuit of that goal became a dominant election issue, even for voters largely pleased with the city’s progress during the last four years.
She campaigned for Fenty as a private citizen and freely accepted much of the blame when he lost his job.
As D.C. Council Chairman and presumed Mayor-elect Vincent Gray sought unity, Rhee called Fenty’s loss “devastating” for area schoolchildren.
And she didn’t shy from the limelight as the election approached.
Just weeks before the primary, Rhee announced the firing of more than 240 teachers, largely for poor evaluations tied to test scores. The Washington Teachers’ Union, the bedrock of the D.C. political establishment, blasted the decision and flocked to Gray.
She also pushed through a teachers contract that increased educators’ salaries by 21 percent but scrapped safeguards that created widespread retention in the work force.
Gray was critical of Rhee’s autocratic style but didn’t say she would not return. He labeled school reform larger than one individual and added that he would consider rehiring some of the teachers given pink slips by Rhee.
Despite the sudden exit, Rhee’s more than three-year tenure was the longest stint for a D.C. schools chancellor in two decades.
