When I read the item in the Washington Post about the GAO report on DC schools, it made me realize that we haven’t heard much about Michelle Rhee. Less than a year ago she was Reformer of the Week on the cover of Time in that infamous picture of her, witch-like, clutching a broom.
The GAO report said that the DC schools had taken some “bold steps,” which I guess is true. But it then listed the failures: Lack of transparency, unequal per-student funding from school to school, failure to follow up on promised teacher training and staff development, botching up the plan to make student data available on-line for teacher use and a failure to have a plan for communicating with parents and community stakeholders.
Mayor Fenty and other Rhee defenders responded to the report by saying that plans weren’t as important as results. I have no idea what that means either.
But back to the issue of Michelle Rhee as the poster woman for the Reformers. I went over to the Education Equality Project web site and except for her name on a long list of signatories, she is no where to be found. How far the mighty have fallen. Not long ago she was every where. Now? Where’s Rhee?
Fred Klonsky 
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