The St. Louis Post-Dispatch tore apart Rhee’s shoddy report card, recognizing tat it is nothing more than an effort to foist her personal political preferences on the nation’s schools.
Unfortunately the newspaper admires some of her bad ideas–like evaluating teachers by test scores–and is unaware that her IMPACT program in DC hasn’t made a difference. And it accepts her mistaken notion that teachers are the problem, not poverty, not inequitable resource, not overcrowded classes, not bad policies like the ones she is pushing.
The good news is that her act is wearing thin, even with a paper that is inclined to agree with her.
They write: “…issuing arbitrary report cards followed by back-slapping news releases from politicians who have — or will shortly — receive campaign donations is a cynical way to go about standing up for children.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
My prediction….now that rhee is being exposed, she will try to play the victim card. When that happens, the end of the rhee chapter in education will be near. However, she wont go away quietly. She will make one last attempt as the comeback kid by giving all she has…kind of like the battle of the bulge in wwii
I agree that her schtick is getting pretty old. Maybe with her talent for incredible self-promotion, she could go solve the Greek economic problems. We can only hope!
Just like the French and Germans lost by attacking Russia in the winter, the reformers will always be relegated to defeat in the history books when they have the audacity to insult Nebraska, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Vermont with an F.
Those who mock the greater laws of the universe are not rewarded.
Obviously she’s just using students for her own self promotion. One of my favorite sites is Rhee First.
http://www.rheefirst.com/
Rhee and her puppetmasters have no backing in reality only fantasy and ideology.
Muck Rhichell Fee!
This is why I call her organization “Students Last” or maybe “Students and Teachers Last.”
So here’s the secondary story of this: “The good news is that her act is wearing thin, even with a paper that is inclined to agree with her.”
The Post used to be a progressive newspaper, the counter to the more conservative Globe-Democrat. St. Louis then became a one newspaper town and the paper now reflects the growing right wing influence in Missouri. What happened to the newspapers being the ones objective integrity in a world gone made?
One of my first columns printed in the Post was an NCLB piece on turning our kids into widgets. And, another on the success of the largest voluntary desegregation program in the nation. Wonder what they’d do with those now.
I’m glad they are objective on Rhee’s antics – and even more evidence for the 1st Amendment, a free press, and an educated citizenry.
Jere,
I grew up with both the morning Globe and the afternoon Post in my house. The first thing I read as a kid was the comics, but as one grew one expanded one’s readings and it was obvious which paper was for what (talking 60’s).
As one who had the learning experience of marching in protest against the MLK assasination in 68 (as a white semi rural kid from what I call “white” county-south county St. Louis where there was only one African American family in our parish) I learned a whole lot about the “humanity” of others who, at the time, weren’t considered to have any semblance of humanity.
Turned my thinking around completely.
you’re right – “which one was for what?” – I guess we’ve gone from “two newspaper towns” to anyone can find any news (paper, website…) that aligns with their thinking. What’s sad is no one goes beyond that to read the other viewpoints.
The ’60s in St. Louis – Three World Series, one of which is attributed to the riots not being as bad as other cities – – a lot of learning went on there and then
Has to be fun being in New York being a Cardinal fan! Hope we have another successful season. I lived in MA for a number of years in the 80s and say some of the best fans in baseball are Red Sox fans-truly fanatical.
Is it too early to start calling Michelle Rhee ‘The Lance Armstrong of US Education’?
Ha! That’s REALLY good. And, just think of all the metaphorical extenuations… Doping… False Performance Enhancing Drugs… Quick fix (ha) and silver bullets that don’t work… Short term enhancements that dwindle and disappear…. sounds like teach for awhile to me. Well, maybe TFA will start putting the names of corporate sponsors on their uniforms like cyclists and nascar
What’s disturbing is why a society continues to worship people, who despite their “talents”, clearly only care about themselves and their reputations? This false hero or savior worship reflects on the shallowness of our culture.