I have never debated Michelle Rhee.
I am ready and willing whenever she is.
At a panel discussion convened by Henry Louis Gates Jr. at Martha’s Vineyard in 2011, Michelle and I were on the same panel.
I arrived a day early, knowing how beautiful Edgartown is. Michelle arrived literally one minute before the panel started. She flew in from Florida, after speaking to an event on behalf of the for-profit charter operator Charter Schools USA. Although there was a lovely reception afterwards, she did not stay for it, so we had no time to talk.
You may recognize some other members of the panel. It was moderated by Charlayne Hunter-Gault. Dr. James Comer was there, as was Dr. Laurence Bobo of Harvard and Dr. Angel Harris of Princeton. If you have time, you should watch the whole panel discussion. It was outstanding.
Michelle and I had only a few direct exchanges, but you will get a sense of our differences on this Youtube video, which someone unknown to me edited and forwarded.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I watched the shortened version of the discussion. Michelle doesn’t have a clue.
“Each child is a precious human being in the sight of God.” Thank you for saying that Diane.
“Should we not have the same resources as our military?” Good question from the audience.
Thank you for your beautiful words, Diane.
Thank you.
“Rhee and Me” could be the title of a new Michael Moore movie.
What is he doing these days while the edu-vandals ravage Michigan?
I’ve watched this video several times, and this is not directly related to the merit pay discussion, but I just have to say how TICKED OFF I get when Michelle Thee uses the pronoun “we” when referring to teachers. “We haven’t made a good case for ourselves as teachers… ” she says. How DARE she include herself with those of us who have stuck with the profession and walked through the indignities!
*Rhee *
I thought “Thee” was a “holier than ‘thou'” type of pun on her name!
It was probably a “Freudian-text.” … LOL… was “texting” from my phone… and think “auto-correct” got me… either that or maybe my phone really thinks she IS God!
Great editing of video & of course wise words from Diane.
Diane — if poverty is a barrier to education how can urban schools remain as segregated as they are?
Segregation didn’t come up in CFE. I was told it wasn’t brought up because they couldn’t win if they said kids aren’t learning because the schools are segregated. Instead CFE said the state shorted NYC schools thus kids aren’t learning.
Been a long time since I’ve looked at the topic & in fact was on the school board of a forced de-segregated school district. Did poor kids do better? It didn’t seem so at that time (mid-90s).
Perhaps because the gap is already too big once they enter schools. This is what we hear…
Also — Rhee said how important it is to have good teachers. Where is she on Common Core & the use of technology driven education products such as Amplify (not meaning to single out Amplify) in the classroom? These products appear to be a way of getting teachers OUT of the classroom & unemployed. Is a tablet a better teacher than a person?
http://www.amplify.com
I would pay to attend a debate between Ravitch and Rhee!
I wouldn’t!!*
*Only because the Rheeject was there.
While the teacher in front of the classroom is a very important indicator of a child’s success, it is “THEIR HOME LIFE” that is the number one indicator. I have kids with so many problems, that the most successful teacher couldn’t make the impact that functional parents could make.
One of my principals called it the “6-hour child syndrome.” We have them for 6 or 7 hours, we work with them, sometimes even change their views temporarily. Then they go back into the other world they inhabit. Some kids can rise above, but they have to make that decision, and some kid just can’t or won’t make the decision to change.
Interesting, I liked everything you said about public education and most importantly, how privatization will and is creating a duality between the schools that are succeeding and those that aren’t with the aren’t schools getting the shaft. I agree with one thing Michelle Rhee said. Throwing more and more money into public education will not necessarily give you the results you want. How that money is spent is the key. If a district in D.C, is getting 22,000 dollars per student, and the majority of that money is spent on administrative expenses, how is this helping the students. Privatizing schools is for profit, not altruism. So, how the public dollars are allocated, even in the local school is key. If, as you mentioned, the majority of the money is spent on reduction of class size, that’s a good place to start.
Desmond Tutu has refused to appear in public alongside Tony Blair in protest of Blair’s complicitness in the Iraq war. Stephen Hawking refused to speak in Israel at an academic conference in solidarity with the Palestinians.
The moral of this story. Rhee and the people who bank roll her do not wish to share the same air with us so why give her any quarter. My regrets to appear in this panel ould have been in the mail pronto.
Interesting point, Jeff!
Rhee debate with Diane will never happen b/c it will go viral and permanently discredit Rhee as an education “leader.” Diane strikes fear into the hearts of Rhee, Kopp, Austen, Edelman, Gates, Broad, Bloomberg, and all their minions b/c Diane actually understands educ history and policy and how the immense and growing econ ineq in US is fundamental to the achievement gap, not the silly demands for more high-stakes testing. We already know how to improve our beleaguered pub schls–small classes, child-friendly curric with lots of hands-on projects/field trips/merging literacy with science/math/history, arts and music every day, schools without bullying and with attractive halls and rooms–but we are not allowed to do what we know will work b/c these solutions favor kids from the bottom up, not billionaires from the top down. Enrichening the lives of all our children means NOT enriching the lives of those who already have too much wealth and power.
What’s scary is I watched that video a long time ago. I need a vacation.