When Michelle Rhee announced on “Oprah” the creation of her group called “StudentsFirst,” she said she would raise $1 billion in one year.
Then she backtracked and said she would raise that amount in five years.
Joy Resmovits of Huffington Post got copies of the group’s tax forms (which are made public), and Rhee is far short of her goal.
“In the fiscal year starting August 1, 2011 and ending July 31, 2012, StudentsFirst raised $28.5 million, more than tripling its $7.6 million fundraising the previous year. During that period, the group’s political 501(c)(4) arm raised $15.6 million and spent $13.4 million. Rhee herself drew a salary of about $300,000.”
At the rate Rhee is raising money, it will take her more than 25 years to raise $1 billion.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Okay, so she’s not getting to a billion any time soon. But this is still a lot of money—super ridiculous and terrible.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Michelle’s husband is facing federal charges for his “business practices.” I’ve heard the same is true with her. The whole corporate
crony crusade to siphon off public funds for their dismal charters is a study in fudged figures, academic destruction and attempts to turn teachers into serfs. I hope she is exposed for exactly the charlatan she is!
Michelle Rhee definitely does not put students first.
Rhee is no longer a member of the NCTQ advisory board, but if you haven’t read of her abusive behavior toward those under her control, this is worth a read:
(it happens to be my second most popular post of all time, the first being my post on Steve Perry’s weak dissertation):
It’s a great post, Mercedes, wonderfully witty! You wield a wicked pen when the topic calls for it!
To other readers of this blog: If you haven’t read this superb post, treat yourself.
So many reformers, so little cash 🙂
I’d phrase it: so many true reformers, so little cash. Too many edudeformers with too much cash.
: )
Rhee is using money to sway politics in CT –I’ve heard the governor is accepting her money, which may explain his reformy turn. Money is power –oh, sorry, I mean First Amendment-protected free speech.
Bet she pays herself the $300,000 ech year, despite her lackluster fundraising.
I would say that she didn’t meet AYP. Time to fire her and bring in a new TFA’er.
I would like to see her fall flat.
She seems to see things as black and white. Because she encountered some unions which prevented the firing of bad teachers, she wants to gut all of them, alienating many wonderful schools and teachers in the process. That said – two sides shouting at each other is doing very little to make progress anywhere, and the “reform” movement is winning the political argument. I appreciate those like Diane who suggest ideas – I think far too often we make ourselves too easy to peg as “defenders of the status quo” by simply shouting no. We agree that as a country we need to respect teachers more for education to improve here. We can start by lobbying for higher teacher salaries, not merit pay. We can argue that we do believe in accountability, but that narrowing of curriculum via over-emphasis on testing isn’t the way.
They have been given many ideas and a blueprint on how to improve schools. They’re not interested if it doesn’t fit their plan to annihilate the profession and public schools. See here:
Click to access Deserve_summary.pdf
And I will place a link to the full document in the next box…you think Rahm actually read this? Puhlease…..THEY ARE the status quo.
Full document:
Click to access SCSD_Report-02-16-2012-1.pdf
Michelle Rhee does not come up with her ideas on her own. She has been on the board of the Broad Foundation since 2008. Eli Broad is her guru.
2009/2010 Annual Report of the Broad Foundation (page 25)
http://tinyurl.com/6w5sps2
20011/2012 Annual Report of the Broad Foundation (page 41)
http://tinyurl.com/9wqv9um
Also see:
http://tinyurl.com/mgpdnrz
Gerrit Jones-Rooy: IMHO, the Rheephormistas are not winning the political argument.
Quite the opposite. In spite of enormous advantages in $tudent $ucce$$, political connections, billionaire backing, and media megaphones, they are very slowly losing credibility among more and more people.
They show this in several ways, including their pathetic and failed attempts to slander and lash out at the owner of this blog, their inability to trigger massive implementation of Parent Disembowelment Laws, and their failure to crush the growing opposition in many areas to their destruction of public schools in favor of privately-run Centres of Compliance.
Movement is painfully slow to reclaim decency and honor in the public school sector but even a few of the charterites/privatizers and their accountabully underlings are realizing they are on the wrong side of history.
Doubt much? Just ask yourself this question: in a cagebusting matchup of heavyweight contenders in the Ed Debates, who is winning, Diane Ravitch or Pitbull?
Why should this be so? Perhaps wisdom isn’t confined to the Most EduExcellent Cagebusting Innovative Achievement Gap Busting Twenty First Century.
“The superior man decides what is right; the inferior man what will sell.” [Confucius]
🙂
Rhee’s salary was $300,000! Ridiculous! Didn’t she say once that it was time for teachers to stop riding the gravy train???
StudentsFirst Ohio sent out a ridiculous email praising Kasich for his terrible budget.
It just makes them look clueless because no public school parent in the state supports gutting funding for public schools.
The budget does shovel millions to privatized schools, so I guess that’s what they’re celebrating.
A friend of mine gets the emails and he’s wondering how he got on Rhee’s list. He supports public education, so opposes Rhee.
Be glad your friend is on that list so you get access to their pablum. Students Last is getting ready to be on its last legs. Students Last game is up as people find out who they really are.
Today, at LAUSD, we saw the end of the corporatist privatizers. The three previously on the short side with the election and today’s inauguration of Monica Ratliff now the three is the four needed to do real business. I am going to start tonight loading up the video from today on You Tube at George1la. The first video I am going to load up are the students who performed today before the board and public. Students are what this is all about and these students demonstrate the importance of the arts in schools. That is why they are first. I gave every group a card with where to watch themselves today. This means a lot to them and they show it when you tell them it will be up.
If what seems to have happened really happens at LAUSD that is the bell for the end of these corporatist privatizers as it will spread nationwide just like what is happening in Chicago and with Badass Teachers. When I tell people, including teachers, about this they go “WOW!!!” A lot of pent up anger and frustration out there and Badass Teachers is gathering it up for a good purpose. Let’s keep it up and they will fall like the house of cards they are.
Of course the real issue is that she is using these millions to destroy public schools.
I hate her politics as much as anyone, but I want to suggest a correction. You wrote, “At the rate Rhee is raising money, it will take her more than 25 years to raise $1 billion.” If you count the more than tripling (x3.75, actually) as part of the rate you’re considering, and assume that she can continue to get the same growth each year, then she’ll be past 2 billion in 5 years: 7.6 +3.75*7.6+3.75^2*7.6+3.75^3*7.6+3.75^4*7.6 = 2047.
I agree, being able to raise that kind of money to help destroy education is horrendous.