This is a remarkable exchange of correspondence about the PBS program “The Education of Michelle Rhee.”
Many readers on this blog thought the documentary was too favorable towards Rhee, recycling a lot of old footage in which she is shown as a courageous upstart who did it all “for the kids.” They thought it provided far too rosy a portrait of a woman who provided lessons in how NOT to be a leader, not only because she used pressure tactics to demand higher scores, but because she repeatedly showed herself to be heartless, callous and indifferent to other human beings.
Others, however, thought it was unfair to Rhee.
Chancellor Kaya Henderson wrote a statement to the PBS ombudsman to complain about the program’s portrayal of the (alleged) cheating scandal. She believes that the investigation by the D.C. Inspector General cleared the district of any suspicion.
Someone who describes herself as a DC parent also wrote to the PBS ombudsman to complain that the program harped on a non-existent cheating scandal.
As you will see, both the statement and the letter attack the credibility of former principal Adell Cothorne, who told John Merrow that she witnessed staff changing test sheets.
PBS stands by the documentary. The exchange is well worth reading.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane, I have seen it written that what DC should have done was to ask YOU to conduct the investigation. The idea is that you would have done everything possible to find evidence of wrongdoing, and if you couldn’t find any there is no way anyone could argue that the investigation wasn’t thorough enough. I personally think it would have been for the best.
It’s not just Michelle Rhee! As superintendent of Hartford Public Schools, Dr. Stephen Adamowski was also involved in artificially inflating graduation rates by changing student grades, forcing administrators to advance students who had not passed a single course and/or to pass students who missed between 50 to 80 percent of the course through absenteeism. He was also involved in cheating on state standardized tests. In other words, Michelle Rhee is just the tip of an unsavory iceberg.
But, in our state, teachers like me have tried speaking with reporters from the Hartford Courant, the New London Day, and the CT Mirror to no effect. We have presented them with documents of falsified grades, falsified transcripts, falsified test scores, and falsified graduation rates. These never got reported; the reporters or the papers simply covered over the stories. Shame on them! They are, to me, equally guilty of the fraud and corruption.
I am not at all surprised that there is an organized effort to defend Rhee. Had this program ended with diagrams of test scores at certain schools before and after Rhee, that would have been very powerful.
I have never liked looking at test scores because they don’t always reflect the student’s actual reading and math level. Some may be higher and some may be lower. Many great students don’t test well. They get nervous and 2nd guess themselves. Others need academic intervention even though their scores reflect they are on level. But my opinion never counted. I just had to to explain to some irate parents why I wasn’t given their child a higher grade on their report card, and the best way to do that was have the child read in front of the parents and answer basic questions. Eye opener!!!
Schoolgal, I feel your pain and am going through some of the same issue here in St. Louis. the cheating is so blatant and obvious, but yet other schools are being compared to schools who are clearly cheating. It is crazy, insane.
The minimalistic approach of the investigative practice combined with the best defense is an aggressive offense it is no surprise that the Chancellor has reacted. It has become clear that this educational organization and the big money supporters refuse to let facts and the truth get in the way their story.
The Illinois legislature has made the same strange bed fellows with big money interests playing Monopoly with teacher pension earned benefits using the very same strategies.
Both circumstances
Mark, you hit it “right on the nail.”
Fascinating..a must read…last paragraph and question…is it just a coincidence in names or is Rhee’s lawyer related to Randi Weingarten?
Notice Rhee has to have questions in writing and ahead of time. Diane didn’t when she appeared on CNN with Kaye and she did quite well. Actually, she hit it out of the park.
Poor, poor Michelle…not so quick on her feet when not surrounded by sycophants and boot lickers.
After interviewing Cothorne, Frontline also attempted to interview Chancellor Rhee. It is accepted form in journalism for the subject of a program to be given ‘the last word,’ a final opportunity to respond to what others have said, and we wanted that to be the case in this instance. We negotiated with Rhee’s attorney, Reid Weingarten, who insisted on seeing written questions that we would be asking. Frontline submitted a number of written questions, which we will not release because they include references to other allegations not made public. Weingarten had indicated that Rhee would respond in writing and, at the same time, consider an on-camera interview. In fact, she did not respond in any way.
Frontline stands by the program, and I stand by what I wrote in Taking Note, my blog.
I’ll bet my next paycheck that this alleged “parent” is not one at all, or, if so, certainly not a parent of a DCPS student.
I totally agree. This letter was somewhat technical. Most parents would more emotinal when defending a teacher or in this case the chancellor whitch is also something most parents wouldn’t do.
“the chancellor whitch” Don’t you have one too many “Hs” in that last word?
This “parent’s” attempts to attack Frontline and defend Rhee / DCPS were very deceptive and manipulative, as Merrow pointed out.
For example, when it’s to her advantage, she focuses on the individual school or schools’ performance prior to the investigation.
However, when it’s also to her advantage, she then switches to talking about the District AS A WHOLE subsequent to the investigation, and the tightening of test security. It’s like a magician’s sleight-of-hand.
Why did she do this? Well, the “parent” defending DCPS / Rhee / Henderson points out that the OVERALL DCPS system had a slight increase in test scores since test security was tightened (a slower rate of increase than pre-Rhee, to be precise). She claims that this improvement “proves” there was no widespread cheating.
However, she deliberately chose not to focus on the scores OF THE INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS UNDER SUSPICION, THE ONES WITH THE OUTRAGEOUS JUMPS IN THEIR TEST SCORES PRIOR TO THE USA TODAY EXPOSE, and then compare those scores—and the huge jumps—to the ones recorded AFTER the tightening of security (i.e. in the last two years)
If she had, that would have blown her whole argument apart, because, as Merrow points out at the end of his second response, those schools had insane drops—some of them 50% or more!!!—in the last two years since test security was implemented… some even dropping to levels that were lower than the were prior to the arrival of Rhee.
Merrow also pointed out that Rhee agreed to answer questions regarding this on camera, but only if she were given the questions beforehand.
However, once she got the questions, she changed her tune, and then said she would only reply IN WRITING to those questions.
Ever the phony, Rhee then reneged on THAT promise, never even responding in writing. (There’s an old saying, “If you’ve got nothing to hide, you hide nothing.) The USA TODAY expose includes DCPS emails—acquired after filing FOIL requests—that shows internal directives to stonewall the USA TODAY writers’ efforts, and eventually instructed everyone to cease any communication with them.
Another aspect to this is that Wayne Ryan, the principal at Noyes High School—one of the schools most under suspiction—has dropped off the face of the Earth. However, prior to the USA TODAY expose, he was Rhee’s and Henderson’s show pony to prove that Rhee’s fear-based, threatening style of management delivers results. He received boatloads of bonus money, as did the staff he most likely pressued in to cheating.
In recruiting new principals inside and outside of DCPS, they even used the following sales pitch to encourage prospective administrators to apply to DCPS:
“Could YOU be the next Wayne Ryan?”
The irony of that is mind-boggling, given all that’s happened.
“The next Wayne Ryan?
“You mean resign in disgrace with undeserved bonus money that I got through cheating, and then spend my life hiding out in fear from anyone who would call me out on this?…. Sure where can I apply?”
I don’t know for certain, but I assume that Reid Weingarten is not related to Randi.
However, he is one of the most prominent defense lawyers for those charged with white collar crime, quite fitting in the case of Rhee.
Oh yes and I am sure a few billionaires will pick up the tab for Rhee.
Maybe they’ll hold a bake sale.
I think the “parent” is a member of Students First.
And a very good “grassroots writer”.
Lots of woman named Melanie Davis in the DC area.
Maybe she will re-appear and without a lawyer?
This comment was left on The Nation’s Astroturf Activism: Who is Behind Students for Education Reform?
Shoshone Creek
… BTW….the Koch’s have also used their money to buy direct influence at NPR….they and 4 of their hand picked fascist billionaire friends currently hold board of trustees positions at WGBH in Boston. The Koch’s don’t live in Mass.! They merely want to control the largest public broadcasting network in the country!
Like the BBC and public broadcasting in Germany and other developed nations, public broadcasting should be 100% public funding! The billionaires and corporations have too much control over the media…leaving a public that is being brainwashed!”
Then they no longer need our donations and should cancel all on air auctions and video offers to the lowly people. I will keep my $100.00 donation. It is a mere pittance.
The P no longer represents the public. We should boycott….I hate to give up Downtown Abbey, but I must!
Linda,
I bet you could find a local community radio station that could use your donation. Here in Eastern Missouri there is a community radio station, KDHX, that is phenomenal and does it all with listener contributions. Been around for 25 years. They play “none of the hits all the time”. Look em up and listen on line!
Duane
Exactly, and that’s really why Romney supported eliminating public funding of PBS and urged relying on private donations instead..
Another alarming tactic, which Bernie Sanders spoke out against this week, is the FCC’s back room move to support the consolidation of media, to the advantage of corporations, while people were busy celebrating the holidays: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=51afe5a0-a336-4f3e-9077-07d01d037544
It becomes more and more difficult to ignore all the indicators that the super-rich have indeed waged class warfare against the common man in this country.
Based on my deep reverence for numbers, and then reading the statistical jumps and return to original levels, my conclusion still remains: liar liar pants on fire.
“The lad(ies) doth protest too much, me thinks.”
Hamlet, Queen Gertrude
Comic relief…the latest Edushyster is one of her best:
The toughest job you’ll ever leave:
http://edushyster.com/?p=1812
The PBS exchange says: “In fact, the IG acknowledges that he eliminated one school, Wilson, because the current Chancellor convinced him that Wilson faculty and staff were working hard. However, Wilson’s scores dropped 19% in reading and 23% in math between 2009 and 2011, and 100% of its classrooms had been flagged for high erasures. We requested an interview with the DC IG to discuss his report, including Cothorne’s charges, but that request was rebuffed.” What? the IG didn’t investigate a school b/c the Chancellor said the staff was working hard? This is bizarre. And is the IG still there? Who supervises him or her? Whoever it is should be fired.
I wonder how high this goes…I wonder if Arne has made a few phone calls. Wouldn’t the whole house of cards collapse if this became public knowledge? They cannot afford for the truth to get out..so far it has worked for them. How do citizens keep the pressure on?
Oh, Arne…another piece of the corrupt glacier of the CPS that calved into the sea of education “reform” and floated east. Someone just told me that many of the new heads of departments at the CPS were sorority sisters. One of them was even described as highly effective though many schools in her former network had been slated to close. And so it goes. Build another brand new charter school. Hurry.
There is and has been for a long long time a culture of corruption in DC government. The whole Michelle Rhee thing was barely a flap in the breeze compared to some of the [stuff] that’s gone on before and since Marion Barry’s downfall. I’d be surprised if anyone in DC took this any further, but it would be refreshing to see them taken to task by an IG – or by anyone with the power to hit ’em where it hurts! – outside the District.
How interesting that her mother wondered if she would grow up to be antisocial. Her answer to the question of “Did you feel any compassion for the just fired on camera principal?” Her answer is stunning in its lack of compassion even if they are not doing a good job. I know former principals who turned around the worst schools in the country and none of them used these techniques. My friend, Richard Arthur, turned around the most criminal and violent high school in the U.S. in 1970, Castlemont High School, where they had constant gun fights rapidly. It was over 50% dropout and only 5% to college and in four years it became almost 0% dropout and 65% to college and not even fist fights. It was all about convincing the students that the adults were there to help them and the staff to be there to assist the students. And as always, and forgotten by Rhee, fiscal responsability. Then the SLA assinated Marcus Foster, the superintendent, and tried to do the same to Richard. He moved back to L.A. and became one of the founders of Whitney High School which is about the highest rated public high school in the U.S. for over 25 years. Why don’t they talk to people like Richard who have the creds as they did it., not just talked about it and did not have to destroy peoples lives in the process. And every time a school like this is turned around and the district moves out the top staff who accomplished this the school goes back into the drink again. What a shame we do not learn from the “Real Leaders.”
Michelle Rhee and “Students Last” are not one of them for “Real Accountability.”
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Food for thought.
It is extremely difficult to prove cheating in a school because the test booklets are handled by so many people. All the guilty party has to do is deny, deny, deny. Even when educators are caught red-handed, they can say that they were just checking for “stray marks.” This is actually a plausible explanation because for many years teachers were told by the testing companies to do just that.
Still, just as you know “someone” ate the cake if a piece is missing, you know for certain that cheating occurred when scores on a standardized test go from the fortieth to the eightieth percentile. Almost all educators know that this is an impossibility and surely Michelle Rhee and Kaya Henderson knew it. The fact that they actually rewarded the principal and teachers involved in these impossible scores proves (to me) that they knew what was happening, were condoning it, and were encouraging others to do the same. They just didn’t count on the public finding out because this cheating was going on for many years and no one really cared or noticed.
The fact that Rhee has such a sharp “white collar” attorney suggests that she knows she’s in trouble. It’s only a matter of time before she’s exposed for what she is. And what is that? Just take a look at the Time Magazine cover as well as the video of her firing the principal. A picture really is worth a thousand words.
If that’s the case for Time, then Tuck the Mime Fagazine.
Diane, I think it may be time to think about a “like” button for some posts. Like these ones. 🙂
Melanie Davis’s comments seem consistent with similar defenses of Rhee that turn out to originate from within her organization or from her supporters. Specifically, the spin on and misrepresentation of facts. The style and methodology is too similar for me to take at face value.
I think maybe just maybe some may have been expecting too much from a show that was NOT aimed at people in the education field. I think it was made as a report about Michelle Rhee for those who didn’t know much about her.
but those staffers will NEVER be fired unless a RHEE comes along and does it.
Public school teachers have devolved into their own cottage industry to ensure low student achievement so that maximum teachers can be hired and retained. Its pretty sad.
Stop trashing the people who are willing to die for your children.
What can you say about people who put themselves in front of a gun to save children? We have had lately some amazing cases of heroism and sacrifice by both administrators and teachers lately. No one can predict behavior in a situation like that. These brave peoples behavior certainly shows who they really are and were.
“No one can predict behavior in a situation like that.”
It can’t be predicted, but teachers can and do plan for it. After a primary school shooting in an affluent area near me, years ago, I realized that could happen anywhere and I made plans to do whatever I could to save my students, which included putting myself between a gun and the children. I have no doubt that most teachers would do the same thing, and I believe this has been demonstrated repeatedly by educators when school shootings have occurred, including again last week, in California.
They are reducing the number of teachers in many schools Einstein. Maybe you should get some facts before you bloviate. Are you Michelle?
To quote Buzz Lightyear: “You are a sad, strange little man. And you have my pity. Farewell.”
It gives me great satisfaction to know the following:
Parents who respect teachers and show gratitude toward them almost always have high-achieving children; while parents who trash teachers almost always have kids who are low-achieving and have other problems as well. Once these parents of low-achieving people understand the role that they played in the failure of their children, they usually spend many years regretting it.
Terry F,
What has Rhee, as the proxy of billionaire Eli broad “Devolved” into?
What type of person exploits children for the financial benefit of millionaires/billionaires?
What type of person continues to demonize people who dedicate themselves to educating children?
What type of person knowingly implements practices that will harm students both in the the present and the future?
Rhee should your boss.
She is no educator.
“She is no educator.”
I think this is fertile ground for investigation, too. Rhee has claimed to have taken education courses and obtained teacher certification during the summer between her first and second year in TFA. However, even alternative programs are very unlikely to fast track people with no prior coursework in education and award certification after just one summer.
So Terry F you’ve never set foot in a school then? You have less than no clue, but humor me. How does low student achievement result in more teachers being hired? Is there some stealth class size reduction program locked away somewhere, the black sheep of the corporate reform family? At a time of budget cuts? Where are they all working, in some FEMA camp guarded by barbed wire and black helicopters? Your tin foil hat needs a few more layers.
Yeah, that’s right, every day I get up at 5 and get to school by 7 (although my school day does not begin until 9), all the time thinking how I can milk the system, sit on my lazy ass all day, and make sure my students don’t learn. Are you a parent, someone with an ax to grind, or just a troll?
While I appreciate the insight provided by those at FRONTLINE and Merrow, anything short of a follow up documentary is a slap in the face of Adell Cothorne and all the students preyed upon by Rhee.
The aftermath of all this is that Rhee has become a multi-millionaire who earns 50,000 per speaking engagement all on the basis of fraud. The former principal of Noyes is now off in the wind with the bonus money after being elevated by Rhee to the central office. Henderson, who was lockstep with Rhee is now the chancellor and is extending the anti-teacher propaganda her mentor so malicously presided over.
Adell Cothorne, the heroine who sacrificed her career is now painted as a lying opportunist seeking financial gain. Evidence of this is Ms. Cothorne’s entry into the highly lucrative field of cupcake making. The children of the Baltimore and D.C. public school system who Rhee exploited on the behalf of millionaires/billionaires are left as victims in the wake of a vicous class war.
FRONTLINE owes all of the victims of Rhee’s vitriol more than a simple column.
Anyone who researches the career of Michelle Rhee must be amazed at how a teacher for only 3 years suddenly got the big money behind her to destroy teachers. In the Frontline video Rhee states that her mother was worried that she would grow up being antisocial, well, that has occurred. Or the question on did she have empathy for the principal she fired on camera and her answer was “Well, I just have to do it when you are in my position and I have fired more people than most.” To be proud of firing more than any one else is a bad trait and she is far from the person who has fired the most. Look at her responses to the test cheating and the phoniness of the D.C. Inspector General response. Also, how do you destroy the finances of a school district that has about $29,000/student? You have to work hard at that one. She is fulfilling her purpose as set out by her puppet masters as usual. They always use phonies who will do whatever told to do.
Rhee is not just a controversial figure. She’s also the punchline to a not very funny joke:….”Michelle Rhee said they make the best teachers.”
http://studentslast.blogspot.com/2012/12/have-you-heard-one-about.html (satire)
I’ve said this in other forums as well, if people spent as
much time actually working on ed reform as they do dissing Michelle
Rhee and others…imagine the work we would have accomplished. What
is in the past is NOT a direct indicator of the future, nor is it
something we can change. We CAN change the tomorrows of millions of
children and educators.
She is crushing teachers’ spirits across the nation and promoting awful policies that will privatize public education. She cannot be ignored.
Had we had the foresight to place bets on Rhee doing exactly the same thing on steroids after she was booted from DC, we’d be so rich that we could buy out the corporate reform movement and still have money left over for the poorest schools. Besides, Rhee’s career is such a target rich environment that it takes but little effort to pull back the curtain for all to see. Before we can spend time improving education, we have to stop the false, profit driven reforms destruction of our schools. Rhee has earned all the disrespect she gets and more.
No one paints the walls while the house is being fire bombed. You stop the arsonist, in this case Rhee and friends.
Here is a question for those who accuse Adell Cotherne of lying: Who lies and holds onto a lie at such cost as was (and continues to be) experienced by Adell Cotherne? Liars fold rather quickly when the cost of the lie soars. In contrast, Adell has held to her story despite her paying dearly on the surface ( I say “on the surface” because Adell has the ability to sleep with a clear conscience, a priceless ability).
Well done, Adell Cotherne!
It is possible to lose sight of the broader political, economic, and class issues in the conflict that has arisen over public schools. On one side of the conflict are teachers, students and parents who wish to see public money used to support services that are vital to the well being of many hundreds of millions of working people. On the other side, are wealthy corporate officers, financial institutions and their representatives in both the Republican and Democratic parties who wish to see public wealth under their control to carry out their plans and projects. The latter’s plans and projects have included wars, unrestricted development of natural resources, augmentation of police forces, destruction of rights to organize into unions and for political effots and their own and their childrens’ financial and social hegemony. Did Michelle Rhee cheat? Is value added a legitimate tool when evaluating teachers’ performance. All of these can be assessed in an objective way, but divorced from the ever sharpening class struggle going on in this country, we can never understand these issues properly.