A friend in Los Angeles sent the following notice of Michelle Rhee’s coming appearance before the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

I hope someone will ask her about the cheating scandal that was described on PBS’ Frontline recently.

Ask if she thinks a 30-point jump in proficiency rates in a single year is suspicious.

Ask if she still believes that “dozens and dozens” of schools improved.

Ask why D.C. has the largest black-white and Hispanic-white test score gap of any city in the nation, which did not decrease during or since her tenure.

Ask why D.C. has the lowest graduation rate of any big-city district in the nation, according to PBS?

Ask if she thinks that D.C. Is now a model for the nation after five years of her policies.

And please tell Eli Broad about the huge improvement in U.S. scores on the recent TIMSS, as well as the Rothstein-Carnoy report showing that the U.S. is fourth in the world in reading and ranks tenth in the world in reading.

And, while you are at it, please ask Mr. Broad how he feels about the U.S. ranking first in the world among advanced nations in child poverty.

The LAWAC invites you to a Lunch:
Michelle Rhee

Former Chancellor of Washington D.C. Public Schools

Making the U.S. Educational System Competitive Globally
Special Introductory Remarks By
Eli Broad
Founder of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation


Thursday, January 31, 2013 – 12:00 Noon Lunch

The Luxe Hotel, 11461 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90049
Eli Broad, Los Angeles’s much-celebrated philanthropist and a board member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, will be making some remarks to introduce Michelle Rhee at lunch on Jan 31st at the Luxe Hotel. Ms Rhee, who moved aggressively to reform education in D.C. from 2007 to 2010, will be talking to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council about how our schools are underperforming compared to international competitors – and how we can fix that.Eli Broad and his wife Edythe, both graduates of Detroit Public Schools, are founders of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, a philanthropy that seeks to ensure that every student in an urban public school has the opportunity to succeed. The Broad Foundation has invested $370 m in student learning since 1999, and continues to bring together top education experts and practitioners to find ways to enable students of all backgrounds to learn and thrive.It is no secret that the US is falling behind its international competitors in terms of education. A recent report by the education company Pearson comparing 39 developed countries and one territory (Hong Kong) – put the US in 17th position, way behind the leaders – Finland, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. Another report from Harvard University found that despite all the politicking and debate about education here, American students are not catching up academically with their foreign peers – quite the opposite. Students in Latvia, Chile and Brazil are improving three times faster than American students, while Portugal, Hong Kong, Germany and Poland are seeing improvements twice the rate of the US.

Rhee believes strongly that the US should overhaul teacher tenure, apply standardized test scores to performance evaluations, and expand charter schools. StudentsFirst is an advocacy organization that pushes for reforms across the country. A recent report from the organization ranking US states on a scale of A to F gave California its lowest grade, an F. Ms Rhee’s views have created passionate debate within the education field, and are opposed by many educators and school system administrators. We hope her presentation will create more debate in Los Angeles on this subject, which is so vital to our future.

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Ticket Information – Lunch

Michelle Rhee

LAWAC members:

Guests of members:

General Admission:

Table of Ten:

 $53$63$78$530


Reserve your seats today by calling the LAWAC office at: (424) 258-6160.
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