“When I started as chancellor in 2007, I never had any illusions about how tough it would be turn around a failing system like D.C.’s.; the city had gone through seven chancellors in the 10 years before me. While I had to make many structural changes … I believed the hardest thing would be changing the culture. We had to raise the expectations that people had about what was possible for our kids.”
—Michelle Rhee, Newsweek, December 6, 2010
Former Washington D.C. schools boss Michelle Rhee charged into Chicago last week, brimming with energy and a new mission: She’s started a national education reform group called Students First.
She’s raising expectations again.
Her ambitious goals: Sign up one million members in the first year. Raise $1 billion to counter the pervasive political influence of teachers unions and others that fiercely defend the status quo. Push dramatic school reform laws at every level.
Sounds great to us.
Rhee’s experience also shows why this is such a difficult and frustrating task. Her efforts were a big issue in the recent race for mayor of Washington. She resigned after voters turned down the re-election bid of her boss, Mayor Adrian Fenty. Last month, the Washington Teachers Union president who negotiated a groundbreaking contract with her was defeated in his own re-election bid.
“There are going to be some fights,” she told the editorial board last week. “Some people like the status quo. They’re not going to give that up easily. Unless you’re willing to fight, you’re not going to get far.”
We can’t think of anyone better to lead the national charge to dramatically improve schools. In Washington, Rhee didn’t just challenge the status quo, she obliterated it. She closed failing schools. She confronted the adults-first culture in the school bureaucracy.
Is there any lesson here for the next mayor of Chicago, who will hire the next city schools boss? Yes. Chicago needs an aggressive school reformer who won’t confuse the privileges of the adults with the needs of kids. Chicago has had some strong, principled reformers at the helm of the schools. Chicago can’t backslide.
The new schools boss will inherit a system facing an estimated $700 million budget gap and negotiations for a new teachers contract.
There’s talk in the state legislature about new reform laws. We’re glad to see House Speaker Michael Madigan put this on the table by creating a special committee on education reform. The proof of commitment, of course, will be in what actually becomes law.
And as Rhee told us last week, laws only go so far. The next Chicago teachers contract will be crucial to whether the city’s schools greatly enhance their commitment to reform.
A key issue: Teacher evaluations and pay.
The landmark Washington contract dramatically increased salaries for teachers and demolished the tenure system that cemented bad teachers in classrooms. It enshrined a principle that in many school districts still passes for radical: Teachers should be paid based on their
effectiveness,
not seniority.
The best teachers get paid more. The worst get fired. Tenure and seniority don’t protect bad teachers.
In Washington’s contract, Rhee told us, teachers’ evaluations are largely based on two factors: How well students perform on tests and extensive in-person classroom evaluations of a teacher’s ability to reach students. Dozens of teachers were dismissed after they received poor evaluations.
Teachers often gripe that evaluations are often based on brief observation of them and put them at the mercy of a principal who may have an ax to grind. Here’s an idea: Place cameras in classrooms and videotape the presentation of the lesson, so that everyone—principals, parents, outside experts, can evaluate a teacher’s performance?
Yes, Rhee’s reforms were expensive. She bumped average teacher pay in Washington from $67,000 to $81,000 over five years, partly by harnessing $64 million in donations from charitable foundations. Mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel suggests something similar, a Chicago-style Race to the Top program that would ask local corporations and foundations for donations to help improve Chicago’s schools. Great idea. Let’s make it happen.
Rhee told us she’ll help push reform in local districts “if I’m invited.” Memo to the next Chicago mayor: Invite her.
