In case you missed PBS Frontline’s hour-long segment on Michelle Rhee’s tenure as chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, I’m making a plug for everyone to watch it. I finally did and found it startlingly moving.
John Merrow did an exceptional piece of journalism here that was quite fair. I could see why Rhee was called to action, why she felt so strongly about making sweeping change, and why people like Mayor Fenti were inclined to give her a lot of power. I also saw clearly where she went wrong, the damage her decisions caused, and her less than caring response to the damage.
A few thoughts I had were:
This is what happens when we try to apply a simplistic business model to education.
This is what happens when one person’s leadership goes unchecked.
This is what happens when appointed leaders attempt to make change through hierarchical structures without listening to other voices and building community support.
This is what happens when test scores are viewed as measures of teaching and learning.
This is what happens when people think they can solve problems by scaring people, instead of addressing the causes of the problems.
The details are stunning and the hour it takes to watch the whole thing is well worth it.
Ariel Sacks began her 13-year teaching career in New York City public schools after earning her master’s degree at Bank Street College and has taught and coached in grades 7-9. She is the author of Whole Novels for the Whole Class: A Student Centered Approach (Jossey-Bass, 2014) and writes a teaching column for Education Week Teacher.
Ariel’s work as a teacher leader with the Center for Teaching Quality involved her in co-authoring Teaching 2030: What We Must Do For Our Public Schools – Now and in the Future. She was also featured in the CTQ book Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers Who Lead Without Leaving.
She is currently working on a book about the role of creative writing in equitable, 21st century schools, and she speaks and leads workshops on the whole novels approach.
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