There is a must-read commentary for anyone interested in education reform by newly appointed Chancellor of the Washington, DC school system, Michelle Rhee, that appears in the most recent copy of Forbes. Here are some choice quotes:
Though we have among the highest per-pupil expenditures, we have among the lowest academic performance levels…. We have schools in this District that show a 10% proficiency rate for their students. To respond to these numbers with anything but radical change to reverse them is an insult to the dignity, potential and creativity of our children.”
“Our students aren’t achieving, not because of their aptitude, but because we, as the adults in this system, are not doing our jobs to serve them well.”
“Ultimately, we are changing the system so that it is no longer about the needs and preferences of adults, but rather about what we owe our kids.”
“When political will backs the innovative practices and courage needed for reform, it absolutely is possible to turn around a school system.”
“While I would recommend revisions to No Child Left Behind legislation that would encourage the benefits of performance pay, increase support for struggling schools and motivate high performance in addition to ensuring baseline requirements, I am convinced that the firm accountability measures that No Child Left Behind introduced must be preserved.”
While these quotes refer to the work Rhee has taken on to turn around the Washington, DC school system, all of these quotes apply equally to Rhode Island, especially to our troubled urban districts such as Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls and Woonsocket. It is unfortunate that in some of these Rhode Island cities, courageous superintendents do not have the political support that Rhee enjoys from DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, while in others, poor district leadership and a lack of Mayoral courage perpetuates chronic failure. Rhee should be an inspiration to urban districts to stand up and courageously put the interests of kids front and center in the education reform agenda, even when doing so necessitates tough, radical reforms of a structure that has failed so many for so long.
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