Today, DC Public Schools chancellor Michelle Rhee announced her resignation effective at the end of October. Rhee’s deputy chancellor Kaya Henderson will be interim chancellor until the next Mayor (presumably Council Chair Vincent Gray) selects a new chancellor. Below is the text of a DCPS issued letter from Rhee about her resignation.
October 13, 2010
Dear DCPS Parents and Community,
Today Chairman Gray and I have reached the mutual decision that I will leave my post as Chancellor of the DC Public School System.
This is not a decision we made lightly. But it is one that I believe is essential to allow Chairman Gray to pursue our shared goal of uniting this city behind the school reforms that are making a difference in the lives of our children. In short, we have agreed – together – that the best way to keep the reforms going is for me to step aside so that he may appoint a schools chancellor who shares his vision and can keep the progress going.
Kaya Henderson, currently deputy chancellor, has been named Acting Chancellor. This decision by Chairman Gray should put to rest any question of whether reform will continue under the Gray administration. Chairman Gray is committed to continued and uninterrupted reform.
Thank you to each of you. You’ve emailed me, you’ve called me, you’ve come to the coffees and the office hours, you’ve never been shy about telling me when you disagreed with me, and because of you, we are bringing change into every corner of this city.
I have confidence in this reform’s continued success because I know you – our valued partners – will continue to play a critical role in creating a world class educational system for our students.
Maybe you feel like no one has your back, like you’ve been let down by people so many times that you’ve stopped believing in yourself. Maybe you feel like your destiny was written the day you were born and you ought to just rein in your hopes and scale back your dreams.
— Michelle Obama, Remarks at graduation for Anacostia High School, June 11, 2010
This week I want to put the President’s Weekly below the fold and First Lady Michelle Obama above the fold. The First Lady gave her second commencement address in DC at the Anacostia High School. Anacostia is just a stone’s throw from my old junior high school Kramer which we used to call “Lorton Junior High” (for the old Lorton prison in Virginia – now torn down). The first week of 7th grade, Kramer was on lock down until police could disperse a group of armed youth outside the school who wanted to settle a score with one of the students inside. Needless to say learning was tough in this kind of environment. I almost considered dropping out in 8th grade.
In those days Anacostia High School was where one began to act a little more mature. Nevertheless the school went into serious decline in attendance by students as well as teachers, academics, and a rise in violence. More than likely this prompted many parents to plan their sons’ and daughters’ escape to magnet and charters schools. [The magnet school was my life raft to avoid a third year in junior high.] More recently, D.C. chancellor Michelle Rhee was asked to turn things around. She assigned the management of Anacostia to the Friendship Public Charter School. Anacostia High School maintains its original Native American name as the Academies at Anacostia. [Hopefully the Indian mascot is also on the chopping block.]
[Just as a matter of history, during the Jim Crow era, Anacostia was one of the all-white segregated high schools in DC. See more about D.C.’s segregated African American schools here.]
Two months ago I made a stop at Anacostia to deliver some English class materials. One step inside the door and you’re instantly greeted by the metal detectors and security personnel. You have to wonder if the security is to protect students from what’s happening outside the school. The hallway chatter was boisterous, bouncing off the walls. The old building still serves as the main entrance and hasn’t had its cosmetic makeover like a few other schools in the area (perhaps its time will come). In the mid 1970s, a new extension was built onto the school. If it’s like any school building of that era, I’m sure the newer wing is long overdue for an extreme makeover.
The First Lady and her advisers chose Anacostia for the White House’s residential outreach to D.C.’s neighborhoods. At DAR this week, Michelle Obama offered words of encouragement for a graduating class of less than 200.
As I read comments to the story on Washington Post on-line I notice there are still many people who have low expectations of DC public school students and DC public schools. The cruelty of some commentary aims to rob these students of dreams, hopes, or effort for personal success.
Let’s see how many are in jail and/or pregnant before the end of the summer.
At my high school graduation, our school’s co-founder Peggy Cooper Cafritz warned us about these people — the ones who wanted to see us fail. That was their expectation and hope. We were student artists, mostly African American, occupying prime Georgetown real estate. During a student fundraising activity one resident said to my friend “I don’t support government-funded n*gger schools.” The Duke Ellington School of the Arts has more than earned their keep. But they’re not out of the woods yet, as rumors still persist about moving the school to make room for Georgetown residents who desire a neighborhood public high school.
Perhaps these Anacostia graduates could use a few good fighting words to send them on their way. The old “prove them wrong” charge. Michelle Obama wouldn’t have to reach as far back as the sage of Anacostia Frederick Douglass for examples.
Full text of Michelle Obama’s remarks here.
THE PRESIDENT’S WEEKLY
I’ll just post what the White House wrote on their blog: With doctors facing deep cuts in their reimbursements from Medicare unless Congress acts to correct long-standing problems, the President calls on Senate Republicans to stop blocking the remedy and pledges to work toward a permanent solution. The cuts would potentially mean widespread trouble for seniors getting needed care.
To read the transcript, watch the video or download the MP3 file, go here.
It’s Tony Awards night and Sunday. Time to wind down and chill.
Something about “back to school” that feels like a new beginning even if you’ve so-called graduated from it all. Saturday, I joined a newly formed group called the Grassroots Education Project to assist Harriet Tubman Elementary get in shape for the first day of school – that’s today. Neither rain or stifling humidity could keep the volunteers away thanks to the persistence of Adam Barr from the DC for Obama team who organized this effort which will continue through the school year. Canvassing identified 14 additional neighborhood volunteers.
Tubman is located on 13th Street, NW at Irving here in Washington, DC. I used to pass it every morning on the way to the 9-5 job, so naturally I noticed the fresh coat of paint and new windows when I pulled up Saturday. Apparently, Tubman is designated for “modernization” by DC Public Schools. The classrooms have been fitted with LCD projectors, smart boards, and air conditioning!!! among other upgrades.
On Saturday Tubman was a show piece for DCPS officials. Local media got the grand tour by principal Harry Hughes. Chancellor Michelle Rhee showed up, but I missed her. Too busy adjusting new desks, papering the bulletin boards and stocking cabinets. How well I remember loving the smell of “new” during my school days. I have to say, I was a bit concerned about all the sawing going on two days before the doors officially open. But I’ve witnessed an extreme makeover of a public school in less than 18 hours. That was when the POTUS was making a visit to my high school. Magic elves have nothing on a President’s advance team.
Here are some pics of the day.
DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS – Ground Zero for Education Standards
Texas is the second largest purchaser of school textbooks and curricula which in making a market impact also translates to making an impact on textbook and curricula content in public k-12 schools throughout the country. Which is why it’s important to give some attention to the Texas Board of Education’s debate to remove certain “liberal” historic persons and events from high school text books in the state’s districts. Read the overview by Meteor Blades of Daily Kos here.
And there’s a hit list: Thurgood Marshall who was part of the team that litigated school desegregation before the U.S. Supreme Court, and was the first African American Supreme Court Justice; Cesar Chavez who led the freedom fight to secure labor rights for field workers; and Anne Hutchinson, who was banished from the Puritan Colony for insisting on women’s rights and religious freedom. She helped establish a new colony that became the state of Rhode Island.
A six-member education death panel has been set up by the Texas Board of Education to advise teams of teachers, academics, and community representatives to rewrite the standards for social studies textbooks and curricula. [The non-partisan League of Women Voters should jump into this.] According to the Houston Chronicle, the suggestions for revision include search and replace (Thurgood Marshall for Newt Gingrich); and a “fair and balanced” charade – include both sides to “see what the differences are and be able to define those differences,” board member Ken Mercer R-San Antonio suggests. His reading lists includes Sean Hannity and fmr Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Even when Mercer is adding “liberals” to his “conservatives” list, it is persons from organizations or advocacy groups that are in direct conflict with his conservative counterparts. This is akin to having history written by publicists, and pundits on CNN and FOX News.
There will be a quiz.
THE ACID OF EVIL “The people who did this to me don’t want women to be educated. They want us to be stupid things.” photo credit: Lynsey Addario, NY Times Dexter Filkins is compelled to risk journalistic standards to help students at the Mirwais Mena School for Girls on the outskirts of Kandahar. The school was the target of an acid attack earlier this year. “A School Bus for Shamsia” was published on-line before appearing in a special issue of the New York Times [Sunday] Magazine devoted to “Saving the World’s Women.” A great issue!
“Knowledge is Power”…Auntie Mame ITVS has released its most recent Classroom curriculum on-line – WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT. Here’s the description:
Four documentaries explore stories of women’s empowerment and leadership around the world. Meet an indigenous Bolivian leader fighting for labor rights; a young Israeli Arab karate champion with feminist ideas; three Egyptian women working for fair elections and a Kenyan leader sparking a nationwide environmental movement.
Lesson plans and video modules encourage students to learn about international struggles and take an active role in addressing local concerns. Lessons are directed toward high school and college students.
Subject areas: Social Studies, Global Studies, Civics, Economics, Government, Political Science, Sociology, World History, Language Arts, Geography, Women’s Studies, Media Studies.
Update:Mayor Adrian Fenty and his wife Michelle were seen taking one of their sons to Lafayette Elementary School today. The 9-year-old Fenty twins, Andrew and Matthew, were enrolled in a private Montessori school that runs through 3rd grade. Marion Barry was the last DC Mayor to enroll his child in a DC public school. Mayors Washington, Pratt-Kelly, and Williams didn’t have school-age children at the time of their terms. Both Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Michelle Rhee have children enrolled in DC Public Schools. See more about DC’s first day of school here.
Today, DC Public Schools chancellor Michelle Rhee announced her resignation effective at the end of October. Rhee’s deputy chancellor Kaya Henderson will be interim chancellor until the next Mayor (presumably Council Chair Vincent Gray) selects a new chancellor. Below is the text of a DCPS issued letter from Rhee about her resignation.
