Departure of Rhee Could Signal Shift in Direction of U.S. Public Schools

At WSJ:

Michelle Rhee announced her resignation Wednesday as the capital's schools chancellor, in what could prove to be a seminal moment in the increasingly divisive fight over the direction of U.S. public schools.

Ms. Rhee said during a news conference that her decision to leave was "heartbreaking" but necessary to give the presumptive next mayor, Vincent Gray, leeway to choose his own team and unify the city.

Mr. Gray trounced current D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in last month's Democratic primary election, which many voters saw as a referendum on Ms. Rhee's aggressive schools overhaul. Washington's overwhelmingly Democratic electorate makes it a near certainty Mr. Gray will win the general election next month.

Ms. Rhee, 40 years old, will step down at the end of the month. Deputy Chancellor Kaya Henderson will serve as interim chief through the end of the school year.

When Ms. Rhee took over the D.C. schools in 2007, she became the most vocal proponent of a national movement for drastic changes to K-12 schools.

Along with New York City schools chief Joel Klein and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, she favors linking teacher evaluations to student test scores, purging low-performing educators and shutting failing schools. As head of schools in the nation's capital, she enjoyed a highly visible perch from which to try to prove these policies could work. She fired hundreds teachers and closed dozens of schools.

But her efforts ran into resistance, especially from teachers unions that rejected many of her ideas, especially mass firings. The Washington teachers union campaigned heavily against Mr. Fenty.

George Parker, president of the D.C. teacher's union, wouldn't comment on whether labor leaders were happy to see Ms. Rhee depart. But he said that, to reform a school district, "you have to be inclusive rather than exclusive, and Chancellor Rhee never learned that."

Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for tougher education standards, called Ms. Rhee's departure a "sobering moment" in the education wars.

"The American public expresses support for the idea of education reform, but when it comes down to the tough decisions, like firing bad teachers or closing schools, they become more skittish," he said. "This sends a loud message to other would-be reformers that they have to keep up the fight."

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