Bunch of spin. Study that praises Michelle Rhee in DC schools done by group formed by her. WP

[madfloridian]

Last edited Sat Nov 10, 2012, 11:30 PM - Edit history (1)

The Washington Post editorial links to the site that did the study, but fails to mention that Michelle Rhee was its founder and leader for ten years. She founded The New Teacher Project in 1997.

The New Teacher Project (TNTP) is an organization with a mission of ensuring that poor and minority students get equal access to effective teachers. It attempts to help urban school districts and states recruit and train new teachers, staff challenged schools, design evaluation systems, and retain teachers who have demonstrated the ability to raise student achievement. TNTP is a non-profit organization and was founded by Michelle Rhee in 1997.

Makes it hard for me to accept what they say as convincing.

Here is the editorial from the Washington Post.

REMEMBER THE predictions that former D.C. Public Schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee’s overhaul of teacher evaluation and compensation would lead to damaging upheaval? That there would be an exodus of good teachers? Those claims — like much of the criticism of D.C. school reform — have been proven baseless: Three years of dramatic change in personnel policy has made the District a model for smart teacher retention.

A study released this week by the nonprofit New Teacher Project lauds the District for its record of retaining good teachers while shedding low performers. Most school districts, as the group has established in previous reports, retain their best and worst teachers at similar rates. It’s the result of a cookie-cutter approach to personnel that enshrines mediocrity, tolerates ineffectiveness and has terrible consequences for students.

If a paper runs an editorial praising a study vindicating Rhee, then they should reveal that the group was founded and run by her.

My own opinion, for what it's worth. I think that aside from anything else she is doing, all the anti-teacher, anti-union activities in many states...including my own...she should NEVER be forgiven for this horrible ad which ran during the Olympics and ridiculed our country's public education.

It was created by her present group Students First, and they still proudly defend it.]

View it at You Tube:

[madfloridian]

1. As media spins Rhee, her StudentsFirst dashes through states with anti-union "reforms"

New player jumps into state elections to push education overhaul

The group has infused cash and organizing into races in states such as California, Iowa and Michigan, where teachers unions have historically dominated politics and enshrined such policies as tenure and pay based on seniority in state law. StudentsFirst hopes to undercut unions’ power and remove many of the labor protections that unions support.

The 2012 election is the group’s first real test. In Missouri, another state on the brink of wide-scale changes in education, StudentsFirst has poured more than $100,000 into campaigns since the primaries and recruited more than 40,000 members to push for the election of 21 candidates it has endorsed. Nationwide, the group has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in primary and general elections.

StudentsFirst came to Missouri in January after being approached by both Democratic and Republican members of the state Legislature. It worked to get a charter school bill passed, but fell short on a bill that would reform Missouri’s teacher tenure law. The legislation would have extended the time before a teacher can receive tenure from five years to 10. It passed narrowly in the House, but failed in the Senate. Union officials say five years is more than enough time to weed out low-performing teachers.

She has also been busy with anti-union stuff in FL and TN.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. MAD!!!!!!

Oh how you've been missed!!!!

[madfloridian]

6. I've been reading your stuff faithfully.

You have kept up the fight for sure.

[Starry Messenger]

3. k&r

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Did you see this ?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021786390

[madfloridian]

7. I saw that. It scared me.

I can not bear to think of it. That lady does not like teachers or unions, god help us if it is true.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Well. I do believe our unions would fight that appointment.

I know Randi despises Michelle Rhee. I can't imagine her allowing this and not reminding the president that AFT worked pretty hard to help him win the election.

We're fighting back as hard as we can against Students First at the state level. But they are extremely well funded and are spending lots of money on both sides of the aisle.

I was glad to see you post that video in your OP. It just made me ill.

[madfloridian]

15. It was a sickening video. Did you see the follow-up ad defending it? It's worse.

It's even worse.
They took over 2 minutes excusing their rude 1st ad. The fact that her group feel free to ridicule teachers is just shocking to me. No media calls them out on it.

Here it is

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. I'm on her email list.

I'm not sure how SF got my email. When they were here, I signed into the event with a dummy email. [email protected]

But somehow they found me and I've been getting their emails for a couple months. And I've replied. After these videos I replied they should be ashamed; these were disrespectful to teachers and to Olympic athletes.

The second time I replied I got a standard thank you we'll get back to you response. Then nothing. And I'm still getting their emails.

[Mc Mike]

5. Thanks, mfl. +1.

The # 1 source for education information.

[madfloridian]

22. Nice thing to say.

Not true, but nice.

[Mc Mike]

24. No slight meant to other ed post-ers here

you're just the best known to me. Most prolific output, and always worth reading. I said a long time ago that I wish my wife's AFT local (400) would put a link to you on their web-site. The first DU post I ever shared with outside Dems was from you. Some post-ers get me to tune in from the title of their posts, only a few make me tune in just from seeing their post-er name.

Here is a local education activist, she's very good:
http://yinzercation.wordpress.com/

Education voters and yinzer have been helping keep Corbett's repugs from demolishing PA's public schools. Post-er JP Zenger puts info up from them in the PA section here.

[madfloridian]

25. Thanks for the link to the activist. 1 billion cut in state?

http://yinzercation.wordpress.com/

"But state budget cuts of $1 BILLION last year continue to have a devastating impact on our schools in Southwestern PA and those cuts have been carried forward in this year’s budget."

That's so tragic.

[Mc Mike]

26. The numbers are high $900 million

2011-12, plus $100 mil for 2012-13 budget. So saying 1 billion is stating it rounded up slightly for simplicity, for '11-'12 Over $1 billion cumulative for '12-13. She has given the exact budget run down in earlier posts.

Yinzer is part of the Education Voters of Pennsylvania group. She's a great writer, very prolific, and on the mark most always.

[amborin]

8. isn't she a fraudster? link here:

http://www.bluejersey.com/diary/18135/yep-michelle-rhees-school-reform-was-a-fraud

[madfloridian]

9. Whatever she is, she has the power of the media behind her...

and the approval of top politicians in both parties. All she has to offer is ridicule and criticism.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. She's a child abuser.

Rhee bragged about taping students' mouths shut while she was a Teach for America 'teacher'

John Kugler - September 22, 2010

In a recent Washington Post audio posting, Washington D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is shown admitting that she taped shut the mouths of her young students because she could not control their talking while she was working in the Baltimore Public Schools as a Teacher for America teacher. Rhee then laughs about taping her students mouths shut with masking tape and then walking them to the lunchroom. According to Rhee, she tried the tape method after she was unable to keep the little ones from making noise when she marched them through the hallways to lunch.

In an even more disturbing revelation heard on the tape Rhee laughs about when the tape was removed hurting the children and some even started to bleed. Michelle Rhee, along with New York Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Chicago's Ron Huberman, have been held up by the corporate news media as examples of the new breed of school district executives, the type of education leaders that public schools need to "shake things up."

The audio tape of Rhee's speech was obtained and authenticated by The Washington Post, which until recently had supported Rhee and her methods as D.C. schools chief.

Here’s the link to the audio from The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/08/13/VI2010081305444.html

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1675

[amborin]

13. and more! many old DU posts about her evil ways, including this one from

Hannah Bell:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x392580

[madfloridian]

23. And this one really angered me...another older post.

Michelle Rhee's group to show Parent Trigger movie Won't Back Down at DNC convention. Unforgivable.

"Not that this surprises me much, since Michelle Rhee pretends to be some kind of "different Democrat," but it's really pretty nervy of her to show up at the Democratic National Convention with a film funded by right-wing education deformers and pretend she's "one of us."

StudentsFirst is screening the film "Won't Back Down" in the middle of the Democratic National Convention in an effort to convince everyone her brand of education deform is the best pathway forward."

[amandabeech]

12. Nice to see you MF!

Thanks for posting this.

Michelle Rhee is looking like the K-12 anti-Christ.

Thanks for exposing the WP. I live in the area and find it difficult to read anymore. They just support too many bad people and bad policies. First it was the Iraq War, then it was Michelle Rhee.

Thanks for keeping us informed.

[madfloridian]

14. That editorial so was blatant in its spin of Rhee.

It just blew my mind. Good to see you, too.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. TheWP though has a wonderful education columnist.

Valerie Strauss. I never miss her column. She's definitely on our side.

[madfloridian]

19. Oh, yeh, Valerie Strauss is great.

She takes a firm stand for public education.

[woo me with science]

18. K&R

And SO damned good to see you here!

[madfloridian]

20. You know what I just realized?

I don't know many people here anymore. I was here for over 9 years, almost a year off....the names have changed and so has the place.

back. Good to see you.

[madfloridian]

21. Be sure to view Rhee group's video defending the ad, gross and insulting.

And it shows the mindset they have which so easily ridicules. Worse than the ad itself.

They even wrote an explanation at the You Tube site blaming everyone but themselves for their rudeness.