Will Michelle Rhee fix D.C.’s notoriously dysfunctional school system? by David Harsanyi
Though I’ve seen evidence to the contrary, experts assure me that children are the nation’s most precious natural resource. Logic, then, says that teaching is the most important profession in the country. And by extension, firing teachers who consistently fail to do their job should not be very controversial.
Still, political parties come and go; teachers don’t. All the while, urban school districts remain on a stable trajectory, headed from horrendous to Mississippi.
Who knows? Perhaps there’s hope. The country’s top minds on education have cooked up a surefire solution to tackle this emergency: They’re having a contest!
Race to the Top is a nationwide competition that rewards states with cash prizes if they embrace a stunningly tepid catalog of reforms. Naturally, one of the more contentious measures is the institution of a genuine teacher evaluation system. Believe it or not, in some extreme cases, these evaluations may be used by superintendents and principals to determine which teachers should be hired or fired.
Read the entire article at Reason.com
Giving Lousy Teachers the Boot
BY WILLIAM MCGURN
Donald Trump is not the only one who knows how to get attention with the words, “You’re fired.” Michelle Rhee, chancellor for the District of Columbia schools, has just done a pretty nifty job of it herself.
On Friday, Ms. Rhee fired 241 teachers—roughly 6% of the total—mostly for scoring too low on a teacher evaluation that measures their performance against student achievement. Another 737 teachers and other school-based staff were put on notice that they had been rated “minimally effective.” Unless these people improve, they too face the boot.
The mass dismissals follow a landmark agreement Ms. Rhee negotiated …
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