Rhee has attracted national attention for her tough reforms and clashes with D.C. teachers, and she became a central and polarizing figure in the mayoral race. But assuming she does leave—and finds another job as schools chief or in the education reform arena—she may take with her a valuable lesson from her experience in D.C. That is, communications—and the community–matters.

Rhee was grilled about her plans at a D.C. preview of the new “Waiting for Superman” documentary on Sept. 22, taking the spotlight away from other education notables who attended. (Rhee is a central figure in the film, which promotes charter schools and will be discussed in the cover story of ASBJ‘s November issue).

Rhee called the election results “devastating for the schoolchildren of Washington, D.C.,” then later sent a letter to the Post stating that, by the way, she had not meant to imply that Vincent Gray, the presumed winner in November, was devastating.

There were reasons D.C. residents chose not to reelect Fenty that had nothing to do with Rhee. But one has to wonder—if Rhee had a more likable personality and better communications skills, if she had dropped the take-no-prisoners attitude and appeared to listen to the community before taking drastic actions, like firing teachers and principals, would that have impacted the election and the future of school reform not only in D.C. but nationally?

Rhee told MSNBC that she and Fenty hurt their cause by not telling their story as effectively as they should have.

“The fact that we didn’t do a good a job as I think we could have in communicating why we were making the decisions that we did that led people to be suspicious of the actions is, I think, unfortunate,” she told MSNBC. Um, right.

Kenneth Wong, the chairman of Brown University’s education department, told MSNBC that he thinks Gray may continue Rhee’s path. But Gray will also create more transparency in the system and host more community forums “to make sure [residents] understand the changes and the benefits they’ll get as a result of the reforms,” he said.

Rhee’s departure may have been imminent regardless of the election results, as she’s engaged to Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. Let’s hope that wherever she ends up, she’ll have learned the importance of communications and community engagement.

Joetta Sack-Min, Associate Editor

Photo courtesy of Stockvault

What am I to make of a recent Washington Post poll that says D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s popularity has fallen—yet people are happier with the state of their schools?

It makes no sense to me that her “performance rating” has fallen from 59 percent last year to 43 percent this year. Or that her disapproval rating is 62 percent among African-Americans.

Test scores are up. Violence and crime are down. The quality of textbooks and other instructional materials has improved. Bad teachers are being taken out of the classroom.

This is exactly the progress that Washington, D.C., residents have wanted to see for the past 30 years, a period when a revolving door of superintendents and a variety of school governance models ensured that every step toward improvement was disrupted by political infighting and a sharp turn in policy direction.

Certainly Rhee is no saint. She’s made some questionable decisions. She’s also made her share of public relations blunders. She’s challenged the politically powerful teachers union and annoyed some parents with her willingness to make unpopular decisions, like closing their low-performing neighborhood schools.

But if concrete results are being seen, do people have to approve of how she’s doing things?

I’d like to think not. But given how special interest groups in Washington, D.C., have wasted decades of school reform by fighting on behalf of the status quo—and against anyone who challenges their privileges —it’s always possible that talk of Rhee’s popularity is just a sign that people once again are going to put adults ahead of children.

We are, after all, a society that likes quick fixes and immediate gratification. And slow, steady progress is boring. So there are always going to be those ready to junk what they’ve got—and get excited about a new “savior” of the schools who will “shake things up.”

Maybe I’m making too much of a simple poll. After all, we all love polls. We conduct polls about everything.

I just hope this poll simply reflects citizens’ feelings—not their intentions. I’d hate to think that education policy could ultimately be determined by a popularity contest.

Del Stover, Senior Editor