michelle rhee s journey to national prominence began in 2007. washington dc had just inaugurated a new mayor, adrian fenty. he had won a landslide election and promised to fix the district s abysmal school system. the lack of real opportunity for young people drives our unemployment rate, it drives our crime rate, and we can t have that. this is the nation s capitol of the united states of america. we shouldn t have the worst school system. we should have the best. are you ready? all right. almost everyone expected fenty to choose a seasoned veteran to turn the schools around, but he chose a virtual unknown. good morning. rhee began by introducing herself to students. i m excited to be here today. .and teachers, giving them a glimpse of her forthright style. i am michelle rhee. i am the new chancellor of the dc public schools. and just in case there was any confusion, i am in fact korean, i am 37 years old, and, no, i have never run a school district before.
michelle rhee s journey to national prominence began in 2007. washington dc had just inaugurated a new mayor, adrian fenty. he had won a landslide election and promised to fix the district s abysmal school system. the lack of real opportunity for young people drives our unemployment rate, it drives our crime rate, and we can t have that. this is the nation s capitol of the united states of america. we shouldn t have the worst school system. we should have the best. are you ready? all right. almost everyone expected fenty to choose a seasoned veteran to turn the schools around, but he chose a virtual unknown. good morning. rhee began by introducing herself to students. i m excited to be here today. .and teachers, giving them a glimpse of her forthright style. i am michelle rhee. i am the new chancellor of the dc public schools. and just in case there was any confusion, i am in fact korean, i am 37 years old, and, no, i have never run a school district before.
maybe. but i can point to dozens of schools where there were dramatic gains that were maintained. the education of michelle rhee. frontlinis made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support for frontline is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information is available at macfound.org. additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund, supporting investigative reporting and enterprise journalism. additional funding for this program is provided by: michelle rhee s journey to national prominence began in 2007. washington dc had just inaugurated a new mayor, adrian fenty. he had won a landslide election and promised to fix the district s abysmal school system. the lack of real op
but i can point to dozens of schools where there were dramatic gains that were maintained. the education of michelle rhee. fr in ontlise made possie by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support for frontline is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information is available at macfound.org. additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund, supporting investigative reporting and enterprise journalism. additional funding for this program is provided by: michelle rhee s journey to national prominence began in 2007. washington dc had just inaugurated a new mayor, adrian fenty. he had won a landslide election and promised to fix the district s abysmal school system. the lack of real opportunit
tonight ofrontline. i am going to start a revolution. michelle rhee had an aggressive plan. if their test scores did not go up, they were going to be fired. to reform the worst school system in the nation. i m terminating your principalship now. it seemed to work. 42% increase in mathematics. but at what price? correspondent john merrow examines her battles with the teachers union and accusations of a cheating scandal. merrow: what s your reaction to those numbers? they say the gains are phony. in isolated places, could something happen? maybe. but i can point to dozens of schools where there were dramatic gains that were maintained. the education of michelle rhee. frontlinis made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support for frontline is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and pe