Some quick thoughts on the discovery of the "missing" memo (also see MSN coverage here) in DCPS/ Michelle Rhee cheating allegations:
a) Everyone and their mom, or should I say dad, knew there was something fishy going on. How does this one memo change anything? Rhee doesn't recall receiving the memo? Right. Rhee says all kinds of things all of the time: to reporters, to pundits, under oath, to investigators, on the StudentsFirst blog. How will this lie be different from any of the others?
b) Are DC, DCPS and the Federal Department of Education now going to announce new investigations? Wouldn't that be tantamount to admitting the their initial investigations were not of the rigor they should have been? But they've already said they were definitive. They weren't, at all. The question is why not.
c) People keep asking for indictments. You know what? I'm looking for a better system. I'm looking for an indictment of Rhee's impoverished vision of education. If Michelle Rhee goes to jail but the awful policies she endorses stay in place, who is that helping? In fact, who does it help that all those folks in Atlanta are going to jail? There need to be consequences but jail isn't the appropriate one. Then again, I don't think jail is appropriate for most non-violent crimes.
d) What's going to happen to all of the teachers and principals who got fired for teaching students with low test scores, especially those with low test scores after having high ones in a school that was marked for cheating. Lawsuits?
What a mess.
Sharing the newest Time cover featuring the queen of erase to the top
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/94930640@N02/8647715462/in/photostream/
Here's the failure of her agenda. http://www.boldapproach.org/rhetoric-trumps-reality
ReplyDeleteIf you really want to stop this not just in D.C. you must have full proper professional investigations and if the investigations show breaking of the law prosecutions are to follow. If then convicted in a court of law then the proper jail time is proper as then they are just common criminals and should be treated as such. Just watch as it comes down in Atlanta and they are convicted and sentenced to time in jail or prison. Then if enough heat is applied on D.C. and they are forced to have a real investigation and they are then charged and convicted and sent to jail just watch the attitudes change everywhere when it is then a reality that you too can go to jail for this kind of action against our children and society. There is a price to pay that you do not want to pay no matter who your benefactors are. School educrats are not the mafia where this is considered a part of the "Cost of Doing Business." They are wimps in the real world and will crumble. That is good for all of us.
ReplyDeleteAnd what happens to the princicpal who said cheating was going on in her school but got chased out of the profession. The one running the cup-cake store.
ReplyDeleteI hope she sues and get millions and I wish all the kids who would have had her as their principal could sue as well.
JAIL IS TOO GOOD FOR RHEE AND HIS PEDOPHILE HUSBAND KEVIN JOHNSON. PERIOD.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone is convicted, I'm sure that the people on the lowest rungs of the ladder will get jail time and those on the highest rungs will go free. Ridiculous and backward.
ReplyDeleteConvict them if you must and sentence them to community service. They should be made to CLEAN schools, assist in classrooms (wiping noses and tying shoes as well as helping teachers and students), etc. The tasks should be the down-and-dirty jobs that those of us in public education do every single day. They shouldn't just be reading with kids or "consulting." We don't need their input.
Poor Rhee. I’m sure she has learned her lesson well enough. I believe everybody deserves a second chance. What’s important is that you have learned from your faults and you are willing to change for the better. It’s not the end of the world. But you must accept the consequences of your actions and hopefully start anew.
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