A treasure trove of Michelle Rhee quotes about her education philosophy.

[madfloridian]

Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post has them up today.

Michelle Rhee's greatest hits

The best one of all is down the list a little.

“I think if there is one thing I have learned over the last 15 months, it’s that cooperation, collaboration and consensus-building are way overrated.”
September 2008 Aspen Institute’s education summit at the Mayflower Hotel

Oooh, painful indeed.

May I digress here to mention that she sounds just like Arne Duncan.

Mr. Duncan said in an interview that he welcomed the friction between union and state officials but warned against states weakening their overhaul plans simply to win buy-ins from unions. "Watered-down proposals with lots of consensus won't win," he said. "And proposals that drive real reform will win."
Arne says don't water down plans to please unions

And little unionbuster Rhee has some more choice words about unions...From the WP link above.

"People tell me the unions are an inevitable part of this (school reform). My thing is, what has that gotten us so far? All the collaboration and holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya’?"
2008 round table at the Fordham Institute.

That Kumbayah thing seems to pop up now and then, like the time Carville said we had no time for kumbayah in our party. Usually meant to keep liberals in their proper place.

Another by Rhee:

Rhee was pictured on the cover of the Nov. 26, 2008, edition of Time magazine, holding a broom while standing in a classroom, a symbol of her determination to sweep out the old and bring in the new. From that cover story by Amanda Ripley:

Then she raises her chin and does what I come to recognize as her standard imitation of people she doesn’t respect. Sometimes she uses this voice to imitate teachers; other times, politicians or parents. Never students. "People say, ‘Well, you know, test scores don’t take into account creativity and the love of learning,’ ” she says with a drippy, grating voice, lowering her eyelids halfway. Then she snaps back to herself. "I’m like, ‘You know what? I don’t give a crap.’ Don’t get me wrong. Creativity is good and whatever. But if the children don’t know how to read, I don’t care how creative you are. You’re not doing your job.

And finally:

“People often say to me the teachers unions are here to stay, that they are big players, that I have to find a way to get along. I actually disagree with that. It’s important for us to lay out on the table what we’re willing to do, but what our bottom line is for kids. The bottom line is that if you can’t come to agreement then you have to push your agenda in a different way, and we’re absolutely going to do that."
September 2008 Aspen Institute’s education summit at the Mayflower Hotel

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Hope she gets the karma she so richly deserves...

[madfloridian]

8. Looks like her assistant has been appointed by mayor-elect Gray.

And she is said to be just like Rhee.

http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/2010/10/rhee-ism-without-rhee.html

"Rhee-ism without Rhee?
Is D.C. mayor-elect Vincent Gray strong enough to follow the mandate of those who elected him and break with Michelle Rhee's destructive approach to school reform? He knows it's the right thing to do and has been openly critical of Rhee's testing madness, her one-sided emphasis on the classroom teacher, and her divisive anti-unionism. But it would mean risking the ire of Arne Duncan and the power philanthropists, whose largesse keeps the district financially afloat.

Gray's appointment of deputy chancellor, Kaya Henderson, as interim chancellor is an indication that he isn't ready right now to stand up to the corporate reformers"

So I guess it is hard to fight it when the Sec. of Ed keeps pushing you.

[Angry Dragon]

2. Did o'donnell lend her her broom??

[Starry Messenger]

3. There is a special hell for union-busters.

I'm an atheist, but I'd like to believe that anyway.

[madfloridian]

4. I wish there were.

That is the goal of all this.

[earth mom]

10. I'm an agnostic & I like to think there is a hell for Union Busters & evil doers like * & Cheney etc

:evilgrin:

[leveymg]

5. How did these reactionary bastards infiltrate the very top of the Democratic Party?

What did we do in November, 2008 putting them in the White House? We outa have our heads examined.

[madfloridian]

6. Great post in the comment section at the WP link.

"Michelle Rhee did some good also. She proved

that a teacher CAN be dismissed.

why teachers need "due process" and unions. Without them hundreds of teachers can be fired for contrived reasons only to be replaced by teachers from agencies favored by the "chancellor."

that a person can have a high IQ, an excellent education, and still be "clueless."

that a person can have a high IQ, an excellent education, and still be of poor character.

that a person can have a high IQ, an excellent education, and still have no "people skills."

that we are very fortunate to live in a democracy and not an autocracy where the leader decides what's "best" for all the people."

[Blue State Blues]

7. +1

[xchrom]

9. Recommend

[madfloridian]

11. Rhee fired new principal of school, she was 5th principal in a year.

The awesome power of not having to answer to school boards. Or unions. Or teachers.

http://rheeform.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/dc-parents-outraged-by-new-principals-firing/

"WASHINGTON – Parents at one D.C. elementary school are demanding to know why the principal was fired just a few months into the school year.

Shepherd Elementary School principal Galeet Ben Zion, PhD, was called in to meet with D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee on Friday and promptly fired. Ben Zion says she remains baffled by her dismissal.

“It was maybe a two-minute meeting, and I was told that I failed as a leader,” recalled Ben Zion. When asked whether she thought she had failed as a leader, Ben Zion replied, “Not in my opinion.”

Ben Zion said she was hired and fired by Rhee after a little more than three months on the job. Ben Zion’s replacement will be the school’s fifth principal in 12 months."

[chervilant]

13. Oy...

Yes, one can certainly tell after three months that an administrator has 'failed as a leader'! What a complete crock!

Rhee will get her comeuppance. Her approach is sure to fail. I just hope the epic fail happens before she succeeds in destroying public education.

[olegramps]

12. Is this administration determined to alienate every damn one of its supporters?

[zenprole]

14. Far Above Average

That Michelle Rhee is a fascist tramp is one thing, but I want to ask another question for which I'm likely to catch hell or be censored.

Is there something in the water up at Cornell? Records show that there are many noble graduates of that university, but there seems to be a higher proportion of completely shameless Cornellian dickheads that turn up in the public eye, parading their mile-wide elitist streak: it sometimes seems like a School of the Americas supplying the culture of contempt. Bill Maher and Kommandant Rhee are quite alike in this way.

This is something which is certainly present among the other Ivies but somehow I haven't noticed as this outrageous. Maybe, just possibly, this tendency may be connected with the perennially high suicide rate on campus.

Just throwin' it out there.

[Jakes Progress]

15. Crawling over the bodies of children

to get to the top. True scum.

[laughingliberal]

16. K & R nt

[Jakes Progress]

17. Someone tell me how she is different than a tea partyer?

Why are people on DU supporting someone whose views mirror those of the tea party movement?

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Good question