Jeanne Allen
2007-06-25 07:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

Handpicked by D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty as the new D.C. schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee inherits a city awash in cash, but allows more than half of its students to attend dangerous and ineffective schools.

Meanwhile, most of the city’s charter schools, serving more than a quarter of the city’s students, outperform conventional public schools — and the federally funded choice program for poor children is delivering results.

Such programs have created a demand for major improvement in the nation’s capital, and thus Fenty rightly chose Rhee to be a change agent for all schools. But, her success will require changes in law and contracts to withstand political and personnel challenges that plague the system — something other city superintendents failed to do, and so put their successes at risk.

Oakland, for example, was graduating fewer than half of its high schoolers when the state in 2003 temporarily stripped the school board of its power and named Randy Ward to run the system. He moved decision-making to the school level and acknowledges that the city’s charter schools gave others the impetus to do better.

The formula started working. Between 2005 and 2006, Oakland’s scores jumped more than any other large city in the state. Philanthropists contributed millions. But when Ward was pushed out last year, the gains were put at risk. His efforts were not guaranteed by law, but rather by policy fiat and sheer will. It is unclear whether or not the gains will last.

Oakland isn’t alone. Philadelphia saw similar gains during a period of time in which a bold leader led reforms that allowed multiple providers to operate failing schools on performance contracts and district schools were given some freedom to operate and held more accountable for results.

Paul Vallas’ leadership over the new competitive environment shows what can be done when multiple paths are pursued. Nine percent more of the city’s students are now passing the reading test, and a whopping 21 percent more are passing in math.

But with Vallas leaving the city this month to run New Orleans schools, his changes aren’t guaranteed to outlast his tenure since they weren’t codified into law.

Like Rhee, New York City’s schools chancellor, Joel Klein, serves at the pleasure of the mayor. Despite early opposition, Klein has insisted upon greater accountability and performance, in part by changing contracts and offering better educational options.

Like Oakland and Philadelphia, parents have the choice of fleeing to higher performing charters, an option that keeps district personnel on their toes. Unlike Ward and Vallas, Klein has successfully etched policies into contractual stone, making them more likely to withstand future leadership changes.

Rhee can learn from this. She knows decisions need to move down to the school level where teachers and principals know what they need most. Together with that change, she will need to create accountability for those educators, rewarding performance with changes in pay. This will require that she break ironclad policies and contracts that have allowed students to fail.

She will have to accomplish those Herculean tasks while sustaining Fenty’s support when political and union pressures start making her job near impossible.

Oh, and she’ll have to ensure that those changes outlast her tenure by being enacted into city, and probably federal, law.

When she does this, Rhee will matter.

Jeanne Allen is president of the Center for Education Reform.