Michelle Rhee On Parker Spitzer: PISA Scores, U.S. Education Crisis And StudentsFirst.org

Former Washington, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee appeared on CNN's Parker Spitzer Dec. 15 to share her views on the state of the American education system and what actions she deems necessary to get the country back on the right track.

Rhee discussed last's weeks release of the PISA world education rankings and how she hopes her organization Students First will make a difference in the education crisis.

WATCH:

Comments

[Ortho Stice]

04:42 PM on 01/06/2011

Diane Ravitch is the former deputy secretary of education under George H.W. Bush. Here is what she has to say on the matter:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/nov/11/myth-charter-schools/

[Michael Masilko]

01:36 PM on 12/23/2010

I am a retired military person and I have had to deal with many of these kids, and let me tell you that one thing is that the entrance exam determines education retention, most HS grads usually score with an average retention of 7th grade education and they think that they are fine. The problem in the states versus other countries is that students are students, not sport stars, two, those kids are put in teir place, they are the students and are there to learn, education is not a democracy for kids. The school system took a wrong turn with the help of parents in the eighties promoting sports. In casual conversation most parents will spend 5 min. on their kids academics and three hours about the school football team, The local newspaper here uses about half the newspaper on school sport teams and very little about academics. So what do parents and others think? Schools are for education, not whose #1 in sports and parents are responsible for their childrens attitude about education.

[Galia Hannah]

11:55 AM on 12/22/2010

Michelle Rhee doesn't know anything about improving education and TV stations are reporting propaganda when they interview her. It's a shame but all this shows is the failure of the mass media to report reality.

[Shana Donohue]

03:19 PM on 12/21/2010

Here's an interesting comparison chart showing the absurd number of math topics we throw at our kids in the US per year as opposed to A+ countries where kids excel in math: http://zerosumruler.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/us-vs-a-countries-breadth-vs-depth-in-math-which-is-better/
More is not necessarily always better.

[teacher39years]

01:17 PM on 12/18/2010

Michelle Rhee has been making the rounds lately on the media circuit, like a movie star promoting a new movie or an author promoting a new book. She has been named to head Florida's Educational Transition team, but doesn't seem to be mentioning this during her interviews.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/15/rick-scott-education-plan_n_796945.html

[cooperone]

12:49 PM on 12/18/2010

Not impressed! Her 5 week training to teach obviously did not pay off.

[dct1999]

09:36 AM on 12/18/2010

She's not an expert on anything.

[StinkyBush]

08:56 AM on 12/18/2010

The problem with the system is people like Michelle Rhee, who claim to care about children, are in control of the system. They lack little classroom experience and deal with disruptive students by using duct tape.

Our current educational “leaders” know one thing and that is data. They don’t know how to read the underlining causes of why student’s fail such as poverty.

We need real leaders in education. We need educators who value public schools instead of those who see the need to dismantle it in the name of so-called competition.

[PARepublican]

07:27 AM on 12/19/2010

What we need is good parents.....You can be the poorest of the poor, and if you have good parents you will be a good student. Too many students "learn" bad behavior from their parents such as, broken families, no self responsibility and moral and values. Some great leaders came from poor families and if you talk with these success stories you will find that the parents played an important role.

[StinkyBush]

10:36 AM on 12/19/2010

Even though you and I are on different sides of the political spectrum, I can agree with you. It takes really strong parenting to offset the negative environment in the neighborhoods but I have seen it done.

Those parents are amazing and too few in numbers.

[Lake Saganaga]

12:10 AM on 12/18/2010

She thought she could Rheeform DC schools. Instead she Rheetarded DC school kids.

[ZenSufi]

01:54 AM on 12/18/2010

Rheediculous.

[Lake Saganaga]

12:08 AM on 12/18/2010

Enjoy :

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/dc-schools/michelle-rhees-greatest-hits.html

[veteran teacher]

09:06 PM on 12/17/2010

Why is anyone listening to her? She taped the mouths of her former students shut with masking tape. She should have been fired.

[JustJoy7]

03:32 PM on 12/17/2010

Michelle Rhee is not trained in education leadership and is, therefore, unqualified to be elevated to the national pro on how to fix education. The lady has a good gift of gab and has convinced everyone that she knows all about education reform. Not true.

The allowed this lady to swoop in like batman and fire all those teachers, and she is not qualified to do that. What does that say about whether America is even knowledgeable enough to reform the broken system. What a shame for those poor teachers. Even the kids know it's not the teacher's fault that education is failing in America. I would HATE, HATE, HATE to have her children in my class. I bet she was just one of those helicopter parents that couldn't work WITH the school.

[LAteacher]

01:49 PM on 12/17/2010

What's the point of commenting . . . any anti-Rhee statements will just be deleted.

[pgutpgut]

01:52 PM on 12/17/2010

Totally depends on the moderator...some are on the evolved side of life while others will blacklist any comment you make if it doesn't jibe with their world view...

[mrnormalpants]

02:49 PM on 12/17/2010

agree with pgut... I am in favor of reform efforts and my comments get axed all the time. It's good to know they are equal opportunity censors, though.

[pgutpgut]

01:42 PM on 12/17/2010

Rhee is the perfect spokesperson for the crisis in education, given she is one of the major contributors to said crisis. And for those of you calling for Huff Post to call out Rhee on her outright lies and misinformation, don't hold your breath. Arianna thinks the world of Rhee...

[Kimpeach]

01:00 PM on 12/17/2010

I will like to see Michelle Rhee do a debate with a real educational reformer. Pushing people like Michelle Rhee is dangerous--she is not a reformer. Just a corporation puppet who loves the attention she is getting.

[Andy Clark]

04:08 PM on 12/17/2010

i would pay to see this.

[dct1999]

09:36 AM on 12/18/2010

agreed