Michelle Rhee: You've Got To Fight For Our Schools (VIDEO)

Controversial education reformer Michelle Rhee sat down with AOL to discuss the state of America's public schools and how her organization StudentsFirst is advocating for change.

Rhee says, "The children who are in school today will be the first generation of Americans who are less well educated than their parents were. This means that we are not going to be able to regain our position in the global marketplace and be competitive internationally until we fix our schools."

She encourages supporters to take action by writing letters to lawmakers and finding other ways to get involved on the organization's website.

WATCH:

Comments

[traceydouglas]

07:37 PM on 07/08/2011

****BS ALERT***** Filled with her typical misinformation/lies with crappy, schmaltzie music in the background.

[Zeev10]

08:48 PM on 07/01/2011

May I take this moment to coin a new word inspired by this dragonlady ? " EDUWHORE"

Thank you!

[giono]

01:50 PM on 06/22/2011

and .... You Got to Fight For Your Right to Party --- sorry I was feeling very Beastie....

[ron071]

06:44 PM on 06/12/2011

RHEE IS JUST ANOTHER GRIFTER WOMAN WITH SOMETHING TO SELL WHICH IS POISON TO GOOD AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION.  WHAT  A  PHONY!

[traceydouglas]

02:56 AM on 06/12/2011

Michelle taught for 3 years. She admits that she sucked during her 1st year. Appointing her chancellor of DCPC should qualify as malpractice. Why anyone listens to her now is beyond me. She has been discredited so many times at this point. I guess having billionaires fill her $200-$300 million dollar war chest to purchase political influence will give even the most unqualified person an ill-deserved platform. Hubris is not lacking with this group; nor is willful ignorance. Sacrificing our nation's children to make a buck doesn't seem to be causing any of them lose sleep. As she did to her classroom of students, I wish someone would do to her - tape her mouth shut!

[ron071]

06:46 PM on 06/12/2011

HOW CAN WE NOT RECOGNIZE A FRONT WOMAN GRIFTER?  Clearly, her record reeks of financial opportunism FOR AND BY THE RIGHTY RICHIES WHO BACK HER EFFORTS TO PRIVATIZE PULIC SCHOOLS AND STEAL MORE OF OUR PRECIOUS RESOURCES FOR THEIR GREEDY GAINS.  RHEE IS A PHONY OPPORTUNIST GRIFTER SHILL AND NOTHING MORE THAN THAT.  THIS IS HER GIG AND WE ARE HER TARGETS.

[becut]

10:25 PM on 06/11/2011

Her ideas are great for any private institution funded with private funds. Taking public school funds, designated for the good of our entire society is the problem: the poor, the middle, the rich, the prepared, the unprepared, english speaking/ non-english speaking, the slow, the fast, the advantaged, the disadvantaged, the disabled, the abled, tall, short, fat, skinny, abused, mis-used, etc. The corporate, competitve, middle class education model should never be used with certain populations, because they don't have the tools to compete. The corporate model (kill the competition), will kill the kids that have a difficult time competing, for whatever reason; they will be destroyed by this system, eliminated, and /or pushed out. Teachers see what is happening to their profession, which will be transmitted to the kids next: a do more with less, bottomline for kids.

[LisaCACO]

06:04 PM on 06/11/2011

I hate her so much.

[Gregj]

10:52 AM on 06/11/2011

Miss Rhee
Teachers were standing up for students long before you came along with you self grandstanding but you and your policy wonks have all but silenced them. What teacher is willing now to stand up to a misguided or agenda driven school board without a union or protections such as seniority? I have lived long enough to see your ideas implemented they did not work then and I doubt they will work when repeated with the teacher drones you hope to employee and at the same time un-empower. Your inability to take critiques shows not only a flaw in your system but in your personality. You will fail as most zealots do for you hear only you own voice and follow only your lead. But you will come out of it richer but I fear it will only be at the cost of the school system that once lead the nation. You know the one that was respected and empowered.

[Elburro]

03:27 PM on 06/10/2011

This lady is is not progressive, does not have progressive ideas, and is funded by those who want to see public education die altogether. She's working very close and giving cover to the right wing ideologues that want to take advantage of the crisis to push their privatization agenda, the destruction of public education.

[amgnme]

09:45 PM on 06/09/2011

There are certain words that really creep me out when we are talking about something as serious and important as education. Those words are CEO, organization, donations: and now Michelle Rhee. These words have no place in discussions where the welfare of children is concerned. Also, I can't believe that the fate of so many teachers is being put in the hands of someone who is getting paid to (wait for it) train new teachers to replace those that get fired. I have offered to fix the system for free, but no one has taken me up on it. First thing I would do is fire all the paid consults and paid organizations. Have I established my credibility?

[Otis L Griffin]

09:17 PM on 06/10/2011

good start

[Shroud]

04:13 PM on 06/09/2011

Michelle Ree is a noble person clearly with good intention, but when a problem persists decade after decade, regardless of money spent, there's clearly something other going on than just a profound in ability to understand the problem and hence the solution toward fixing it.

I don't think the American government powers-that-be want our children to be educated plain and simple. If you want good schools, you do not funnel all the money toward administrators' mammoth salaries and you don't allow entire school systems to be dismantled one by one as is taking place across our country.

They want to cripple the middle-class and produce a nation of hydrocephalics who cannot read or write or think coherently. This is why we have a "financial crisis" that just can never be solved for some reason (despite all the tax breaks and incentives given to the rich upper class); this is why our President can't seem to control gas prices or inflation or figure out how to create jobs or how to repair a broken educational system that continues to decline every day.

If you want to fix a problem you go about looking for solutions and implementing them, not crying that no solutions are possible year after year. The solution is to stop any unnecessary consumption and spending, save your money and just move to a country that wants an educated middle-class.

[TFT]

12:42 PM on 06/10/2011

There is nothing clear about her good intentions. All I see are Rhee-based intentions.

She deserves NO credit for anything, except possibly ruining public education in America.

[FunctionOfTheCrisp]

02:38 PM on 06/09/2011

I can't take Rhee's message seriously because it comes from someone who is only interested in herself.

[am10]

06:25 PM on 06/09/2011

Yup. It's as if she wanted to make a LOT of money without going to medical school, law school, opening a business, or joining corporate America. So she starts a foundation that thrives on private donations thus assuring her six figures.

What's sad is that while Rhee and her like will be lobbying politicians to make decisions she wants, the real educators will be too busy working in the classroom.

[FunctionOfTheCrisp]

11:52 PM on 06/09/2011

You're absolutely right. She'll be making bank while real teachers slog it out in the trenches.

[ron071]

06:51 PM on 06/12/2011

WHAT MORE NEED WE KNOW ABOUT THIS GRIFTER WOMAN RHEE THAN SHE IS A SHILL FOR THE PRIVATIZATION CLIQUE OF RICHY RIGHTIES.  SHE IS NOTHING MORE THAN THEIR FRONT WOMAN.

[DanInLA]

12:45 PM on 06/09/2011

"less well educated"?

Were Americans ever well educated?

For Rhee it's all about the money. That is why she no longer teaches in the classroom.

[wustner]

08:14 AM on 06/09/2011

I'm not going to have a war of words with you

And i'm not going to stop posting and you can put your big ego away

[traceydouglas]

10:46 PM on 06/08/2011

Ouch! Rhee'$ not going to be able to $it down for day$.