By Ryan Lillis and Melody Gutierrez
(From The Sacramento Bee, January 21, 2011)
Sacramento has become home base for an education reform movement that aims to counter the influence of teachers unions on American school policy.
Former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee will headquarter her new education advocacy organization in Sacramento, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Thursday during his State of the City address.
Rhee’s goal is for her organization, StudentsFirst, to raise $1 billion and to use the money – much as teachers unions do – to support candidates and influence education policy in state legislatures and school districts across the country.
“What teachers unions do, that’s fine, but there needs to be a counter-voice and I think that counter-voice is this organization,” said Johnson.
The move means Johnson and Rhee, who are engaged to be married, will be a twin force on education in Sacramento. Before becoming mayor, Johnson founded a nonprofit, St. HOPE, that runs two charter schools in the city. He has made improving public schools a priority for his mayoral tenure.
It’s unclear whether StudentsFirst will focus its attention locally. Several states – not including California – have expressed interest in working with the group.
Rhee said there are “many local organizations we have talked about working in concert with” and that StudentsFirst likely would partner with Stand Up, another education nonprofit started by Johnson.
As far as Rhee is concerned, there is much work to be done. “Sacramento is probably behind the curve in terms of some of the progressive work being done around the country,” Rhee said.
Her decision to headquarter the organization in Sacramento adds significant weight to the reform movement here, education advocates said.
It’s also a move that could prove beneficial for the mayor. By landing StudentsFirst, the national focus of a controversial debate will be cast on his city.
Gloria Romero, who is heading the new California chapter of Democrats for Education Reform, said Rhee’s decision means a shake-up on the horizon for California schools. Romero’s group, a political action committee that operates in 10 states, pushes Democratic lawmakers to sever the traditional allegiance with teachers unions in order to improve low-performing schools.
“More than anything, it shows there is a critical mass converging in California to put this state on the national map on what can be accomplished in education,” said Romero, a former Los Angeles state senator who lost her bid in November to become the state superintendent of schools.
Bill Lucia, president of the education reform group EdVoice, said a key question is whether Rhee’s organization will focus on Sacramento or California. Either way, Lucia said he sees her arrival as a good thing.
“I think the opportunity to bring smart people to the table who have had success advocating for kids in whatever venue – district or national level – is definitely an asset,” he said.
But Rhee’s arrival is sure to ignite debate.
During her 3 1/2 years as chancellor of the D.C. public schools, Rhee closed two dozen campuses, fired hundreds of teachers and allowed TV cameras to follow her as she took on teachers unions and principals. She aggressively went after teacher seniority rules and pushed for merit pay as a way to attract top performers into teaching.
As a result, she became a prime target for teachers unions, who worked hard to get her boss – former D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty – out of office.
Fenty, who in D.C.’s system had authority over public schools, lost his re-election bid last year. Rhee resigned soon afterward.
State Board of Education President Michael Kirst said Rhee is quickly becoming more controversial because StudentsFirst supports private school vouchers, which provide taxpayer money to public school students who want to attend private schools.
“That moves her into a more radical position than in the past,” Kirst said.
Area teachers unions are leery of Rhee’s arrival.
John Ennis, president of the teachers union in Twin Rivers Unified School District, said he doesn’t believe they will see eye to eye in areas such as vouchers and giving mayors control of schools, and questioned whether Rhee will have a lasting impact in Sacramento.
“She didn’t last long in D.C.,” Ennis said. “Her personal social skills got her in trouble there. Working with a hatchet doesn’t always work.”
Johnson said Rhee was courted by mayors around the country and that he was “not ashamed to say that I pulled out all the stops and utilized every means I had, but I managed to snag her.”
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