Michelle Rhee says Education Reform is Being Polarized to Extremes

Former D.C. public schools chancellor and StudentsFirst founder and CEO Michelle Rhee explores the main issues she sees in education reform, and where teachers unions do and don’t agree with her.

"Great" Teachers…

Ask Franklin Schools Superintendent Steve Patz or any member of the Franklin school board and they will likely tell you: Franklin public schools have great teachers.  Arguably, “great” is relative, but Merriam-Webster defines great this way: An outstandingly superior or skillful person.  We do not doubt that Franklin Public Schools has some great teachers, but like any organization it more than likely has its share of not –so-great- teachers, as-well.

In researching what makes a great teacher, we came across a number of websites  that attempted to answer the question: What makes a great teacher?  You are welcome to Google that question to satisfy your own curiosity, but we settled for an article entitled: Top 5 (Plus 14) Character Traits Of Superior Teachers at a website named:  So you want to teach.com.

The article concludes that these are the Top 5 (Plus 14) Character Traits Of Superior Teachers and that if you want to be a great teacher, these are the things you should begin to develop first.  How do these traits  measure up to your expectation and definition of a great teacher?  Meet my hair-pulling fourth grade teacher, Miss Martins:

Top 5 Character Traits of Great Teachers

1. Inspired me and never let me settle for anything less than my best.
2. Compassionate, caring, made me feel important and welcomed, made a personal connection with me.
3. Were demanding, pushed me hard.
4. Had a great sense of humor.
5. Knowledge of the subject matter.

Other specifics

1. Wasn’t afraid of what other people thought.
2. Passion for the subject matter.
3. Challenged me to think beyond just the answer in the textbook.
4. Listened to my ideas.
5. Taught me new things.
6. A terrific fund raiser.
7. Kept things interesting.
8. They were interactive.
9. Added personal elements to the classroom.
10. Organized.
11. Wasn’t fake or shallow with comments to students.
12. Discipline.
13. Confidence.
14. They were problem solvers, rather than simply problem identifiers.

THE FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL is a member of Michelle Rhee’s studentsfirst.

Here is Rhee discussing studentsfirst.org, school reform and great teachers.

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Fortunately, we no longer have kids in Franklin Public Schools and feel comfortable writing about this subject without fear of reprisals to our kids from teachers doubling as union reps thug-enforcers.

StudentsFirst.org - Michelle Rhee Answers Members' Questions

In May we introduced you to StudentsFirst, an organized movement to transform public education, in an article entitled StudentsFirst: Save Great Teachers—End Last In, First Out.

THE FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL is a member of this group which was founded by Michelle Rhee.  StudentsFirst mission is to build a national movement to defend the interests of children in public education and pursue transformative reform, so that America has the best education system in the world.

Furthermore, to accomplish its mission, StudentsFirst is working with parents, teachers, administrators, and citizens across the country to ensure great teachers, access to great schools, and effective use of public dollars. Together, we'll demand that legislators, courts, district administrators, and school boards create and enforce policies that put students first. We'll make sure politicians and administrators recognize and reward excellent teachers, give novice teachers the training they need, and quickly improve or remove ineffective educators. We'll work to ensure that every family has a number of options for excellent schools to attend, so that getting into a great school becomes a matter of fact, not luck.  And we'll make sure all Americans understand that our schools are not only an anchor for our communities, but an absolute gateway to our national prosperity and competitive standing in the world economy.

Click here to learn more about StudentsFirst and to join this movement.

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StudentsFirst: Save Great Teachers—End Last In, First Out

As the Franklin School District prepares to tackle its first budget following the passage of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill, affecting unions’ collective bargaining authority, we are bringing—what begin on BATTLE JOINED, our sister-publication—studentsfirst.org news, information and updates to THE FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL as part of our ongoing schools and education coverage.

Led by Michelle Rhee, the former Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, StudentsFirst formed in 2010 in response to an increasing demand for a better education system in America. This grassroots movement is designed to mobilize parents, teachers, students, administrators, and citizens throughout country, and to channel their energy to produce meaningful results on both the local and national level. StudentsFirst is a 501(c)4 organization based in Washington, D.C.

By all measures Christine Simo is an excellent teacher—precisely the type of teacher concerned parents want in their child's classroom. In fact, many fellow teachers have requested Christine for their own kids.

Why then did Christine's principal, with tears in her eyes, have to approach her just weeks ago to tell her she was being let go? Christine was one of the best teachers in the school. Layoffs were necessary and the harmful "last in, first out" policy in the state of Nevada left Christine's principal without a choice.

To comment privately on this article or any other aspect of this publication click here.