Chancellor Michelle Rhee truant from Reading Night
There are a lot of reasons that one-third of the District's young people don't bother to show up for school. Many students are struck by strange maladies that occur just before school. In reality, though, many of these students aren’t sick. They just don't think it's important to show up. They don't appreciate the time and energy that parents, teachers and residents expend to create quality schools or the wasted tax dollars. They would rather sit in front of the idiot box or stand out on the street corners than attend school.
There's not much that can be done for many of these students. It's difficult to engage them once they become distracted. The one thing adults and leaders can do is simple: They can set a good example. They can show up for their jobs, family events, and community events. Young people learn by watching the adults around them.
With that in mind, it’s hard to excuse School Chancellor Michelle Rhee for missing Wednesday's Family Reading Night at Scott Montgomery Elementary. Rhee was the featured speaker at the event and hundreds of residents jammed the auditorium to hear her speak. Unfortunately, thirty minutes before she was scheduled to speak, and as parents were still streaming in if from a long queue outside, Rhee sent word that she would not attend.
Montgomery school officials had rescheduled this event three times to accommodate the chancellor’s schedule. A CBS Evening News crew arrived at 4:50 with five people as part of an ongoing story they are working on about the chancellor. They spent a lot of time setting up and interviewing staff. They were told at 6:10 that Rhee would not be coming and immediately packed up and left.
Rhee’s absence said more than any of the elegant speeches she has given about raising educational standards. Many Shaw residents will now remember Rhee as the “one who didn’t show up.”
Scott Montgomery faculty and staff worked hard to make Family Reading Night a great success and to make a good impression on the chancellor. They secured thousands of books for students to select from and keep. They prepared hundreds of educational games for the students to play in the school library with their parents and take home. Community partners pitched in, too. Several small business owners donated food for the event. And residents responded. Hundreds of them attended the event eager to meet the school chancellor.
Of course, they went home disappointed. At least, they were disappointed in the chancellor.
I hope that Rhee has the good sense to apologize. An official apology to parents, teachers and students is in order. She might also consider personally meeting the two third graders who had planned to introduce her. The youngsters worked hard on their speeches, only to be forced to rewrite them on the fly. Luckily, these two kids were more than up to the task. Rhee should take some time out of her schedule to show some appreciation for their BRILLIANCE and apologize personally. These two SMES students are perfect examples of the fantastic work that teachers at Scott Montgomery are doing every day. The also reflect the time and energy of concerned SMES parents who value a good education and do their part to help their children achieve. They are also popular role models, well respected by their classmates.
The success of tonight's event made it clear to everyone that Rhee's presence wasn't really needed. That may be the silver lining. It’s not necessarily a bad thing when residents realize that they can accomplish great things without the interest, attendance or support of powerful people.
People work together because they believe in what they are doing despite the fact that Shaw has been so neglected and underserved by the District government and now an absentee school Chancellor. They do it because they can at least believe in our kids if they can't believe in the vacuous words of neglectful, dismissive government officials.
Martin Moulton
Friend of Scott Montgomery Elementary
P.S. Incidentally, I overheard someone mention that Rhee bumped some of the Washington Wizards off the Family Reading Night program. I bet if the Wizards had been scheduled they would have shown up. And I imagine, if offered the choice next time, the kids and parents won't think twice about who they'd prefer to spend the evening with.
Comments, Pingbacks:
Mr Moulton-
I fell ill yesterday late in the afternoon. While I can try as hard as possible for that not to happen, it’s not something that I can necessarily avoid. Also, I was asked to “drop by” family reading night to read to students. I was not asked to give a speech. It seems that there’s been a lot of miscommunication here.
MR
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05/08/08 @ 21:05 If she was sick, it came upon her very suddenly. I mean her own advance person was on site an hour before she was expected to appear.
Personally, in her shoes, I'd have to be near death to miss an event like this. I would have forced myself to make a five minute appearance and then would have made a quick exit after explaining my illness. That way, everyone would be calling me a hero instead of a snake.
Ms. Rhee doesn't seem to understand how important this event was to the school community. I'm not sure why. Surely, she understands that a visit from the Chancellor is a major event at every school. After all, the Chancellor has a major say in every school's budget, programming, and staffing. Whether she had agreed to "drop by or to "give a speech" it was a big deal to the people at Scott Montgomery.
As a leader, she should understand and appreciate her own PR. A Michelle Rhee visit IS a big deal.
Next time, if there is a next time, I hope she forces herself to "drop by." That's what leaders do.
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05/09/08 @ 07:15 Never understimate the power of presence. Yours was sorely missed at the 'Family Reading Night' at Scott Montgomery E.S. this week. Our actions speak louder than words. Know that you are the number one role model in DCPS. The children need us to speak truth to them. How can we say that our childen are priority #1 and they find out that that is only a PR slogan. We know that in building a new culture in DCPS it only takes one misstep to question our creditibility.
Be bold in your apologies. Just drop in at Scott Montgomery for an informal visit. That strategy for rebuilding confidence is a winner and will be useful in the days head.
My best to you always,
Virginia C. Lee
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05/09/08 @ 09:32 · http://citizensforthechildren.wordpress.com Permalink
05/10/08 @ 13:22 Since the event, I've been informed that the Chancellor has agreed to meet personally with a couple of the classes of students at some upcoming date. There will surely be a forthcoming post about that. Nonetheless, I think she got the message, in this public post and in many private personal letters, that her absence left a lot of people unhappy.
As one of the people who helped with the pr for the event, and after speaking with a few others involved, it seems Chancellor Rhee herself, was the only person under the impression that she was expected to only do a "drop-in" and it was a surprise to me that she should use the term since I saw several announcements for the initial event which was planned months ago. Given the fundamental changes that Rhee has brought to the DCPS system, she should not expect to sit on the sidelines when she is at such a rare event with parents, teachers and other stake holders. It was completely appropriate to provide her with an opportunity to address the audience as a whole with a short statement instead of having a lot of redundant conversations individually with those who attended the event.
Residents in Shaw are accustomed to be given the back seat when it comes to government attention, whether it be library- or economic-development. Because of this, this incident sparked more frustration than it probably should have, and far more among those who attended and helped put the event together than I expressed in my post.
Kevin has devoted at tab "School Notes" (above) to the great things going on in and around the school to highlight the work done by and for students. This is updated regularly. The Family Reading Night was special and distinct because Rhee was expected to be involved. Aside from this, many other events and activities have taken place relatively without a hitch. No doubt this is because of the great leadership and staff at the school.
This event brought the KIPP:DC and Scott Montgomery Students and their parents together which does not happen regularly. It was a great beginning to building a great educational institution, which partners both a charter and public school, in the heart of our community. Unlike many other schools in the District, Scott Montgomery does not have a PTA, so this was another big step towards bringing parents and teachers and neighborhood stake holders together to create a better community.
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05/10/08 @ 13:42 · http://citizensforthechildren.wordpress.com/ Clearly Rhee is on OUR team to rectify this pervasive dysfunctional educational system, together with many others, feverishly cleaning house of the horrific ills that plague DCPS. It is UNITY that will transform DCPS into the exemplary public education system envisioned by Rhee and all stake holders.
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05/10/08 @ 21:54 Don't lose any sleep over the criticism though.
There are a lot of other posts to read and comment on.
What'd you think about Kevin going with the kids to the ballet?
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05/10/08 @ 23:46 Maybe I'm just naturally suspicious, but I read all these protestations about how a Rhee speech would be "expected" and "appropriate" and what I hear is, "We didn't actually ask her to make a speech, but everyone assumed that she would." It looks to me like this event was pitched to Rhee (either by her people or by the organizers) as a student-centric family reading event in which she would participate, but parents were told it was primarily a special appearance by the Chancellor to honor the school and discuss her agenda. I think that posting this tearful lament before she had even had a chance to make her excuses shows just whose egos were the most bruised by this no-show.
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05/12/08 @ 09:59 That's one way to look at it. But for the most part those involved in the event were all happy to give generously and pretty selflessly their time and efforts regardless of what other people did or did not do. And those of us who were involved know exactly why Rhee was invited.
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05/12/08 @ 17:32 You are a very suspicious person, but your suspicions, in this case, are not grounded in fact. You seem to be making assumptions about people whom you have never met. I can assure you that the teachers and administrators who organized the event did not mislead the parents of their students about the event. The organizers postponed and rescheduled the event to accommodate Chancellor Rhee's schedule. The organizers did no do this in hopes that Ms. Rhee would simply mingle among the event attendees. If there was in deed a communication problem it was not the fault of the event organizers.
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