D.C. Schools Chief Touts Value of Education Entrepreneurs

Washington

Almost a year after Michelle A. Rhee was named the chancellor of the District of Columbia school district, she stressed at a May 20 gathering here on educational entrepreneurship that she sees the infusion of entrepreneurial practices and ideas as vital to her work of trying to transform the long-beleaguered urban system.

In one example, Ms. Rhee said she is seeking external organizations to take the reins of low-performing schools identified for “restructuring” under the federal No Child Left Behind Act .

“What I’m trying to do is create an incredibly fertile environment and the right dynamics to bring these providers in,” she told participants at the 10th annual summit hosted by the NewSchools Venture Fund , a San Francisco-based philanthropy that invests in charter-management organizations...