Rhee Reflects on Her Stormy Tenure in D.C.

Schools chancellor mulls successes, mistakes during tumultuous tenure.

Washington

Just months into her 2007 appointment as the chancellor of the District of Columbia schools, Michelle A. Rhee had already become perhaps the best-known—and most polarizing—school district leader in America for her push to close poorly achieving, dilapidated schools, overhaul a teacher contract to include performance pay, and fire underperforming central-office workers.

Now, in the wake of last week's Democratic primary election that saw the defeat of her boss, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Ms. Rhee’s 3½-year tenure leading one of the nation’s most-watched district improvement efforts could soon come to a close.

In an interview in her office here the day after the primary, the chancellor wouldn’t say if she would work for Mr. Fenty’s likely successor, a man she campaigned against. But, looking back on her tenure so far, she said some of the most significant changes in Washington’s public schools lie in the kinds of measures that...