Opinion
School & District Management Opinion

Should DC Schools Chancellor Rhee Hire Friends or Put Work Out to Bid?

November 15, 2007 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

In October, Brenda Belton, director of charter schools in the DC Public Schools infamous central office, plead guilty to four counts of theft and tax evasion. Among other transgressions, Belton admitted in court that she steered $446,000 in no-bid school training contracts to friends and received kickbacks for her efforts.

Washington Post staff writers Theola Labbé and V. Dion Haynes report that DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is considering contracts with nonprofit Charter Management Organizations (CMO) for schools in or approaching restructuring status.

According to (DCPS spokesperson Mafara) Hobson, Rhee told the parents and teachers she met with Monday that three nonprofits potentially could run some D.C. schools: St. Hope, a charter operator in Sacramento; Green Dot, which operates 12 charter schools in the Los Angeles area; and Philadelphia-based Mastery Charter Schools.

Rhee has a personal connection with St. Hope. She recruited teachers for St. Hope in her former position as chief executive and president of the nonprofit New Teacher Project. She also was a board member of St. Hope for about a year until she was appointed chancellor, according to a St. Hope official.

At her confirmation hearing before the D.C. Council in June, former NBA star Kevin Johnson, who serves as president and chief executive of St. Hope, flew from California to testify on her behalf.

Charter schools needed access to training. Some DC schools may well require the services of outside contractors to get on track towards Adequate Yearly Performance. In both cases, the right way to do this is for the school district to put the work out to bid and look for the best value (results at a price). There is no reason to believe that Belton’s friends were uniquely qualified to provide training, or that Rhee’s nonprofit CMO’s are uniquely qualified to turn around schools - or especially likely. And if Belton was paid on the back end, some are going to wonder if a new school for St. Hope isn’t the Chancellor’s way of repaying Kevin Johnson. Both are forms of corruption.

Again, we come to a question of the Chancellor’s judgment.

• The rationale for giving Rhee the power to hire and terminate central office employees at will is the dysfunctionality evidenced by Belton, and the urgent need to get modern management processes in place. Doesn’t even the appearance of hiring her own friends send the wrong signal to staff – that all this turmoil in the central office is not about improvement, but control?

• Imagine that Rhee has the right to hire and fire central office employees at will. Just how eager will procurement staff be to scrutinize a proposed DCPS-St Hope contract, let alone bring issues to the Chancellor’s attention?

• Where does this leave the school system when the Chancellor departs? With the cynical lesson that might makes right. If you are in control, hiring friends is just fine.

If we expect to improve school districts, we have to move away from the image of a Superintendent or Chancellor as the man or woman on a white horse. Michelle Rhee is no silver bullet, although that’s precisely the implication of giving her virtually unlimited power to hire and fire government staff and pick and chose her own school contractors.

We have to start moving towards the development of institutions that manage school portfolios based on analysis. That starts with procurement of the products and services expected to create high performing schools. No superintendent “knows” so much about this that they should be allowed to hire outside school managers because it seems like a good idea at the time. If it’s such a good idea, that will become clear in the competition for the work. If it’s not, the taxpayers and kids will be spared some pain.

The opinions expressed in edbizbuzz are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Tech Is Everywhere. But Is It Making Schools Better?
Join us for a lively discussion about the ways that technology is being used to improve schools and how it is falling short.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion When It Comes to Leadership, Self-Awareness Matters. Here's Why
One leader learned she had a habit of shutting down others' ideas instead of inspiring them. Here's how she changed.
Robin Shrum
6 min read
Picture1 6.19.32 AM
Robin Shrum
School & District Management Opinion Don’t Bewail Summer Vacation for Students, Rethink It
Students experience summer vacation differently, depending on family resources. We should rethink the tradition with that in mind.
2 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School & District Management Women in K-12 Leadership Don't Get Enough Support. Here's What Needs to Change
Fairer family-leave policies, pay transparency, better data collection, and more on-the-job support are elements of the plan.
7 min read
Illustration showing diversity with multi-colored human figures.
ajijchan/iStock/Getty
School & District Management School Counselors Face 'Role Ambiguity.' This State Tried to Clarify Matters
New York's new regulations didn't always change how principals viewed or interacted with school counselors, research finds.
5 min read
Man trapped in maze.
Man trapped in maze.
iStock/Getty Images Plus