LISTEN TO CHANCELLOR MICHELLE RHEE HERE:
Channel 4 was given an exclusive to cover the IMPACT celebration. Since they didn't show, Rhee, Fenty Spokesman Sean Madigan and another government official discussed whether I would be allowed in.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Friday evening, Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee hosted an upscale private celebration in the East Hall of Union Station for hundreds of District of Columbia Public School teachers. The DCPS teachers mingled and munched on hors d’oeuvres while speeches were given, including from WTU President George Parker, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Rhee herself, who was the keynote speaker.
Rhee held the occasion to celebrate the DCPS teachers whose IMPACT evaluation scores put them in the category of “Highly Effective Educator,” as their nametags stated. To much applause, Rhee announced that all of the teachers invited to the event would be receiving “bonuses” of between $3,000-$25,000, an overall increase in pay of 11 percent.
As she was leaving the celebration – through a roped-off backdoor – Rhee was confronted by Chris Bergfalk, one of the “Highly Effective Educators” being honored that evening. In an impromptu debate, Bergfalk asked Rhee if the IMPACT winners were actually receiving bonuses, or if teachers would have to give up some of their rights in order to receive the money.
Bergfalk asked, “The bonus checks that you mentioned today: Are they bonus checks or are they part of a pay-for-performance incentive program where if we accept that then we’re enrolled in a program and then under the contract we’re not eligible for certain benefits if we are excessed?”
Rhee responded, “So that’s correct. But that will be every individual teacher’s choice as to whether or not they want to accept that or not accept that.” Rhee’s response contradicts her earlier remarks to the crowd of hundreds where she made no mention of teachers having to give up any rights in order to receive their “bonuses.”
As she was leaving Union Station, Rhee answered a few more questions, beginning with her possible violation of the Hatch Act. In a recent column in the Washington Post, Courtland Milloy accused Rhee of violating the spirit of the Hatch Act, a federal law which limits campaigning by government officials.
Rhee responded to Milloy: “Absolutely incorrect. If you read the Hatch Act, what it says in the first paragraph of the Hatch Act, it says that Congress encourages all public officials to be engaged, civically engaged. It gives a list of all of the allowable activities. It says you can attend rallies. It says you can… say what candidate you prefer, and that sort of thing. It’s very, very clear and I’m sorry that Mr. Milloy did not read the Hatch Act when he was writing about it.”
In October, Rhee fired 266 teachers because of an alleged budget shortfall (months later $34 million was “found” in order to fund the controversial teachers’ contract). Speaking to the magazine Fast Company, Rhee said of the firings, “I got rid of teachers who had hit children, who had sex with children, who had missed 78 days of school.”
Rhee refused to apologize for her comments following the October firing. She said, “If you look in the paper today, you can clearly show that that teacher that I was referring to… it was actually confirmed in a paternity test that he fathered the child… of a student. So for anybody who wants to say that I did not have evidence, that’s all the evidence you need.”
Rhee maintains that her comments to Fast Company were not directed at the 266 teachers who she fired, but only at one individual. When pushed on this point, Rhee said, “I was not speaking of all 266 teachers. That’s the most ridiculous [inaudible].”
When asked if she had been misquoted by Jeff Chu in the Fast Company article, Rhee said, “I’m not having this conversation any more. It was very clear – Jeff Chu made it clear to everybody exactly what I said and what I didn’t say – and you’re taking things totally out of context.”
Lastly, Rhee responded to the possibility that the gains seen in DCPS test scores (which Chris Bergfalk says are not as significant as Rhee claims) are not due to her so-called reforms, but to the city’s changing demographics. “That is an insult to every single low-income child of color in this city who is improving their academic achievement levels. It’s an insult to them,” said Rhee.