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REGION: North America

TOPIC: Education

Online NewsHour

Posted: July 29, 2008

John Merrow Answers Questions

Forum Introduction

		Over the course of the 2007-2008 school year, John Merrow, the NewsHour's special correspondent for education, reported on the challenges faced by two new superintendents in struggling school districts: Michelle Rhee in Washington, D.C., and Paul Vallas in New Orleans.

Do you think it is realistic for anyone to walk into a school district and expect much in only one year?

How do the D.C./New Orleans school systems deal with the families of the at-risk kids to convince them to support the schools?

How many D.C. administrators live in D.C. and send their children to D.C. schools?

What yardsticks is Michele Rhee looking to use in evaluating the performance of her teachers?

Is there an educational project underway to ensure that young students are encountering the best teachers at the elementary level?

Is the student morale in D.C. as low as the teacher morale?

What are Michele Rhee's detractors specifically opposed to?

How can you convince parents who are not readers themselves that reading is important for their children?


	James Inman of Berkeley, Calif., asks:

	My question is about Michelle Rhee. Do you think it is realistic for anyone to walk into a school district and expect much in only one year? If she continues how long might it take her (or someone like her) to bring it around?

John Merrow responds:

That's a great question. I think Ms. Rhee has given herself the length of the mayor's term, four years. That the scores went up a bit this year doesn't mean much, because most kids are basic or below basic and that's not anywhere close to good enough.

We will be watching closely to see if she keeps her promise to strengthen art, music, science, physical education and other "frills" that often get cut because of No Child Left Behind's emphasis on reading and math.

This year she benefited from NCLB - she got to 'restructure' 27 schools - but she has said on many occasions that she believes in a broad and well-rounded curriculum.




		June 18, 2008 D.C. Teachers Struggle to Adapt to School Reforms

		June 17, 2008 New Orleans School Reforms Target Young Readers

		April 3, 2008 Leaders Struggle to Bolster New Orleans Schools

		February 8, 2008 New Orleans Schools Chief Aims to Curb Dropout Rate

		February 7, 2008 In Battle to Revamp D.C. Schools, Education Leader Faces Resistance

		November 23, 2007 Schools Chief in New Orleans Faces Tough Road to Rebuilding

		November 19, 2007 D.C. Schools Chief Rhee Faces High Expectations for Reform


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