The George T. Hunter Lecture Series began with controversial education reform advocate Michelle Rhee speaking to a packed house at the Tivoli on September 20. This is the fourth year for the series, sponsored by the Benwood Foundation, in partnership with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies, and CreateHere.
The series brings renowned thinkers and leaders to Chattanooga to broaden understanding of critical community issues and is a catalyst for meaningful community dialogue and innovative community efforts. Before Rhee took to the stage, Dr. Richard Mathis, director of data analysis at the Ochs Center, said: “This lecture promises to be an important event in our community’s continuing discussion about ensuring high quality education for all of our children.”
Dr. Roger Brown, the UTC chancellor, said, “The goal of the lecture series is to contribute to the dialogue around critical community issues by bringing nationally-renowned thinkers and leaders to Chattanooga.” The lecture series has also provided a meaningful way for UTC students and faculty to engage around issues affecting the Chattanooga region, he said. “The Benwood Foundation has focused its philanthropic efforts on supporting improvements in public education in Hamilton County. We know that an excellent public education system is critical to the quality of life and economic vitality of our community,” said Corinne Allen, executive director of the Benwood Foundation.
“Though her approach has been controversial at times, Michelle Rhee is an important national voice in public education reform, and her lecture in Chattanooga should contribute meaningfully to the ongoing dialogue around creating the best public education system here in Hamilton County,” Allen said. Rhee is the former chancellor of D.C. Public Schools and the founder of Students First, a program that calls for more accountability from students, parents and especially teachers. At the core of Rhee’s mission is the belief that all students can achieve at high levels and that teachers are the most powerful force behind student achievement in schools.
Rhee began her lecture, titled “Putting Students First in Public Education Reform,” with the story of her role as chancellor of the D.C. schools and statistics from her time there. During that time, there was a 70 percent gap between black and white children in D.C. The children would come in to the schools on par with urban counterparts, but as time went on, the gap got progressively worse. By fourth grade, these students were already two grade levels behind. Rhee asked herself where to start in fixing this system. She first wanted to figure out where the money was going. At first, she thought the $18,000 on transportation of kids was an element to cut, but digging deeper found that the real cost was coming from lawsuits and private school tuition for children who did not have their individual education plans met by the schools they were attending. The woman in charge of making sure the plans were met had the excuse that she was a busy person and things naturally fall through the cracks.
Rhee disagreed with her and said the lack of accountability, like in this case, was the main cause of dysfunction in this district and school districts nationwide. The second problem Rhee encountered was that the decisions on education were being based largely on politics. When Rhee announced closing 23 schools because there were far too many for the students needing to be accommodated, it couldn’t happen. Although everyone on the board knew it needed to be done, their politics were preventing them from acting on it, Rhee said.
While central office staff members complained about being at-will employees under Rhee
and not getting their due process, Rhee said if a child doesn’t get good education there is no appeals process or “due process” and teachers keep their jobs while students move on without the skills they need. Rhee then moved on to the three things she believes will really help move education forward. First, she said, as a nation, we have gone soft.
“We are so busy trying to make [kids] feel good rather than making them good,” she said. “We need to regain a built-in sense of competition and, until then, America won’t be able to regain its place in the global market.”
Second, she said, teachers play a critical role, and nothing will change until communities are supporting their teachers in being effective. Rhee said the power of good teachers cannot be underestimated, and she refuses to believe that because kids are poor, they cannot learn. The third thing to be done is to shift decision-making and advocate for rules and regulations that focus on kids. Rhee says she supports school vouchers not for a district, or a political party, but for the kids who need this money to get a quality education.
“[We need to] begin to think from the perspective of what we do for our own kids and never subject anyone else’s children to policies that we could not want for our kids,” Rhee said. “A zip code and the color of skin dictates the education children receive, and that’s the most un-American thing I have heard of.” Even the cream of the crop private school students are still 25th in rank behind children in other countries, she said, and this means change in education is needed not just in D.C. but in Chattanooga and nationwide.
The remaining three speakers in the Hunter Lecture Series will be community planning expert Armando Carbonell on November 1; former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky on February 7; and award-winning author and food system expert, Michael Pollan on April 19. Carbonell will speak at the Roland Hayes Concert Hall at UTC on “Planning for Increased Growth, Livability and Economic Vitality in the Chattanooga Region.” His book, “Regional Planning in America,” has made him a nationally recognized expert on land use planning for growing metropolitan regions. All lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, please visit www.benwood.org.