Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of Washington, D.C. public schools, speaks about her experiences reforming the schools around the capital. Rhee, the first speaker in this year’s Hunter Lecture Series, discussed education reform Tuesday night at the Tivoli Theatre.
Michelle Rhee envisions public education as the nation’s great equalizer, an institution that bridges gaps created by race, income and geography.
But that’s not what she sees in our public schools today.
“That’s not the reality we had in Washington, D.C.,” said Rhee, former chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools, “and I guarantee you it’s not the reality in Chattanooga.”
Rhee, who now runs the reform-minded organization Students First, gained notoriety for her controversial efforts to overhaul Washington’s school system.
At the Tivoli Theatre, she spoke to a crowd of several hundred Tuesday evening as the inaugural speaker in this year’s George T. Hunter Lecture Series.