August 30, 2016

Quote of the Day: Jay Mathews’ Biggest Mistake Was Trusting Michelle Rhee

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Jay Mathews has been covering local education for the Washington Post since 1996. Alexander Russo asked him what his biggest mistake has been in those past 20 years:

I think my major mistake was giving too much credit to the jump in achievement scores and the appointment of new principals under Michelle Rhee in the DC schools. The scores proved to be largely the result of test tampering and many of the new principals weren’t as good as they needed to be.

Has the cult of Michelle Rhee finally run its course? We can hope.

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That’s twice the impact for intrepid reporting that peels back the layers to publish the truth—and the context you need to break it all down. It’s twice the fuel for investigations on voting rights and justice, critical in this midterm election year. And it’s twice the power for exposing the chaos and corruption of a White House trying to control the narrative.

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