Prometheus 6

In a joint statement, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Washington Teachers' Union President George Parker said Rhee has appropriated some of the ideas they raised in their proposed contract and is attempting to make them her own.

"It is disappointing that Chancellor Rhee, who considers herself to be a new type of leader, is employing the usual old-school, failed collective bargaining tactics," the union leaders said. Rather than responding to the teachers' proposal, they said, "she seems to echo its substance in the new promises she's making to teachers."

This should only be a problem if they don't believe her. And they don't.

Rhee Says Fixes Likely Too Much Too Soon
D.C. Chancellor Writes to TeachersBy Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 14, 2009; B01

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee told teachers yesterday that in the drive "to fix everything all at once," she and her staff might have overwhelmed them with new programs and initiatives to turn around the under-performing school system.

Union officials responded by contending that Rhee was playing politics with the union membership rather than responding at the bargaining table to a contract proposal they submitted at the end of January.

Since her appointment by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) in June 2007, Rhee has moved with urgency at all levels of the school system. Her most visible changes include closing 23 schools, firing dozens of principals and attempting to introduce a potentially groundbreaking pay-for-performance package in labor negotiations.

Less visible, but just as significant, are a flurry of pilot programs and policy changes that have placed increasing demands on many teachers. They include Saturday programs to prepare students for the DC-CAS standardized tests; a push for inclusion of special education students in regular classes; a new accelerated math program; a cash reward program for students in selected middle schools that requires new paperwork and record-keeping; and new guidelines for bilingual, arts and health education.

In a letter to the District's 4,000 teachers and specialists yesterday, Rhee acknowledged that she might have tried to take on too much too soon.

"In our exuberance to fix everything all at once, we've thrown so many different programs at you," Rhee said. "Please know that this comes from a desire to support you, not inundate you.

"But now I see that we may have pushed on too many different fronts all at the same time," she wrote. Rhee did not specify which programs or initiatives might be slowed or delayed.