D.C. Schools Chancellor Headlines GW Women’s Leadership Conference

Chancellor of D.C. Schools Michelle Rhee gives a lunchtime address at theWomen’s Leadership Conference on April 3.

Chancellor of D.C. Schools Michelle Rhee discussed her quest to reform the District’s public school system at GW’s 2009 Women’s Leadership Conference, held April 3 at the Mount
Vernon Campus. Rhee spoke to attendees, including GW President Steven Knapp, at the luncheon following a morning of speakers and sessions.

Rhee—who has drawn both praise and fire for her sweeping efforts to overhaul the city’s schools— called the District’s system “the most dysfunctional in the country,” where on average only 9 percent of ninth graders graduate from high school and the achievement gap between white students and students of color is more than 70 percent.

Acknowledging “the incredible challenges we face,” Rhee outlined some of her goals for the system, including bringing in better teachers and principals, involving the community, and securing a budget. “Unless you have great teachers working in classrooms and great principals leading in schools, it’s all for naught,” she stressed.

“This is a game-changing moment in the city,” said Rhee. “There is no better place for radical change in national education to occur than here in the nation’s capital.…The potential and aptitude of our children is limitless.”

Approximately 120 people attended the conference, which also featured a morning keynote address by animal advocate Terri Crisp in Eckles Library, professional development sessions, and a panel discussion focused on personal stories of change.

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