So all day the question has been, what does it mean? Best I can tell it means that Michelle Rhee is leaving her post in D.C. (she’s also starting a website) but not too much more.
Kaya Henderson is great but it seems premature to see today as any clear sign about future of reform in Washington one way or the other for a couple of reasons. First, we really don’t know more today than we did a few days ago about the direction of school reform under Mayor (to be) Vincent Gray because we haven’t reached any of the real decision points yet. And second, Vincent Gray didn’t get where he is by being an idiot. Some of the crazier scenarios people saw potentially happening simply defied common sense.
In other words, if reform starts to die in D.C. it’ll be through quiet whimpers not some grand stroke. And it’ll be something that is apparent more in retrospect than through a pivotal moment. I obviously hope that Gray can pull off his avowed goal of aggressive reform and keeping everyone happy. But it’s too soon to tell. Not too soon in the Mao and the French Revolution sense, just too soon in this school year.
Here’s my take on all this from before the election in the WaPo and afterward via my School of Thought column at TIME.